Jabra Evolve 2 75 Review: Still the Best 'Bang for Your Buck' Office Headset?

Jabra has been present in the Indian market for a while now. One of the main aspects that stands out is that the company still caters to a highly niche customer base, while most of its offerings retail at the higher end of the market. The company takes pride in offering premium build quality, with reliable audio products that are meant to last. Those who buy Jabra products expect their devices to offer higher standards.

I got to test out one such product from the company, the Jabra Evolve 2 75, a premium on-ear headphone that currently retails in India for almost Rs. 55,000. The company positions the recently launched headphones for online office meetings, which have been normalised since the pandemic hit in early 2020, and work from home became the only feasible option. But, does the Jabra Evolve 2 75 satiate the needs of an audiophile? Here's our review.

Jabra Evolve 2 75 Design and Comfort: The Paradoxical Nature of On-Ear Headphones

• Dimensions - 145x67x190mm
• Weight - 197g
• Form factor - On-ear
• Coloursways - Beige and Black

The Jabra Evolve 2 75 on-ear headphones are clearly built to last. The audio device features a reinforced steel headband that not only looks premium but also offers a great in-hand feel, despite its use of hard plastics. The inside of the headband has been cushioned, tapering around the edges. Meanwhile, the outer part of the headband is covered in a leather-like soft material. The headphones wrap around your head easily and rarely feel odd. The first thing you notice when you put them on is how well-built the headphones are, which is what you expect when you spend upwards of half a lakh on an audio device.

Jabra Evolve 2 75 design

Jabra has equipped the Evolve 2 75 with an adjustable headband, functioning through a slider mechanism that is extremely smooth to operate, just like a hot knife slicing through butter. The left and right earcups have been appropriately marked, with the signage appearing on the inside. But people who are putting on headphones for the first time can take some time to figure out which earcup goes where, since the markings are placed as prominently as one would like. It appears to be a trade-off that the company had to make to keep the design subtle and appealing.

Jabra Evolve 2 75 button layout

The Jabra Evolve 2 75 is offered in two colour options - Beige and Black, and both of them have their own appeal. I got the Black colourway, which is the more subtle and formal option of the two. The overall design language appropriately brings together the professional, personal, and premium to offer what the headphones are. In a formal setting, the headphones never feel out of place. Similarly, they are compact, measuring just 190mm in depth. Additionally, the earcups twist to lie flat on tabletops, further enhancing their compact design.

While the company appears to have put a great deal of thought, time, and effort into its design, I cannot say the same about comfort. The Jabra Evolve 2 75 suffers from the same problem as most on-ear headphones. The headphones sit on top of the ears, which is fine for brief usage of about 45 minutes. After this, the headphones become quite uncomfortable, leading to ear pain. If you wear spectacles like me, you will keep struggling to find the perfect placement for them on your head.

Jabra Evolve 2 75 comfort

Weighing about 197g, the Jabra Evolve 2 75 is not heavy by any measure. But, like other on-ear headphones, they push on your earlobes to stay in place, ultimately putting pressure on your neck. Since the earcups of over-the-ear headphones sit around your ears, the weight is well-distributed. However, on-ear headphones cannot offer the same level of comfort. While the Jabra Evolve 2 75 tries to solve this issue by offering relatively soft cushions, it feels more like a stopgap measure than a permanent solution.

Meanwhile, a major redeeming factor is the presence of physical buttons, which are slowly vanishing. The Jabra Evolve 2 75 features a toggle for active noise cancellation (ANC) and talk-through, a power switch, and volume control buttons that can also be used to switch between tracks. These buttons are extremely tactile. There is a slight learning curve in figuring out which button does what, but once you are past that 10-minute exercise, you will start relying on the navigation buttons heavily. This further reaffirms that physical buttons are an irreplaceable feature and that gesture-based navigation might never reach the same level of functionality.

Jabra Evolve 2 75 Sound Quality and Specifications: A Sound That Grows On You

• Driver - 40mm Drivers
• Codec Support - AAC, SBC
• Companion app - Jabra Sound+
• Connectivity - Bluetooth 5.2
• Notable features - Eight-microphone system, Microsoft Teams certification

Advertised primarily for office meetings, the Jabra Evolve 2 75 does what it is meant to do with ease. The headphones are great at reproducing and transmitting voices with utmost clarity. Similarly, the eight-microphone setup on the headphones does its job well, picking up your vocals while eliminating environmental noise. The headphones also feature four LED indicators, two on each earcup, that turn red when you're in a meeting, letting others know you should not be disturbed.

Jabra Evolve 2 75 features 40mm audio drivers

The ANC and talk-through work well, considering the Jabra Evolve 2 75's on-ear form factor. The ANC never feels overwhelming, but it is strong enough to block most sounds with ease. Similarly, the talk-through mode picks up vocals well, and I rarely had to take off the headphones when someone wanted to talk to me. They also ship with Microsoft Teams certifications, offering great integration. The built-in collapsible microphone stick can mute and unmute automatically when you open or close it. Similarly, the wear detection works like a charm and rarely fails.

Jabra Evolve 2 75 features an eight-mic setup

Coming to how they perform at playing music, the first device I connected to the Jabra Evolve 2 75 was my iPhone. Upon first usage, I was left extremely disappointed, as the music felt extremely flat, lacking any sort of bass or treble, a weird combo that might not sit well with a customer paying upwards of Rs. 50,000 for a pair of headphones. This came as a surprise to me, as the retail box clearly says “Made for iPhone”. Still, the audio was always crisp and clear, a signal that it is definitely capable of more.

And the story completely changes for the better when you download the Jabra Sound+ companion app and adjust the equaliser to your liking. The deeper bass and crisp highs justify Jabra's audio lineage and the price of the Evolve 2 75. The headphones support AAC and SBC audio codecs. Hence, there is rarely any audio delay, with a wide soundscape. I played Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI) for about 35 minutes, and I could barely notice any delay, with the in-game sounds, like enemy footsteps and gunshots, sounding clear as day.

However, the Jabra Evolve 2 75 offers the best audio output when it is connected to a Windows PC. With the customisation options available in the Dolby Atmos app, you can adjust the sound to offer that punch-in-your-face bass, where percussive sounds and 808-style beats shine the most. Even with default equalisation, the headphones just sound better connected to a PC than to a smartphone. I played tracks from a variety of genres through primarily two platforms - Spotify and YouTube, on my laptop and iPhone.

Jabra Evolve 2 75 supports Bluetooth 5.2

To no one's surprise, the headphones sound better with music playing on YouTube because of Spotify's compression algorithm. I listened to My Prime by Navaan Sandhu, Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen, Gift by Cheema Y, Human Nature by Michael Jackson, and Unshaken by D'Angelo. As previously mentioned, the drums sound great, guitar riffs remain crisp, and the high-pitched sounds fall on your ears clear as day. The instrument separation is simply amazing, with even instruments like cymbals and triangles well differentiated, something other audio products struggle to achieve.

Jabra Evolve 2 75 Battery Life: Exceeds Expectations

• Battery life - Claimed to last up to 36 hours (ANC off)

Another area where the Jabra Evolve 2 75 shines is battery life. The company promises up to 36 hours of battery life with ANC off and up to 33 hours of backup with ANC on. These are tall claims, but the headphones do deliver close to what the company promises. It took me nearly 30 hours to drain the battery of the Jabra Evolve 2 75. I consistently moved between ANC and talk-through modes, and barely had either of the two turned off.

Jabra Evolve 2 75 offers long battery life

When I did manage to drain its battery, the Jabra Evolve 2 75 came back to life within minutes. However, charging the headphones to 100 percent took a little over 2 hours.

Jabra Evolve 2 75 Verdict

The Jabra Evolve 2 75 appears to be a niche product, meant for a very specific user. While it does what it is meant to do with ease, the headphones are capable of much more than what the company offers. At its current retail price of Rs. 54,391, the headphones largely justify their price with their premium build quality, wide soundscape, decent audio quality, and long battery life.

While I would not recommend it to people who are just planning to listen to music on their headphones, as there are indeed better devices available in the market for the same or even lower price, the Evolve 2 75 would be an easy choice for people who are perpetually moving between meetings and also listen to music to cool off. However, if you're looking for a more well-rounded performer for a slightly lower price, you might want to consider Sony WH-1000XM6 headphones or get Apple's AirPods Max for a higher price.