Jabra Evolve2 85 UC Headphones with Link380c

Love the wireless headset. Easily able to be used with teams and my job’s phone system. It does disconnect and reconnect randomly at times. The connection isn’t the greatest all the time. It sometimes takes me turning off the headset and disconnecting and removing the Bluetooth dongle as well to get it to work. Sometimes it’ll randomly be staticky and I’ll have to shut off and then turn on a few times. Overall I’ve had it 4 months as of today and I enjoy the quality of it and it makes working from home easier. The ANC is superb and it’s very easy to use.

Buen producto pero la integración con IOS a veces falla, no conecta con la aplicación.

I hate to like these products. I actually loved the Jabra Evolve 65, they were amazing headphone where people can hear me well, no matter in the office or driving. But one thing didn’t work is the volume, I needed something w/ better volume and noise cancellation. So for me Jabra Evolve2 85 was a no brainer. I jumped in w/ two feet thinking it was going to be great! It was not. First pair I got was good, but buggy as heck, weekly I was resetting this thing back to factory so it will pair w/ my phone and laptop, it’s designed to pair w/ both. It would randomly drop connection and moving the Mic up and down was to mute, did not work. So finally they were willing to RMA the headphones… well what they didn’t tell me is that they didn’t have a replacement!! for over three months!! and they were not willing to do anything about it. So I had to find another pair of headphones just to use till I got them back. The replacement headset works… but still buggy, I will get on calls and they can’t hear me, so I would have to mute and unmute then it will work. Sometimes if I go for a walk it will randomly disconnect from my phone and then I will have power cycle to get it running. And I think the headphones get tired from working LOL, always later down the day (mind you it shows 70% charge) it will just stop working and connecting, so I just give up and put it on charging cradle and use cheap $10 headset to listen to YouTube.

Look if you want something with amazing noise cancellation, not just for you, but for the people who are you are talking to, where the mic works incredible in getting your voice through wind, car, construction, blender noises, then yes. Will it work 100% of the time, no.

I bought this headphones because I work from home and I needed a headphone specifically designed to be great in sound quality but also can be used for conference call since I have at least two during a day and these headphone delivered in both sides. Also they can connect to my phone at the same time so I can take a call or wattch any content in it. Excellent I can’t be happier.

I wrote a lengthy word document comparing these Jabra Evolve2 85 (E285) vs Bose Quiet Comfort 35 II (QC35II) vs Bose Noise Cancelling 700 (B700) vs Sony WH-1000XM4 (SX4) (in order of when I received them), fit for a blog, but this is Amazon, so I’ll shorten it. This was almost entirely written up during the week I had all four headsets for direct comparisons.

Microphone and Playback
QC35II recordings were consistently louder than the E285. But the E285 did a far better job of removing background noise than the QC35II and was notably better than the SX4, as evidenced by my recordings while drumming. It’s neck and neck as far as clarity of voice goes. The B700 was not tested because there were enough other reasons not to even consider them.

Akin to the E285, the SX4 are quite good as far as pick-up goes. But unfortunately, they were a little too good (or simply worse at distinguishing background noise). A co-worker and I had a Zoom meeting with ourselves in the same closet (to maximize productivity), switching between the headsets. Whoever had the E285 could hear themselves through the headset. At first, I thought it was because of the function where you hear yourself through the headset. But alas, upon one of us leaving the room, the echo went away. This meant the SX4 was picking up the other’s voice! The main killer of the SX4 is that you have no way to mute yourself from the headset. As a pair of headphones to be used in the office, this is crucial. You never know when someone may decide to butt in your closet (or office, for most people) and shout “HHHHEEEYYYY!!”. In contrast, the E285 offers two ways to protect yourself from such intrusions – by raising the boom arm or by pressing the button on the boom arm, leaving you to look down simply in resignation at said co-worker without having disrupted the meeting. The one drawback with the E285 is that sometimes the first word or two don’t quite make it through, so you may develop a stutter of your introduction. “I’m Jason – oh – I’M JASON – oh you can hear me now? I’m Jason”. Good news is, you shan’t be soon forgotten. Despite this, it’s more favorable than not being able to mute myself, though I can understand disagreement with this point. Win for E285. Runner up is SX4.

Audio Output – DISCLAIMER – I’m not an audiophile
E285 and SX4 audio sound better than the QC35II but primarily because I can use an equalizer and increase bass (obviously this is the most important factor). Even if the QC35II had better hardware, it’s not as accessible and therefore is a moot point. I couldn’t get the “thump” from the B700 no matter what I tried. The B700 does have an EQ, but it’s far more basic than what Jabra and Sony offer, like a ball point pen vs a fountain pen. Sure, the ball point will get the message across, but one can’t deny the fountain pen its grace as it glides like butter across the page, leaving streaks of variable line widths and drawing you in –sorry, wrong review. Honestly, it was difficult to tell the difference between the E285 and SX4. I think the amount of bass you get is comparable, however I think the SX4 is capable of producing an ever-so-slightly louder sound. Win for SX4. Runner up is E285.

Brand
Bose: wanted my location and would ask for it every time I open the app (and wouldn’t allow usage without accepting beyond the standard Bluetooth connection process). These are headphones. You don’t need my location. There are two different apps and both suck, but the one for B700 is especially awful (Bose Music). Just the first time using the app for setup, it crashed. It periodically failed to detect the headphones, even after the latest firmware instalment. It’s worth mentioning the Bose Music app is far worse than the other Bose app (QC35II uses Bose Connect). I had far too many connectivity issues within the first hour to justify keeping the B700 (yes, I requested a return within an hour).

Jabra: doesn’t require my location. Instead, it lets me know if I desire to give it my location, it will use it to locate my headphones. No, but thank you for giving me an actual choice!

Sony: same as Jabra, though with a caveat. The SX4 offers more utility when given Location permission, which will be addressed later on. They were not pertinent to me, however, so my location remains an enigma for Sony and Jabra (and Bose). Tie between E285 and SX4.

ANC
When standing in front of running water, QC35II had slightly better cancellation, but not a noticeable difference without actively concentrating. When playing on a drumpad, the E285 did a noticeably better job than the other headsets. It sounds like the pad is being muffled (which is what I’m looking for), whereas the others don’t quite succeed. During testing of the QC35II, whether ANC was on/off, there was a ceaseless light static (with no audio playing). I thought it quite odd and luckily, it didn’t happen again, but I suppose it could. With the QC35II, when the drum pad was hit, there was a tang sound, like the residual sound from tapping on a pan, as opposed to the muffled thumping the E285 gives. Perhaps with a constant noise the QC35II does a slightly better job filtering, but the E285 does a better job with impact noises (or maybe it’s just higher frequencies). Again, B700 was not put through this test because it sucks. The SX4 did a better job than the QC35II, but not as good as the E285 (though it was perfectly satisfactory).

In addition, the hear-through function of the E285 is awesome. With the QC35II ANC off, it sounds like the microphone is picking up sound and then replaying it in the speakers. In contrast, the E285 hear-through, which has adjustable levels, almost makes it sound like you’re not wearing them (tested at maximum hear-through). The SX4 has essentially the same feature, with an added “Focus on voice” option. I couldn’t tell a difference when that was on/off. Besides that, the SX4 didn’t do as good a job at allowing sound through as the E285. Win for E285. Runner up is SX4.

Connectivity
The E285 and SX4 have longer ranges than the QC35II. The E285, most of the time, reconnects automatically when coming back into range. Unfortunately, I don’t remember specifics about the SX4. QC35II, SX4, and E285 have a 3.5 mm jack. Why doesn’t the B700? Because it sucks.

Double-connection to my PC (independent of range): E285 is easier because it’s just plug-and-play, no downloads or “connecting”. The QC35II and SX4 are only Bluetooth, so you have to do the standard “add device”, etc. One annoying thing about the SX4 is you have to use the app to establish a Bluetooth connection to another device. Not a big deal, but for comparison’s sake, the E285 is better. Didn’t bother trying the B700 because of the numerous issues with just one connected device. An added feature of the Jabra is Jabra Direct, a software you can download to better manage your Jabra. It gives you a few more options and is worth using, in this writer’s humble opinion.

Response time: the QC35II and B700 have a slightly faster response time when pausing media than the E285. The SX4 is the fastest, though we’re talking minute (not 60 seconds) differences. The E285 is on the cusp of being slow enough to be annoying, but not quite. The E285 and SX4 also have the cool feature of pausing media when the headphones are removed from your skull. Again, the E285 feel lack-luster in comparison because they take approximately 4 M-I-S-S-I-S-S-I-P-I seconds to pause, whereas the SX4 is half that time. For the E285, I’ve noticed the ear detection only works properly when playing music from your phone and not the PC. When using it with the PC, if I remove the headphones, the music will pause as it should. But it doesn’t resume when I put them back on. If I pause the music with the button, then remove the headset, it resumes. Again, cool feature, but needs work, especially when using it with the PC. So SX4 is better about ear detection (presumably because it’s laser-assisted).

App connectivity: some issues with E285. Some issues with SX4. Some issues with QC35II (Bose Connect). LOTS of issues with B700 (Bose Music). Unfortunately, apps are prone to some bugs every now and then; unless you’re Bose Music, in which case you’re a swarm of locusts after a century rest furiously attacking unsuspecting victims taking what was supposed to be a nice meander down the side of the Nile River. Does it remind you of a curse? It should. I succumbed to believing the $400 I used to purchase them came from the time I was standing on a burial ground when my check came through my account. I can’t say which of the two (Sony/Jabra) had more, so neither bothered me much. Winner is SX4 (better media response time). Runner up is E285.

Voice Assistant
Couldn’t even get B700 to work. First off, I have to change the “action” button from ANC control to activate voice assistant (so you can’t have both functionalities at the same time). However, once button mapping was adjusted accordingly, I click the button and it says “open your Google Assistant settings”, with no further instructions. I open the Home app, and once again, no further instructions, so I didn’t get it working. I didn’t spend anymore time on it because in contrast, the E285 and SX4 worked exactly as expected. No setup or anything, I just pushed the button and my assistant came up. The caveat for the E285 is you have to pull down the boom arm to use the feature (you can still press the action button with the boom arm up and have the assistant prompt, but because the arm is up, the microphone is off so it’s pointless). Perhaps Bose has better functionality when used with Alexa, but I use Google so I’m not bothering with testing that. Tie between E285 and SX4.

I know this is extremely nit-picky, but the Bose assistant’s voice is far more annoying than Jabra or Sony. She sounds like an actual robot as opposed to someone I wouldn’t mind meeting.

Controls
The QC35II and E285 have essentially the exact same button layout and functionality. The key difference is the action button on QC35II. It can be EITHER for voice assistant or cycling through ANC. On the other hand, you can access both functionalities on the E285, with the caveat of lowering the boom arm first for the voice assistant. The other difference is placement of the power button. On the QC35II, it’s a lateral switch on the side of the right ear cuff. On the E285, it’s a vertical switch on the bottom of the left ear. I literally don’t have a preference between the two. However, I do have a preference for the other buttons. While in the same place (the action button on the QC35II is in the same place as the ANC cycling button on the E285), the QC35II has a much more noticeable difference between the volume buttons and the play/pause, which I like better. All the buttons are bigger and more defined, plus the volume buttons are slightly raised, making it even easier to know what you’re pressing. On the E285, the buttons take up less surface area and are rather flat.

Muting is definitely easier with the E285 because you simply raise or lower the boom mic. Though it also takes a little longer. The QC35II is more annoying because you have to press two buttons at the same time (the volume buttons).

After just a little use of the “touchless” controls (B700 and SX4), I can see their usefulness. It’s certainly easier to play/pause music and use the Voice Assistant (which is no easier to actually setup because Bose sucks). Changing volume is annoying because every click up/down requires an extra swipe. As debilitating as this is, one would not likely be changing by a bunch of increments at a time. Between the B700 and SX4, I found the pole in the B700 to be much more in the way and therefore the SX4 provides better usability. After more use of the touchless controls, I much prefer the them over the physical ones. Win for SX4. Runner up is E285.

Comfort and Style
While the B700 has the tightest grip, it actually slides off the easiest, I guess because the top band is the slimmest of the pickings. Also, it’s far easier to accidentally move the ear cups because they’re really loosely attached to their sliding pole. The silver of the QC35II is pretty sweet and the headphones are slimmer on the head than the E285. They also have an ever-so-slightly tighter grip. I’m able to pick up these minute differences thanks to my unusually small, child-like head. I doubt their grips would make any difference whatsoever for most users, but I prefer the QC35II. Though I’ve been wearing the E285 for a little over an hour and was so comfortable, I had to look to my left to see which headset I wasn’t wearing. So both are very comfortable, but for comparison’s sake, it’s a win for QC35II. Runner up is E285/SX4 (just as comfortable). Don’t care to spend time rating the B700.

Extra
The E285 has the hear-through feature, which I really like because I use ANC only when there are sounds I actively don’t want to listen to, like from mine or my roommate’s drumming, running water, laundry, phone call, or pooping with the fan on. Other than those times, I want some awareness of my surroundings because there’s nothing more frustrating than trying to get the attention of someone with headphones on (especially at work). In addition, the E285 and SX4 have ear detection (discussed previously). The E285 has a great way of handling multiple calls with its huge button on the right cuff. You can switch between two phone calls by putting one on hold and accept/end/reject calls using it. This is RARELY used, but it’s cool.

Issues
B700: flat out sucks with just ONE connection. I’m constantly having to manually re-connect, and not just a simple “re-connect”; I mean force-stopping the app, forgetting the headset from my phone and vice-versa, holding down the Bluetooth button to make the app realize it’s there, allowing my phone to pair, etc. Over and over. Can’t imagine the issues I’d be having if I set it up with two devices.

Others: my biggest issue was trying to connect QC35II with my Google Assistant. Besides that, functionality of the QC35II was pretty much flawless. Speaking of Google Assistant, there’s some variability with functionality with the E285. At the very least, the action button on the arm activates the assistant. But sometimes the input for said assistant is on the phone rather than the arm. Most of the time it works as expected. I think the additional connection to the PC adds complexity that needs to be vetted out for seamless functionality for the E285.

Final verdict, best to worst: E285, SX4 (killer – no mute function, worse hear-through), QC35II (killers – older BT connection, worse audio, poor ANC). Literally wouldn’t buy B700.

UPDATE: It’s been several weeks since I returned all but the Jabra Evolve2 85 (I use it 3-10 hours every single day) and my final rating is four stars. When it works, it’s great. But it doesn’t work all the time, unfortunately. The busy light is almost totally useless because it only works while on an actual phone call (not meetings from Zoom or Teams). It has trouble establishing priority between my phone and PC (no Jabra direct – only comes with one which is on my home PC and not my work laptop and an extra is wayyy too expensive). Audio and microphone randomly disconnects from Teams meetings even though Teams says it’s connected. The E285 has an edge over the SX4 when it comes to office use. But if muting yourself directly from your headset isn’t important to you and you’re not typically in a noisy environment during calls, then I would honestly recommend the Sony WH-1000XM4.

Bought this headphone because I literally spend 6 -7 hours a day on conference calls. I like to move around so as to not sit in one position too long due to my back. The feature I was after most was the mute button. This headphone came with a USB, but I didn’t use it at first….that was a mistake. the sound was terrible, crackling faint sound from the microphone…yes I had the microphone down. I tried it on 2 different laptops…Work(Lenovo) and personal(HP), almost same performance.

However when I plugged the USB in, all things improved drastically. sound was great, everything worked. so for anyone reading this, you MUST use the USB.

the charger stand was a bonus, but had trouble there too…first one was defective, Amazon quickly did an exchange. Second one, I first plugged it into a Apple power brick because it was convenient, nothing charged, but when I plugged into a 1AMP power brick, it works. So apparently if it is more then 1 amp, it won’t charge. go figure.