After a few years of hiatus away from the consumer space, Jabra came galloping back (see what I did there?) this year with the Evolve3 series. More accurately, they came in quietly with full ANC mode.
In February this year, I was a guest of Jabra when they held their official launch event at the Museum of Contemporary Arts at The Rocks, Sydney. I got the experience first hand, what the Evolve3 Series could do.
The Jabra Evolve2 series was last seen in April 2023 with the Evolve2 55. And prior to that, the Evolve2 75 in September 2022. So yes, it has been a few years between drinks.
But whilst Jabra stepped away from the space publicly, it is obvious that they have not been sitting idle in those years.
As part of the launch, guest speakers from Google and Microsoft had some startling insights – voice has never been more important, since when Alexander Bell invented the telephone.
As part of this review, Jabra has very kindly provided me both a Jabra Evolve3 75 and a Evolve3 85 headset.
tl;dr
The Jabra Evolve3 (75 & 85) represents a massive shift for business audio by ditching the traditional boom microphone in favour of AI-powered “ClearVoice” technology.
Design: No more bulky mic arms. It’s sleek, lightweight, and packs into an incredibly thin 22mm case.
Performance: The AI noise cancellation is “black magic” levels of quiet. It isolates your voice perfectly, even in noisy retail shops or loud Sydney traffic.
Comfort: Jabra swapped hot leatherette for breathable fabric. You can wear these for 10-hour marathons without your ears overheating.
Battery: Monster life—up to 120 hours of music or 25 hours of talk time, with insanely fast USB-C charging (5 mins = 5 hours).
The Catch: At A719toA979, they are a serious investment, and while the call quality is elite, the music audio (bass/soundstage) is just “okay” compared to dedicated consumer headphones.
Verdict: If you live on calls and value hybrid flexibility, this is the new gold standard for professionals.
Jabra Evolve3 vs Evolve2: What’s Changed?
The most prominent change with the Evolve3 series, compared to the previous generation Evolve2, is the absence of the boom microphone. That’s right, no more mic boom that you have to position correctly in front of your face, and get knocked accidentally when you reach for something. A breakable part.
Under the hood, the brains of the two Evolve3 models are the same. There are some technical differences which will be shown in the table below.
On the surface, the Evolve3 75 is an on-ear style, and the Evolve3 85 is an over-ear style.
The design philosophy is to create products that are business centric, but versatile enough to use for leisure. The removal of the mic boom was just the first step.
Jabra honours the hybrid work philosophy by creating a product line that is effective in any environment. This commitment goes beyond just technical prowess. The carry case of the Evolve3 series is about 22mm thick. You have to hold it to comprehend just how slimline it is when packed down.
The days of fighting for space in a work bag to carry a bulky set of headphones are blown away with the Evolve3.
Technical Specifications: Evolve3 75 vs Evolve3 85
| Feature | Evolve3 75 | Evolve3 85 |
|---|---|---|
| Wearing Style | On-ear (Lighter, breathable) | Over-ear (Immersive, passive isolation) |
| Microphone | Boomless (AI ClearVoice) | Boomless (AI ClearVoice) |
| ANC Type | Adaptive ANC | Real-time Adaptive ANC (Enhanced) |
| Talk Time | Up to 22 hours | Up to 25 hours |
| Music Time | Up to 110 hours (ANC off) | Up to 120 hours (ANC off) |
| Wired Audio | USB-C only | USB-C + 3.5mm Jack |
| Weight | 180g (~15% lighter than Evolve2 75) | 220g (~23% lighter than Evolve2 85) |
| Charging | USB-C & Wireless | USB-C & Wireless |
The MCA Sydney Launch: Testing AI ClearVoice Live
It takes ultimate faith in your product to run a live demonstration in an uncontrolled environment in front of some 120 guests.
I headed down to the event with another guest, and we were taking guesses at what we will hear and see that night. We were both right, and we were both very wrong.
As one of the guests in attendance, I can put my hand on heart and say, that demonstration was definitely live. No smoke and mirrors. The first attempt to do the demonstration failed because the MCA guest Wi-Fi coverage didn’t extend far enough into the outdoor entertainment area – where the star of the show is.
But when everything was running off a hotspot, we were treated to your standard computer audio. Background noises of The Rocks, the traffic crossing Sydney Harbour Bridge in the near distance, a strategically planted Jabra staff trying to order takeaway at the top of his voice right behind our mule. We all heard those interruptions clearly.
And then it was silence. When the demonstration switched to the Evolve3, it was just instant silence. The background noise was gone, whilst the speaker’s voice came through naturally. The audience, myself included, were collectively stunned, before breaking out in applause.
It was an definitive, plant the flag moment. Jabra is back.
Real-World Performance: Working from Anywhere
With the flexibility I have for work, I get to work from some weird places. The good part is, the Jabra Evolve3 got a work out every day for the past month.
From an audio perspective, the most challenging environment was leading a mission critical conference calls, taken whilst I was sitting in a retail shop, music blasting near me. People chatting in the background, walking by.
I was tethered to the one table there, near a power source. It was not my place to ask the shop to turn off the music, or people to stop browsing the shop near me.
I was a little nervous about the setup. There is impression management at stake – I needed to maintain a professional image. During the call, I casually checked on the voice quality.
The feedback was that when I was not talking, it was just silence from my end. But when I was speaking, then just the faintest background noise leaked in. My voice remained crystal clear and it was not obvious that I was not in an office or at a desk.
The call quality was so good, that the client asked me what I was using.
Design and Ergonomics: Fabric Over Leatherette
In all honesty, I have lost track of the number of hours I have spent wearing the Evolve3.
My days are generally filled with endless meetings, support calls, occasional press briefing. Being able to wear a headset for extended periods. Six to ten hours a day with little room to breath is not out of the question.
A very key change from Evolve2 to Evolve3 is the material used for the ear cups. Whilst PU leatherette was all the rage a few years back, Jabra has moved onto breathable fabric.
For someone who’s ears get hot before the first hour of meeting is over, the Evolve3 has been a saviour.
The Evolve3 75, with the on ear style, is ideal for work environments where you do not need the full isolation offered by the Evolve3 85.
The on-ear style is not my preferred type if I had a choice, but the lightweight form factor with the Evolve3 75 was comfortable enough that I forget I have it.
The Evolve3 85 is designed to offer full immersive isolation for when you need to really focus at the task on hand.
Unlike many headphones, inside the ear cups of the Evolve3 85 is shaped. It brings the speaker elements closer to your ear canal.
From an sound isolation perspective, it works well enough – it cuts out a lot of background noise but does not cocoon you in complete silence. I was just on a call earlier, it’s a teacher strike day here in Victoria and my daughter is home. Despite the full ear coverage on the Evolve3 85, I can still hear her in the background – but only I can. As far as the other side is concerned, I am in a quiet room.
You could opt to have HearThrough enabled, which allows outside noises to filter in more.
AI ClearVoice and 120-Hour Battery Life
If you have doubts about the boomless design, let me put that doubt to ease.
During the launch event, Jabra pointed out that their “ClearVoice” AI technology is trained on 60 million sentences. Yes, sentences, not words. I was a few drinks in that night, so my recollection is not perfect here.
The reason behind using real-world sentences is that it trains the engine to isolate speech from background noise with higher accuracy. And there is also the tone and inflection differences that impacts on speech recognition.
If you think about how your GPS talks to you, that’s stitched together by separate words. It can sound a bit robotic, and definitely gets some place names very wrong. The other day I was driving on Scoresby Road (pronounced as Scores-be), my GPS called it out as “Score-res-bee.”
Jabra claims a voice capturing accuracy of 96% in any environment, and a bragging rights 99% in an open office. Given that voice input is up to three times faster than typing, this makes the Evolve3 a practical option for staying productive where a screen is not useable.
The battery life on the Evolve3 series is phenomenal. For music playback, it is now rated for up to 120 hours on the Evolve3 85, and 110 hours on the Evolve3 75.
Talk time though, is 25 hours and 22 hours respectively. You can pretty much go a full 24 hours at the most optimal use case.
But the real MVP here is the fast charge performance (via USB-C):
- 5 minutes of charging gives 5 hours of power,
- 10 minutes gives 10 hours.
And you can charge via USB-C and use at the Evolve3 series at the same time.
The Evolve3 series has moved away from the proprietary charging cradle used by the previous series. They are now Qi2 compatible so you can just drop them on any wireless charger. It is the ultimate convenience.
Lastly, in a win for sustainability and repairability, Jabra has made both the batteries and ear cups user-replaceable.
Room for Improvement: Music and Soundstage
Starting with the audio quality. For voice calls and podcasts, the clarity and reproduction is genuinely unparalleled, even under challenging conditions.
But for the fun factor – listening to music, it can be a little lacking. The soundstage is not quite as expansive as it could be, and the bass did not quite capture the immersion into the scene. It’s not terrible by stretch of imagination, but there is room for improvements. It didn’t quite hit the spot with the new BTS album Arirang.
The new Jabra Plus app – don’t use the older one – allows you to tune it a bit with the equaliser.
Coming from a headphone with a boom arm, I do miss being able to just flip it up to mute. That said, I am happily sticking with the Evolve3 for the incredible leap in overall quality where it counts.
Verdict: Is the Jabra Evolve3 Worth the Investment?
Priced at A$719 (Evolve3 75) and A$979 (Evolve3 85) respectively, the new Jabra Evolve3 series are not on the budget end of the spectrum.
But if phenomenal noise cancellation, accurate voice pick up and wearing comfort are non-negotiable criteria in your headset selection, the Evolve3 series are absolutely worth the look in.
Whilst the music enjoyment side is not the best you can get in the market, you could do a lot worse.
The things I love? The ANC, the lightweight, the comfort level. The hidden winner? Just how slim it gets when you pack it into the included hard case. And yes, a wireless charging stand is included.
And if you are still hesitant, the self-repairability the all important user replaceable battery and ear cups means you can keep this investment going for years to come.
DRN would like to thank Jabra for provide the review units. Just between you and me, it has replaced my previous go-to headset that has been on my desk for three years.
