INTRODUCTION

   Wireless earbuds are not only for people who'd like to listen to music while at home, on the road or working out but also for people who'd like to answer calls while driving their cars (or while doing anything for that matter). You see since various such devices have recently made their way to our lab i feel we need to clarify this because many people we know take for granted that wireless earbuds are just good for one thing, audio playback. In reality our tests lately have shown that there are wireless earbuds out there which actually outperform many wired headsets when it comes to outgoing call clarity. Jabra's Elite Sport True Wireless Earbuds were actually the first ones to achieve that and since they recently released the brand new Elite 65t model there's no way we'd miss out on testing it as well.

   Jabra, part of the GN Group, is a leading developer and manufacturer of communications and sound solutions. We are committed to letting people hear more, do more and be more than they ever thought possible. We believe that through sound, we can transform lives. Jabra innovates and empowers with sound solutions for businesses and consumers, producing corded and wireless headsets, portable and in-office speakerphones, and sports earbuds. Jabra employs 1,000 people worldwide, and produced an annual revenue of DKK3.5 bn in 2016. The GN Group operates in more than 90 countries, and has almost 150 years’ experience in innovation and delivering reliability and ease of use. Founded in 1869, employing over 5,000 people, and listed on Nasdaq Copenhagen, GN makes life sound better. www.jabra.com

   Although the Elite 65t lacks the clinical grade in-ear heart rate monitor, Tri-axis accelerometer and IP67 rugged certification found in the Elite Sport model (wasn't designed with athletes in mind - the Elite Active 65t does that) it's actually equipped with all the cutting edge technologies such as Bluetooth v5.0 connectivity (10 meters range/ 2 simultenously connected devices/ up to 8 paired devices in total) complete with all the latest profiles including A2DP v1.3 (advanced audio distribution profile), AVRCP v1.6 (audio video remote control profile), HFP v1.7 (hands free profile), HP v1.2 (headset profile) and PBAP v1.1 (phone book access profile). Under the hood of the brand new Elite 65t Jabra has placed two 6mm dynamic drivers (20Hz-20KHz frequency response with 16Ohm impedance and 103dB sensitivity) along with 4 digital MEMS microphones (100Hz-10KHz frequency response with -38dB sensitivity - microelectrical-mechanical system microphones offer advanced noise cancellation with hearthrough and sidetone controls) and lithium-ion rechargeable battery packs which provide them with up to 5 hours of continuous use. Last but not least just like the Elite Sport Jabra packs a small charging case with the Elite 65t which can keep them going for an extra 10 hours.

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

The main product features are listed at the front of the box right beneath the company logo and a large product picture.

A complete package picture is placed on the left side right over the Designed & Engineered in Copenhagen statement.

At the rear Jabra has placed yet another product picture and of course a more detailed features list.

The product serial number and barcode along with several certifications are all placed on a sticker found at the base of the box.

Once you remove the exterior cover you will see a yellow box with the company name on it.

The entire bundle is placed inside a formed piece of plastic.

Along with the Elite 65t wireless earbuds you'll also be getting two sets of silicon eargels (3 with the already mounted one), charging case, micro USB charging cable, warranty and warning leaflets and the quick start guide.

THE ELITE 65T

The Elite 65t is not only a very small pair of wireless earbuds but thanks to its design and color it looks a lot better than the Elite Sport model (the center of the right piece is used to turn on/off the set, turn on/off the hearthrough feature, initiate Bluetooth pairing, play/pause music, answer/end calls and use the voice assistant feature while the center of the left earbud is used to lower/increase volume levels, skip tracks and check the status of the battery).

Here we placed the Elite 65t right next to the Elite Sport to point out not only its smaller size but also its looks.

Worth pointing out is that the charging cases are also different both in shape and size with the one of the Elite 65t prevailing in both (charging capacity as well - 10 vs 6 extra hours).

One of the things we liked about the Elite 65t is the obvious location of the 4 MEMS microphones (2 on each earbud) compared to the Elite Sport (unfortunately as we've already pointed out the Elite 65t are not water or sweat resistant).

Left and right markings are placed at the rear of both earbuds just over the charging contacts.

Jabra ships the Elite 65t with two extra sets of silicon eargels so you should really try all three on to see which is a better fit.

The charging case is quite thick and is not very easy to open so you don't have to worry about the earbuds falling out.

Both earbuds feature multi-color charging LEDs on them and so does the case (lower center and on the base).

SOUND+ APP

To fully use the Elite 65t True Wireless Earbuds you will need to download the latest version of the Jabra Sound+ App for iOS and Android devices.

From the voice assistant tab you can choose the desired voice assistant (from the ones supported) such as Amazon Alexa and Siri (on iOS devices).

Moving onto the audio experience tab you can enable/disable the hearthrough feature (from within the app there's also a mixed mode), enable/disable auto-pause when the earbuds are not in your ear and finally you can enable/disable headset voice prompts.

Inside the call experience tab Jabra has placed the sidetone feature (allows you to also listen to your own voice when on a call), enhance treble and bass when on calls and the caller id feature (hear the voice of the person calling as long as you've synced your contact list with the Elite 65t).

As expected the equalizer feature allows you to play around with the various frequencies but unfortunately there are no available presets for you to choose from.

Finally if you click on the device details icon you will be able to perform firmware updates (you get a notification), change the language for voice guidance (between 5 supported languages), register the Elite 65t, read the user manual and the FAQ (frequently asked questions), purchase items directly from Jabra and check the various technical details of the Elite 65t.

CONCLUSION

   Just like with any other set of earbuds you can use the Elite 65t either to listen to music or make calls so naturally we do both whenever we have one such product in our hands. Now when comparing the Elite 65t to the Elite Sport (obviously since they are in the same product line by Jabra) there are some things that immediately stand out since it lacks the clinical grade in-ear heart rate monitor, Tri-axis accelerometer and IP67 rugged certification found in the Elite Sport. However when listening to music it’s also quite evident that the Elite 65t lacks the amount of bass offered by the Elite Sport something which we should had expected (if we had read the specs sheet prior to testing the earbuds) since the former features a 6mm dynamic driver whereas the latter features a 6.8mm dynamic driver. True the difference in size is not that great but it’s very easy to notice while listening to bass heavy music. On the other hand although both models feature 4 MEMS microphones the Elite 65t seems to excel in calls since after well over 20 the majority of people on the other end reported better results compared to the Elite Sport (probably due to the forward and somewhat open placement of the microphones). The Elite 65t also offers a slightly better fit compared to the Elite Sport and since it lacks the clinical grade in-ear heart rate monitor and the Tri-axis accelerometer it uses much less power which allows it to keep going even after surpassing 4 hours of use (at almost full volume we recorded up to 4 hours and 6 minutes of battery life).

   Jabra makes some of the best wireless headsets in the market and since we usually get what we pay for their top of the line models are not exactly what we’d call affordable for the mainstream market. Still because the Elite 65t lacks some of the more “unique” features found in the Elite Sport model it retails for quite less than what they did at launch (now you can find them for around the same price) and so currently you can find it for USD169.99 inside the USA (Amazon.com) and for 170Euros inside the EU (Amazon.co.uk). Overall the Elite 65t may not feel as impressive as the Elite Sport (due to its unique features) but it looks better, delivers higher call quality for both ends and comes with several useful features which is why it gets our Golden Award.

PROS

- Build Quality
- Design / Size
- Hearthrough / Sidetone Features
- Very Good Audio Quality (For The Size)
- Call Quality (Other End)
- Excellent Stability
- Bluetooth v5.0
- Jabra Sound+ App
- Bundled Charging Case (Up To 10 Extra Hours)

CONS

- Price Tag (Compared To Other Similar Models)
- Bass Levels (Compared To The Elite Sport)
- No IPX Certification (The Elite Active 65t Do)