Jabra Evolve 2 Buds reviewed.

Love earbuds but hated the hassle of blue tooth pairing? How about having to switch your usual earbuds for work when you reached office? Fret not! Jabra got you covered with the Jabra Evolve 2 Earbuds!

What is the Jabra Evolve 2 Buds?

Jabra Evolve 2 Buds are built for professionals who prefer the versatility of earbuds over earphones in every environment. The main difference between the Evolve 2 Buds and other true wireless earbuds is it’s Jabra link 380 Bluetooth adapter.

That’s right, plug and play. No more downtime fiddling with bluetooth connectivity or changing of headsets and it’s settings. Like most mainstream earbuds, the Jabra Evolve 2 comes with Advanced ANC and HearThrough functions.

Built for professionals, the Jabra Evolve 2 Buds are Zoom certified or Microsoft Team certified (We got the Microsoft Team certified variant) and works with Google Meet which comes with once touch command buttons for accessing Teams calls.

We love that Jabra packed a myriad of functions into such a small package, the Jabra Evolve 2 Buds are build with ear protection technology SafeTone™ & SafeTone™ G616 that monitors average audio levels. PeakStop™ is used to protect users from sudden loud sound spikes while MultiSensor Voice™ ensures for vocal clarity in the open. With an IP57 ratings and up to 33hrs of usage time, the Jabra Evolve 2 Buds certainly is a gamechanger.

The Jabra Evolve 2 Buds is available in Black color and can be purchased on Jabra’s website for SGD 424.00.

Specifications.

Size	115mm x 137mm x 41mm
Weight	52g (Charging Case) 5.4g (Each Earbud)
IP Rating	IP57
Charging	Qi Certified wireless charging USB-C (30cm cable included)
Battery life	Up to 33hrs (Full charge 120mins) Earbuds (10hrs ANC off) Fast Charge (5mins gives 1hour usage time)
Connectivity	Bluetooth 5.2 USB-A/C Bluetooth adapter Pair up to 8 devices Support 2 simultaneous connected devices
Supported Software/App	Jabra Direct, Jabra Sound+, Jabra Express
Supported Audio Codecs	AAC,SBC
Microphone	MEMS 80Hz – 8000Hz
Speaker	6mm 20Hz – 20000Hz (music mode) 80Hz – 8000Hz (Speak mode)

Aesthetics.

The Jabra Evolve 2 Buds like most Jabra Earbuds come with a convex plastic body that fits nicely into the ear canal and a slightly triangle touch feedback pad on each buds. The whole earbud including the charge case is in Matt black. The Jabra logo is embossed on the charging case and on both touchpads of the earbuds. The subtle silver wordings are not too loud but exudes a touch of elegance and professionalism to the product.

The charging case with the earbuds weighs 52g which is heavier than the Elite series. I like it as it makes the product feel more premium and sturdy. For SGD 424.00 I would expect something different from the casual earbuds that I use for sports and daily commutes.

Jabra includes 3 sets of silicon ear tips (S,M,L), as usual the default M size snugs perfectly for me and the ergonomic design of the earbud conforms nicely on my outer ear. This is important as I will be using this earbud for most parts of the day from the morning’s daily commute straight to my work desk without swapping them.

The issue with earbuds is that they fit too well in the ear, after prolonged use of the earbuds I do feel some discomfort and had to air my ear canal and also charge the earbuds in the charge case.

Controls and functions.

The Jabra Evolve 2 Buds comes with feedback buttons instead of touch ones which is another yay for me. It’s frustrating to not know if I had pressed on the button to activate the function that I wanted. With feedback I know that I had pressed on it and makes it easier for me to troubleshoot.

Pairing of the earbuds can be done by two ways, turn on your device’s blue tooth and takeout both buds. If that fails, just press on both buttons on the earbuds for 3 seconds and it should be detected on your device. To connect the earbud to your computer, you just have to plug the Jabra link 380 blue tooth USB adapter in and it should connect immediately.

What’s great about the Jabra Evolve 2 Buds is that you can connect it to two different devices simultaneously. So I tried it with my handphone and my desktop for a week and it worked flawlessly. I normally turn on youtube music on the background of the computer while working and scroll through my phone’s social media occasionally. Whenever I wanted to play a video on my phone the buds will automatically pause my music on the computer and play the video on my phone.

The range on the bluetooth Link 380 adapter is around 5 to 6 meters which is not bad for a small office, no problem running to the pantry for your coffee breaks without disconnecting to your devices.

As always the enterprise products emphasize a lot on safety and the Evolve 2 Buds utilizes SafeTone™ & SafeTone™ G616 technology that monitors average audio levels and PeakStop™ protects the user from sudden loud sound spikes. IP57 ratings also means that you can take it for your yoga classes and evening runs without having to change to another earbud with sweat and dust proof functions.

Controls and functions are somewhat standard for Jabra earbuds and you will be able to change the settings in the Jabra App. The Evolve 2 Buds comes with additional business function which integrates MS Teams Meeting commands. You will be able to sign in automatically with a touch of a button and raise your hands by holding the right button.

Play/Pause Music	Press Left Bud
Next Track	Double Press Left Bud
Restart Track/Previous Track	Triple-Press Left Bud
Answer Call	Press Right Bud
End/Reject Call	Double Press Right Bud
Mute/Unmute microphone	Press Right Bud
Join active MS Teams meeting	Press Right Bud when signed in MS Teams
Bring MS Teams to foreground on computer	Press Right Bud when signed in MS Teams
Raise Hand in MS Teams Meeting	Press and Hold Right Bud when in Active MS Teams Meeting
Activate/Toggle HearThrough and ANC	Double Press Right Bud when not in call
Activate voice assistant	Press and hold left for 1 second when not on call
Volume down	Press and Hold Left Bud
Volume up	Press and hold Right Bud

Support App (Jabra Sound+ App and Jabra Direct).

Although you can use the Jabra Evolve 2 Buds perfectly well on it’s own, it will be best to download the Jabra Sound+ App to bring out the best in the Evolve 2 Buds.

Once connected to the Jabra Sound+ App you will brought through a configuration process to tailor the Evolve 2 Buds to fit your sound profile. MyFit and MySound settings will analyze your ear’s “age” and configure the earbuds to your profile to ensure a tight fit and best audio experience.

The earbud controls can also be changed via the Sound+ app and you can manually toggle the HearThrough and ANC through the App’s control panel too.

There are six audio presets in the Sound+ app from bass boost to speech mode and you can use the equalizer to manually change the different modes to your requirements.

There is also a soundscape option where you can activate background noises through the Sound+ app. Sounds like Rainy day, ocean waves or even a mechanical fan. Although it’s a cool function, I really just like the rainy day option which is nice when you want to have some quiet time in a messy environment.

Sound Quality.

Jabra Evolve 2 Buds offers AAC and SBC codecs which are the requirement for mid to high end earbuds. Although we would have loved to see LDAC and AptX on the list but as an earbud built for hybrid working I feel that it is good enough.

When playing “Can’t Stand the Rain” by the Rescues, there was a distinct and clear sound separation between instruments, vocals and background sound. The tight fit of the earbud contributes to the harmony of the audio, even when watching clips from youtube you can feel the surround sound via the earbuds.

Calls are clear and crisp with the 4 mic MEMS with MultiSensor Voice™, which is important as it is meant to be used for business purpose. No issues when taking calls in the open and even in the toilet cubicle.

Active Noise Cancellation (ANC).

You can adjust the ANC level via the Jabra Sound+ App when configuring the earbud. Generally the ANC works fine, white noises like flipping of documents, background office chatters and wind whooshing sound could be easily cancelled out. But, sharp noises like glass clinking, sudden dragging of chairs are still quite obvious even with ANC maxed out which was surprising.

The Bottom Line.

Overall, the Jabra Evolve 2 Buds did what it meant to do. Which is for professional hybrid working and on the go usage. It is the “One” earbud that you can rely on for a full days of activities. Although the price is on the high side, remember that this earbud is meant to replace your office headset. So you get the best of two worlds for the price of one!

TLDR:

Professional earbuds for every occasion.