In the age of hybrid working, many of us have had to adjust to not seeing our colleagues as much, and having virtual calls and briefings — whether that's on Zoom, Google Meet, or a quick huddle on Slack.
Unsurprisingly, the best headphones and headsets for working from home have also shot up in popularity, and if you spend a lot of time on calls, you need a competent headset that you can wear all day long.
But how much are you willing to spend on a conferencing headset? How does $700 sound? It's a lot of dough, isn't it? I've been testing the Jabra Evolve3 85, and although it's expensive, it sounds superb.
Listening comfortably all day long
Before I dive into the sound quality, I want to talk about one of the other things the Jabra Evolve3 85 excels at, and that's its design.
Just like with any other pair of headphones, I don't think you should spend any amount of money on a conferencing headset that you can't wear all day long. The good news is that the Evolve3 85 is extremely comfortable, so rest assured that you're getting bang for your buck here.
One thing I've always loved about my Marshall Monitor III headphones is the lightness, as they weigh just 8.8oz, and they feature a leatherette headband that helps relieve some pressure you'd otherwise feel on the top of your head. I'd say the Evolve3 85 headset is on par with my Monitor IIIs in terms of comfort. Jabra's offering weighs 7.76oz so it's very lightweight, and the breathable cushion padding on the headband feels excellent. The same padding has been used for the ear cushions too, and I love it.
Another thing I love is the cavities on the inside of the earcups, which are there to nestle your earlobes and ensure your ears don't get squished. It's so effective, and now I wish all headphones had these cavities. Having worn the headset for an eight-hour work day (I removed it just once), I can confidently say that it's the comfiest one out there.
A beautifully balanced sound profile
The Evolve3 85 headset is fitted with 32mm drivers that cover a frequency response range of 20Hz-20KHz (so the normal human hearing spectrum), and the headset makes music sound true-to-life and full of character, never once getting overwhelmed by multiple instruments even.
The treble is crisp and vibrant and never overzealous. Through the Evolve3 85, in songs like 'Carnival of Rust' by Poets of the Fall, the hi-hats never sounded too shrill, and worked well with other instruments to create a wonderful melody. Each note plucked on the acoustic guitar was discernible and never harsh to the point that it overpowered the vocals. Speaking of, the vocals in tracks like 'White Feather Hawk Tail Deer Hunter' by Lana Del Rey were nothing short of detailed. The 'tss' and 'sh' sounds — and there are many of them — sounded clean and didn't bleed into one another either.
Bass sounded just as good if not better through the Evolve3 85. Powerful but not booming, especially in songs like 'Money' by Pink Floyd and 'Little Dark Age' by MGMT. The sub-bass and mid-bass packed plenty of detail too, and I found the lower and mid-ranges better on the Evolve3 85 than on my Marshall Monitor IIIs — and that's saying a lot, as I adore the latter. The bass on the Evolve3 85 sounded warm with lots of low-end impact, and truth be told, I wasn't expect that from a headset designed for conferencing!
The elephant in the room
So, the Jabra Evolve3 85 is clearly a phenomenal headset. But it's hard to ignore the elephant in the room that's desperately asking to be addressed, and that's the headset's price. The Evolve3 85 is a premium work headset that retails for $720 / £539. It's more expensive than my PlayStation 5 Slim ($549), my Nintendo Switch 2 ($449), and even the brand new MacBook Neo ($599) and the Nothing Phone 4a Pro ($499).
The Evolve3 85 is supremely comfortable, yes, and its audio quality for calls and music is nothing short of sublime, but is it worth over $700? Kind of, yeah.
I know there are cheaper options out there ... but all of them have significant drawbacks. The Evolve3 85 headset doesn't have any such flaws.
I know there are cheaper options out there, like the Microsoft Surface Headphones 2 ($250), the HP Poly Voyager Surround 80 UC ($349), and the Cleer Enduro ANC (1$149), but all of them have significant drawbacks, such as unreliable battery lives, underbaked apps, finicky wear detection, and so on.
And the Evolve3 85 headset doesn't have any such flaws. It's expensive, but for the money, you're getting up to 120-hours of battery life, a sleek charging pad for you to charge the headset between calls, a lovely boomless mic, and peerless sound quality and vocal clarity. If I won the lottery, I wouldn't tell anyone, but there would be signs — and the Evolve3 85 around my neck would be one of them.
