Jabra Evolve3 85 Review: All Work, Some Play

Design

• Boomless mic design
• Lightweight
• Physical controls

Considering the Evolve3 85 over-ears want to be your pair of headphones for both work and play, the main requirement on the job application is to be comfortable in all situations – and these are a very comfortable pair of headphones.

They’re among the lightest I’ve worn at 220g, lighter than competing efforts from Sony and Bose, and much lighter than the AirPods Max 2.

The fit and profile of the earcups is great, the Evolve3 85 feels like they’re vacuum-formed to fit my head.

The clamping force is comfortably secure, helped by the soft pressure applied from the earpads. The slim profile means they’re not headphones that jut out and make you look like a Cyberman from Dr Who. The black finish of the sample pair I have makes them inconspicuous (they’re also available in a grey tone).

The headband is adjustable, the earcups can swivel and fold inwards – the carry case is incredibly slim as they slip into a bag without taking up space. Ergonomically, they slip on the head like a pair of slippers.

Controls are of the physical variety and include a switch for power and Bluetooth pairing, volume control and playback, and call receiving; while on one earcup is a Microsoft Teams button for joining calls (among other features). A Bluetooth dongle is provided to connect to laptops and other devices.

With the headphones making use of recyclable materials such as renewable PC+ABS, they’ve got sustainability on the mind, further reinforced by replaceable earpads and batteries ahead of the EU regulations that come into force in 2027.

This is also a boomless design with no protruding mic for taking calls. The Jabra also supports wireless charging (more on that later), but doesn’t come with an IP rating. Considering all the things it can offer, I’m surprised it isn’t water-resistant.

Battery Life

• 120 hours in total
• Wireless charging

We’re now at a point where headphones can go on and on. 30 hours was once the benchmark, but now there are pairs that claim to reach 100 hours.

Jabra plays its part with stamina that hits 120 hours of playback with music and calls. That’s a big jump compared to its predecessor, the Evolve2 85, which only managed to hit a measly 32 hours.

Having carried out a battery drain with a Spotify playlist at 50% volume, the Evolve3 85’s claims are no joke. After four hours, the headphones still registered 100% charge, and 10 hours later, they’d only fallen 2% to 98%. Those are astronomical numbers.

If, somehow, you need a top-up, the Jabra supports fast-charging (10 minutes for 10 hours), and these are the first over-ears that I can recall with wireless charging. The sample I was provided with came with a wireless charger, so you can simply drop the earcup on the stand and the headphones take it from there.

Features

• Jabra+ app
• SafeTone 2.0
• AAC Bluetooth

The majority of the Evolve3 85’s features are located within the Jabra+ app (mobile-only, with Jabra Plus Management App for IT admins on desktop). It’s a separate app from the Sound+ app that the Elite headphones used.

You can monitor battery life, as well as swap through sound modes (ANC, HearThrough and Off). You can also adjust Sidetone to hear more of your voice during calls. Jabra says this can help battle against fatigue and produce a more natural performance, so rather than whispering or shouting during calls, you’re just talking.

Jabra’s SafeTone 2.0 tech aims to keep audio at a consistent tone throughout the day, while PeakStop instantly limits any sound spikes at 118dB, shielding you against loud noises.

There’s an Automatic Busy Light to make it clear you’re on a call, and you can adjust the sound of other people by filtering through more treble and bass.

The first sign of any features for music comes with an EQ with several presets and a custom five-band option. Going through these settings, I found the effect wasn’t massive, and some had the habit of thinning music out.

Somewhat secreted away in the settings cog icon at the top of the app are several more features. There’s Hearing Protection where you can enable PeakStop as well as a couple of other similar features, including G616 that offers protection according to Australian guidelines.

You can toggle spatial sound for media, customise audio notifications, and enable settings for wearing detection or whether you hear a sound when pressing the buttons.

All of these settings, as you can probably tell, have a work focus. It’s the first obvious sign that the division of labour is more towards work than play. The app itself is laid out well enough and easy to read, but it can take a while to load to boot up. On one occasion, the app didn’t recognise that the headphones were connected.

The headphones connect over a Bluetooth 5.3 connection with AAC the highest quality codec alongside LC3. Is that a disappointment? Probably not, but it is another sign these headphones aren’t concerned with the highest audio quality compared to a Sony, Bose or Bowers & Wilkins. Then again, Jabra’s true wireless efforts rarely support aptX or higher.

There is multi-point Bluetooth for the multitaskers out there who want to connect to two devices at once. The Evolve3 85 can remember up to eight devices, so you can switch between them until your heart is content. You’ve also got Google Fast Pair, Microsoft’s Swift Pair, Made for iPhone certification, plus Google Find Hub and Apple’s Find My if you lose the headphones.

I haven’t found the wireless connection in open spaces to be the best, with little but noticeable stutters when walking through Canary Wharf, Farringdon and London Bridge.

Noise Cancellation

• Adaptive ANC
• HearThrough mode
• Wind Noise for calls

I was hoping for more with the Jabra Evolve3 85 in regards to ANC, but over the course of a couple of weeks of testing, it became clear the ANC performance isn’t the strongest for the money.

It’s the type of noise cancellation that throws a blanket on environmental noise but doesn’t fully cover it up. Walking around Canary Wharf, I could still hear someone laughing from across the street, cars and buses going past, as well as the sound of the DLR bustling its way overhead. For the money, I expected a better sense of silence.

Even wearing these headphones on a bus, I feel it’s not an escape from what’s nearby. Whatever suppression is being applied feels light, and when you have the likes of the Sony WH-1000XM6, Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones 2^nd Gen, and even a pair such as the Soundcore Space Pro available, the Jabra isn’t as good value and more often than not requires help from volume control to keep noises at bay.

Jabra calls the Evolve3 85 its best noise cancellation. That might be true for Jabra, but within the market as a whole, it’s short of the class leaders.

Wind noise is not silenced either, as it passes through the headphones’ frame, creating a blustery feel. It doesn’t upset the noise-cancelling mics and create noise, but the Wind Noise feature in the app doesn’t seem to be for ANC in general, but to aid vocal clarity during calls. Turning the feature on and off doesn’t negate wind noise.

The HearThrough mode works well, though. It’s very clear, reducing the wall between you and the outside world and sounds natural. There’s no unwanted noise when this mode is engaged.

Call quality is a double-edged sword with the Evolve3 85. Firstly, I used it with my OnePlus 11 5G in and around Canary Wharf, and the result was that it was fine, but it seemed as if Jabra’s claims of silence with calls didn’t ring true. The headphones let in noise, just like most other pairs I’ve tested over the past few years, and voice pickup was okay.

However, using the headphones at home over a Microsoft Teams call was a different proposition. The person on the other end said they couldn’t hear any noise on my end – and I was blasting an “Office Noise” YouTube playlist through a Sonos Five at full volume, at some points leaning right into the speaker.

The person on the other end couldn’t hear anything. My voice came through clearly and sounded natural.

That leads me to think the source of the Evolve3 85’s super-powers with office calls might lie in the Bluetooth dongle. I could be wrong, but the difference in performance makes me believe the dongle could be having a positive effect.

Sound Quality

• Smooth, rich approach
• Bass lacks power
• Highs not the brightest

It’s hard for headphones to straddle two purposes. It’s either one or the other, and the Jabra Evolve3 85 tries to sit between work and play with results that indicate there’s a compromise.

The Evolve3 85 has a smooth, warm sound, but I find the performance slightly odd in how it’s tuned. At first listen, I’d have expected the bass to be on the rich side, and it is, with the headphones giving the lows attention. But while the Jabra sounds rich with the lows, it lacks power, depth and extension too. It’s rich in tone, but the bass lacks power.

With Masego’s You Never Visit Me there’s some depth, but not the power I’m accustomed to hearing from the track. With Aespa’s Supernova, the first bass hit in the track doesn’t sound very punchy or big. To paraphrase a UK saying, these headphones could do with some more welly.

Highs aren’t the brightest, though they do sound clear and won’t cause fatigue. The smoothness of the tuning robs the treble of added brightness and detail, so while the high frequency performance is fine, I’m often left with the feeling that there’s more to be had.

Weirdly, I do like the sound of the Jabra Evolve3 85. It has a nice, amiable character, but it lacks energy, isn’t the most detailed, and ultimately isn’t the most exciting. There are headphones that cost less that sound more engaging.

I would say it’s worth giving the Spatial Sound mode a listen if you watch videos or play games. There’s no native Dolby Atmos support, but Jabra’s processing stretches the soundstage and provides some depth, and it doesn’t sound unnatural either. I enjoyed the Atmos performance with the Elite 10 Gen 2 and these sound similar. If only the sound itself were more exciting and finessed, we’d be onto a certified winner with these headphones.

Should you buy it?