Tremendous bass from tiny buds
Jabra has done ears a great service with the true-wireless Elite 65t and accompanying app
Jabra’s Elite 65t true-wireless ear buds are terrific for enjoying music and making calls thanks to great call and voice quality and a firmly snug fit.
No wire connects the buds, in accord with a growing trend. The buds instead communicate with one another via radio frequencies.
They’re really comfortable to wear because they’re tiny and lightweight. The right ear bud, which has the control panel, weighs 6.5 grams and the left 5.8g. The carrying case, which doubles as a battery charger and power bank, weighs 67g.
The battery life is quite good. On a full charge the buds can last five hours. The carrying case power bank will give the buds two charges of five hours each, which means you can keep listening for up to 15 hours in all.
Jabra has acclaimed experience in building true-wireless ear buds, and the Elite 65t is its third generation. The improvements in sound quality and connectivity are evident.
The 65t connects to your smartphone using the latest Bluetooth, Version 5.0.
To ensure great sound quality, it uses 6x5.1mm drivers that support a frequency range of 20Hz to 20kHz.
The Jabra Sound+ app lets you further customise the output with an advanced equaliser. Just play with the curve displayed on the equaliser until you’re happy with what you’re hearing. Get more bass, for example, by dragging the low frequencies bar upward.
The call quality is good because of the four MEMS (Micro Electro Mechanical Systems), protection against wind noise and reduction of ambient noise. The ear buds use the four-mic system together with an acoustic open chamber to reduce the roar of the wind and any surrounding racket.
Use the app to further adjust these settings.
Turn the Hear-Through function on and off. When it’s on, audio from your surroundings is transmitted to the Elite 65t, and you can move the slider to adjust how much you hear. Audio from music and the voice assistant will be muted when you press the Multi Function button on the headset.
When Sidetone is turned on, use the slider to adjust the volume of your own voice as heard during a call. The Sidetone function is part of the Call Experience section of the app. Use Call Experience to select default Jabra audio or Enhanced Treble and Enhanced Bass.
The voice assistant can be Amazon’s Alexa or the default device on your phone, like Google Now for Android OS and Siri for iOS.
The app also allows you to keep track of the battery charge level. An indicator at the top left corner tells you when you’re running out of power.
And it will check and upgrade the firmware. It will download the latest firmware and tell you when to put the ear buds in the carrying case so they can be upgrades.
Since the Elite 65t is a smart headset that should be used with the app to enhance functions, Jabra says the Sound+ app will continue to evolve and new features and functions will be added.
You can also use the buttons on the buds to control certain functions. The right bud has a multifunction button and the left bud has the volume controls.
Double-press the multifunction button when you’re not on a call to toggle the Hear-Through function on and off. Press it once to play or pause music and, when a call comes in, to accept it. Press twice to reject a call.
Press and hold for one second to use your phone’s voice assistant (as long as there’s no incoming call).
The Jabra Elite 65t is easily linked to a phone. Hold the multifunction button for several seconds until you hear the connection instructions and see the LED flashing blue. Then use the phone’s Bluetooth to pair with the Elite 65t.
I thought the Elite 65t’s sound quality was quite impressive considering how tiny the ear buds are. The equaliser can really bump up the bass, so crashing rock music is yours to enjoy.
You get three sets of silicon ear gels. Select the right size for your ear canals and the buds will fit snugly and more effectively reduce ambient noise and thus a better music experience.
Another feature I like is that music is paused automatically when you remove a bud from your ear.
The Elite 65t is also water and dust-resistant, conforming to an IP55 rating. It comes with a two-year warranty against that sort of damage.
Jabra’s Elite 65t has a suggested retail price of Bt6,290.
KEY SPECS
- Speaker size: 6x5.1mm
- Speaker sensitivity: 103dBSPL at 1kHz/1mW
- Speaker impedance: 16ohm at 1kHz
- Speaker max input power: 8mW
- Speaker frequency range: 20Hz to 20kHz
- Microphone type: Four MEMS
- Microphone sensitivity: Minus-38 dBV/Pa
- Microphone frequency range: 100Hz to 10kHz
- Microphone bandwidth: 100Hz to 8kHz
- Bluetooth: 5.0, supporting Headset profile v1.2, handsfree profile v1.7, A2DP v1.3, AVRCP v1.6, PBAP v1.1
- Main unit dimensions: 27x30x22.5mm
- Charging case dimensions: 72x51x26.5mm
- Weight: 6.5g right headset 5,8g left, charging case 67g
- In the box: Charging case, micro USB cable, three sets of silicon ear gels, Quick Start guide
