Jabra Elite Active 75T Review
The Jabra Elite Active 75T are a sporty upgrade to last year's Elite 75T true wireless earbuds
Verdict
Like the Elite 75T, the Active 75T are a fantastic pair of true wireless earbuds with the added appeal of a more durable design to make them a better fit for when you’re getting sweaty
Pros
- Powerful sound performance
- Comfortable and secure fit
- Easy-to-use onboard controls
Cons
- Not that different from Elite 75T
- Mic quality good, but not fantastic
Key Features
- IP57 waterproof rating
- Alexa, Siri and Google Assistant support
Introduction
The Jabra Elite Active 75T are a sporty upgrade to the Elite 75T true wireless earbuds that launched last year. To make them a better fit for gym-goers and runners, the Elite Active present a more sweat-proof design and are available in more colours than the standard Elite 75T.
For those extras you’ll need to part with £189.99, making the Elite Active 75T £20 more expensive than the Elite 75T buds – which rightfully earned a place among our best all-round true wireless earbuds of 2019.
Availability
- UKRRP: £175
- USARRP: $149
- EuropeRRP: €199
- CanadaRRP: CA$239
- AustraliaRRP: AU$329
Design
- The design and battery life are very similar to the Elite 75T
- The waterproof rating has been increased from IP55 to IP57
- They’re available in six colours
Much like Jabra’s 65T and Active 65T, the evolution in design from the Elite 75T to the Active 75T is minimal. In fact, they’re near-identical and up-close you’d be hard-pressed to tell them apart.
They sit similarly in the ears, too, and are made from the same mix of plastic, rubber and plated metal. The ear gels supplied with the Elite Active 75T to adjust fit are also identical to those that accompanied the Elite 75T, and the ear buds come with the same-sized charging case that offers identical battery life.
The big deal here from a fitness perspective is that Jabra has upgraded the waterproof rating from IP55 to IP57. This essentially means you have buds that are now waterproof and, therefore, sweatproof. However, being tagged “waterproof ” doesn’t make them suitable for swimming. Bluetooth is pretty useless in water anyway, so there wouldn’t be any real reason to take a dip with them in your ears. The update here ensures that they’re better at fending off sweat in the gym, or if caught in the rain during a run.
Fortunately, we were able to test them in both scenarios and can confirm that they passed the storm test and a few sweaty interval treadmill running sessions without issue. The fit remains as good as ever – they stayed put straight out of the box, and didn’t budge or require adjusting when things did really start to get sweaty.
The onboard controls are some of the best implemented on a pair of wireless buds and well designed for workouts. On the move, it’s easy to press on the buttons built into the outer casing to skip music tracks, access smart assistants and, best of all, quickly adjust the volume. Also welcome is that fact that these individual buds can magnetically lock onto each other, which is handy when you can’t locate your case and simply place them in a bag or your pocket.
In terms of models, the Elite Active 75T are available in Navy, Copper Black and Titanium Black. Jabra is also going to add Grey, Mint and Sienna colours to the range, which means you do have three extra looks to choose from over the standard Elite 75T buds.
Features
- The Elite Active 75T include support for Siri, Alexa and Google Assistant
- Call quality is decent
- The earbuds hold 7.5 hours of battery, with 38 hours in the case
There are features to keep you playing around with your phone. There’s support for Siri, Amazon’s Alexa and Google Assistant, letting you summon your preferred assistant straight from the buds. Jabra packs four microphones on these buds, which means they’re reliable for picking up questions and commands. The same applies for taking calls: you get decent but not exceptional call quality when you need to break away from your workout.
Battery life remains the same as the Elite 75T. As such, you get 7.5 hours of music playback and up to 28 hours with the charging case fully powered up. So if you’re working out for an hour a day, the Elite Active 75T should see you through a week’s worth of workouts. If you’re using the buds outside of the gym, then you’ll need to keep that case nearby to top them up. If you forget to charge them, a quick 15-minute charge gets you enough power to cover a 60-minute session.
Sound quality
- The earbuds offer powerful bass performance
- You can adjust the sound in the Jabra Sound+ app
- There’s no ANC but passive noise cancellation is good
If you yearn for power, then the Elite Active 75T certainly deliver on that front in abundance – and it’s undeniably the defining characteristic of these earbuds’ sound profile. Those 6mm speakers deliver big bass, more so than sporty true wireless bud rivals such as Jaybird’s Vistas. Crucially, it doesn’t feel excessive – as it so often can on sports headphones.
If you do want a bit more finesse in the audio department, then it pays to venture into Jabra’s Sound+ companion smartphone app. Here, you can pick from a bunch of preset sound profiles or tinker with the equalizer, which has the desired effect of achieving output that’s a little more balanced and better suited for podcasts or audiobooks.
There’s no active noise cancellation, like you get on Apple’s AirPods Pro, although the passive noise cancellation does a pretty solid job of drowning out the dropping of dumbbells in the weights area of the gym.
Away from music, when you don’t want to entirely block out your surroundings and around busy roads, for example, Jabra has a “HearThrough” mode that’s just a button press away. You also have control over how much of that outside noise you can hear. It works extremely well here and is up there with similar support on sporty wireless earbuds such as JBL’s UnderArmour True Wireless Flash.
Should you buy it?
You need some good all-round sports earbuds The Elite Active 75T are a great set of true wireless earbuds, durable enough to handle heavy rain and sweat. If you’re thinking about upgrading from the Active 65T, then there are plenty of reasons to do so.
You’re not into the gym The Elite Active 75T are almost identical to the Jabra Elite 75T in looks, performance and battery life. Whether you choose to buy will come down to how much you value the idea of having a set of earbuds that’s better protected against the rigours of daily gym workouts and regularly getting caught in rainstorms.
Final Thoughts
Even if you’re not sporty, the Elite Active 75T are a great set of true wireless earbuds. If you’re thinking about upgrading from the Active 65T, then there are plenty of reasons to do so. If you have a pair of Elite 75Ts, then perhaps not so much; you’re effectively paying £20 for that higher waterproof rating.
Whether you choose to buy will come down to how much you value the idea of having a set of earbuds that’s better protected against the rigours of daily gym workouts and regularly getting caught in rainstorms.
You might like…
How we test
FAQs
The Jabra Elite Active 75T have been updated to support noise cancellation.
The Jabra Elite Active 75T support wireless charging. Simply place the charging case on a Qi charging pad.
The Jabra Elite Active 75T are waterproof up to IP57. This means they can resist dust, as well as 1m of water for up to 30 minutes.
Specs
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
