Jabra Evolve 75 provides all-day wearing comfort with a premium sound experience, writes Balqis Lim
NOISE and interruptions are very common in the working world, whether you’re working on-the-go, in the open office or sitting beside rowdy and noisy workmates.
It will surely disturb your concentration and reduce productivity at work.
That is why communications and sound solution provider Jabra has introduced its new premium wireless headset, the Evolve 75.
WHAT IT IS
Jabra calls its Evolve 75 model “the best wireless headset for concentration in the open office”. It is the latest addition to the successful Jabra Evolve Series which has sold over 2.5 million units worldwide.
It combines the strongest parts of the Evolve range: Wireless freedom, great sound, Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) and integrated busylight to offer distraction-free open office working.
DESIGN AND FEATURES
The headset weighs 177g and features a flexible and adjustable headband with leather-feels ear cushions for all-day comfort. To protect your headset, a hard carry case is included for storage and transport.
Upon switching it on, a voice guidance tells how much battery life is remaining and which devices you’re paired with.
Alternatively, you can press the volume button on the headset to listen for the battery indication.
Each side of the Evolve 75 comes with a 40mm speaker and HD voice support for calls.
Its dual connectivity to two Bluetooth devices allows you to take calls and listen to music from the same headset, giving you extra freedom to move 30m away from your computer or up to 10m from your smartphone.
I find the dual connectivity very useful — when my phone rang, any audio from my computer immediately was cut out and with a push of a button on the headset, I could answer the call. No need to take my headset off every time I answer a call.
The ANC reduces outside disturbance to a minimum, allowing you to fully focus on your work or call. It can be activated by pushing a button underneath the left ear cup.
In order not to miss important announcements or queries from colleagues, the Evolve 75 has a Listen-In function where you can press the left ear cup to hear external sounds without removing the headset.
Its medium-length boom arm with noise cancelling uni-directional ECM microphone is great too, as it also features noise cancellation so that your caller doesn’t hear unwanted background noise in your environment whether it’s the sound of a fan or AC, loud cafe, printing paper or water fountain.
Just rotate the microphone up to mute, or down to un-mute. When the microphone is not needed, just flip it upwards and magnetically attach it to the headband.
Red lights or the “busylight” on both ear cups are activated automatically when answering a call. These can be manually activated by the user when busy to act as a do-not-disturb sign.
The product is also certified for Skype for Business, Cisco and other leading Unified Communications platforms.
Battery life is rated at 13.5 hours on a full charge, which means it can last you the whole day at work.
You can either use the USB cable provided or charging stand. The charging stand should be plugged into a powered USB port on your computer, docking station or wall charger.
SOUND QUALITY
I was impressed by its audio performance. I love watching movies on my phone. When I used the Evolve 75 while watching movies, I could clearly hear all the background music, which I could not get with my usual headphones.
When used with the ANC feature, the sound of the action comes to life. If it’s that good, you can imagine how great the audio is when listening to music using the Evolve 75. The bass kicked hard and the stereo felt broader with more depth.
VERDICT
Although it will take time to get used to where all the buttons are on the headset, it does a great job in making everything just a little quieter, most notably by reducing surrounding noises.
If you are always in very loud environments (trains and cafes, for instance) and total noise reduction is all you care about, this headset is your best bet.
The Jabra Evolve 75 retails for US$329 (about RM1,400) inclusive of the charging stand and for US$279 (about RM1,200) excluding the charging stand. For more details, email gkong@jabra.com.
PROS
CONS
VERDICT: 4/5