Jabra Elite 85h hands-on: A top contender with active noise cancellation

Jabra is no stranger in the mobile space, having made countless Bluetooth headphones and headsets over the years. Over in the true wireless earbuds space, in particular, Jabra delivered a top contender with its Jabra Elite 65t line – besting many of the competition in the process and earning our award for being the best of the best for 2018. Now they’re setting their eyes on the over-the-ear headphones space with the Jabra Elite 85h!

This is a serious pair of headphones, featuring active noise cancellation, custom equalizer settings, and ambient sound amplification. The design follows Jabra’s other line of headphones, combining a contemporary design with some premium elements – like plush cushioning around the headband and ear cups, mesh fabric, and what appears to be a metal frame. What’s unique about the Elite 85h is that it’s also water and dust resistant, which isn’t something we typically see in this category. On top of that, they turn on automatically by twisting the ear cups.

When it comes to sound quality, the Jabra Elite 85h wows us tremendously with its robust tones and ample volume. Even better is the fact that it features custom equalizer settings courtesy of the Jabra Sound+ app. Not only are there preset options available from the get-go, but we can also fine tune some of the audio ranges as well to really enhance its performance to our liking. So, whether you love the beats and bass, or simply prefer more treble, it can be tuned appropriately. Additionally, the active noise cancellation works exceptionally well to mute out a substantial amount of the background noise around us. And lastly, the "HearThrough" mode works equally as well to amplify ambient sounds – allowing us to easily discern voices while wearing the headphones.

Jabra has seriously concocted what’s arguably its finest pair of over-the-ear headphones with the Elite 85h! Battery life, too, is rated for 36 hours with active noise cancellation on – while 15 minutes of charging allots users with roughly 5 hours of use. This isn’t cheap at all, priced similarly to other premium offerings from the competition at $300. It’s undoubtedly on the pricey side, but given the performance and features, the Jabra Elie 85h is a serious contender that shouldn’t be overlooked!