Quality headsets are now becoming a must have item, as more of us are working remotely or from home online meeting/training is now the norm in every walk of life. The demand for good quality, feature packed and comfortable headsets have hit an all time high.
I gave the impressive Jabra Evolve2 40 a run around the block, but as I am more of an adventurous type being tethered to my headset was a limitation I just couldn’t live with. Therefore, I have opted to test the new Jabra Evolve2 65 wireless headset and see if the newfound freedom trades off on any of the great features found on the Evolve2 40’s.
Comfortability
The high quality materials used on the Evolve2 40, is continued on the Jabra Evolve2 65 range. The deep memory foam on the ear cups, the soft gel feel headband that moulds to the top of your head. All pointing to a comfortable fit with minimal head pressure allowing for stress free long time use. I never saw myself as an over the ear headset person, but after testing both the Jabra2 40 and 65 I can tell you my feeling have changed.
Battery
When talking wireless anything, the first question will always be “how long does the battery last”. Well Jabra have stepped up to the plate here with a whopping 37 hour of battery life from a full charge of 90 mins and if you’re in a hurry or need a top up you get 8 hours of battery life with the 15 minutes fast charge. So no need to worry about your headset getting you to the end of your workday.
Features
Just like the Jabra Evolve2 40 the Jabra Evolve2 65 comes packed full of features, with the 3-microphone call technology, creating clear and quality audio for your audience.
Advanced digital chipset and latest signal processing technology, which eliminates the background noise keeping your personal life out of your professional one. The Evolve2 65 is also UC (Unified Communications) compliant, and works with all your collaborating platforms including GoToMeeting, Skype for Business, Microsoft Teams, Cisco WebEx, Zoom, Google Hangouts and many more.
Of course the omnipresent “Busy” indicating lights, that can be seen both sides, front and back is still present, and what I think is such a simple but so effective tool in both the professional and personal use.
Controls
Jabra have continued with the physical buttons for volume control, play and pause, next and previous tracks. They have added a toggle button for power on and off and the dedicated Team\UC button for Notification and answering calls. All control buttons are located on the right ear cup and are easily accessible and do not take much to familiarise yourself with.
The best feature with this Jabra range is the fold down\up microphone for muting, this is so quick and easy when you need to make yourself silent in a hurry. No fumbling no guessing as like the Evolve 2 40 just a swift push on the mic arm and boom you are muted.
Setup
The setup is extremely straight forward, just turn on the headset and connect to a corresponding Bluetooth device. However, Jabra have taken this one-step further with the Evolve2 65, they have introduced a wireless USB dongle that allows for automatic connection to your device. The connection is not through the mobile’s Bluetooth and for me this is a preference given inconsistent Bluetooth quality on each of my mobile devices. The big benefit goes without saying, that you can connect your headset to your mobile device and to your PC at the same time.
Range
Always the 64 million dollar question, As I find it hard to keep still whilst having lengthy back to back meetings I have found myself pushed the range limits of the Jabra Evolve2 65 close to the 20 meter range mark. But since I can use the USB dongle in my phone, I am not bound by the Bluetooth limits of the PC connection and if you are able to use the same meeting platform on your mobile device the range then does not become an issue. Well played Jabra, nothing like working with freedom.
Gripes
The L Shaped charging dock is a very simple and eloquent design, but I found mounting the headset in the correct position to charge a little frustrating. I was caught out a couple of times thinking the headset was charging only to find out it was not quite mounted in the right position. There is a charging indicting LED to let you know it is correct positioned and charging.
Conclusion
The Jabra Evolve2 65 is an outstanding performer that is packed full of features, it is a little on the expensive side but I would be happy to pay for the comfort and the freedom that comes with this newly must have item for the home or the office. It is available for around AUD$350, although there are some deals on Amazon. Buying through Amazon helps DigitalReviews so we appreciate you considering making your purchase there.
A big thank you to our friends at Jabra for providing the opportunity to DRN once again.
Specifications
• Active Noise-Cancellation: N/A
• Speaker size: 40mm Ø
• Speaker sensitivity: 117dB @1mW-1kHz
• Speaker max input power: 30 mW
• Speaker frequency range: 20Hz-20.000Hz
• Speaker bandwidth – music mode: 20Hz-20.000Hz
• Speaker bandwidth speak mode: 100Hz-8.000Hz
• Microphone type: 3 Digital MEMS
• Microphone sensitivity: -26 dBFS/Pa
• Microphone frequency range: 100Hz-8.000Hz
• Audio codecs supported: SBC
• User hearing protection: Jabra SafeTone
• Certifications: Leading UC vendors; meets Microsoft Teams Open Office requirements*
* Microsoft Teams variants only
