Home office fun: Jabra Evolve2 85 is a luxury headset

The Jabra Evolve 2 is a headset for every situation, whether you work in the office, in the home office or on the go or just want to listen to music undisturbed. The headset convinced across the board, only the price is a bit steep.

The corona crisis has made home offices normal for many people who they no longer want to do without after the pandemic. Others generally work flexibly and set up their mobile office wherever they want or need to. If you make a lot of phone calls or often take part in video conferences, you need a good headset. With the Evolve2 85, Jabra wants to set the new standard for professional headphones. ntv.de has tried the headset and is quite impressed by it, you will hardly find a better all-rounder for work and everyday life. However, you have to leaf through at least 330 euros.

Comfortable and well thought out

The 286 gram light Evolve2 85 is a very comfortable headphone, which is mainly due to its large shells and the soft, generous padding. In addition, the contact pressure is just so strong that the headset sits securely but does not press. Its design is simple but well thought out. So its strap lies close to the head due to kinks on the shells and the headphones can be folded up compactly so that they don't take up much space in the supplied case in hand luggage.

The controls are extensive, but so simple that you can internalize them after a quick look at the quick guide. There are no fiddly touch surfaces on the Evolve2 85. The right shell has a large button on the outside in the middle, which is only there to accept, end or reject calls. There are three small buttons for playback. On the left shell is a switch that is also used for Bluetooth pairing. There is a button above to switch through the ANC modes. All buttons sit where you can comfortably reach your index finger or thumb.

The Jabra Evolve2 85 is transformed from a practical headphone to a headset by a microphone that is folded down from the right shell. There is another button on it for muting or calling up the digital assistant.

Good sound, strong noise cancellation

The sound of the headphones is excellent. It delivers rich bass, wide, defined mids and fine highs. As an all-rounder, it is fairly neutral, but doesn't come across too cool. If you prefer something a little more accented or like more punch, just use the extensive equalizer in the successful Jabra app (Sound +). There is a minus for the missing aptX, Jabra only supports the Bluetooth standard AAC.

The headphone also cuts an excellent figure in conversations. Even in a noisy environment it is always easy to understand, as a total of ten microphones suppress noise very effectively. In the test, calls to a busy four-lane street in downtown Berlin were also not a problem.

In the office, the wearer can enjoy excellent active noise reduction (ANC), which also effectively dampens clattering keyboards. Overall, you have the choice between three modes: ANC, ANC off and Hearthrough, whereby external noise is amplified, for example to hear announcements. When talking on the phone, colleagues on a red light ring see that you are having a conversation and do not want to be disturbed.

Persistent but expensive

The mileage is great, the Evolve2 85 with Bluetooth and ANC lasts up to 30 hours. If you use a cable, you can even get up to 37 hours before the headphones need to be charged. To do this, you can hang it on a power supply via its USB-C socket. There is an optional charging station for the headset, which costs almost 40 euros.

All in all, the Jabra Evolve2 85 is the ideal business headphones, which you can use in your free time because of its great sound and long endurance. The high call quality and the effective ANC are particularly impressive. However, the price is steep. Jabra itself charges around 500 euros for the headset, with charging station almost 545 euros. If you wait for the free sale, which apparently starts on August 19, you get the package from just under 360 euros, the headphones alone from around 330 euros. That is still a lot of money, but a fair price given the quality offered.