Jabra is a well-established manufacturer of headsets for business, as well as headphones and ear buds for conferencing and entertainment applications.

The international company’s latest conferencing and entertainment solution is its Evolve2 Buds. These compact ear buds offer wireless audio capabilities, custom equalization options, and the ability to work with today’s most popular conferencing solutions.

In addition, the travel friendly Evolve2 Buds also can be used for personal entertainment and applications such as music and streaming video.

Looking to see how they work for conferencing, phone calls and personal entertainment activities, the company sent me a pair to try for myself.

Jabra Evolve2 Buds Features and Setup

The new Jabra earbud product like other earbud solutions is compact and they are designed for a wealth of uses that include conferencing and travel. The earbuds come in a durable plastic charging case that features a single USB-C charging port on the rear panel—Jabra includes a USB-A to USB-C cable—and the earbuds are interestingly IP57 rated for usage scenarios such as exercise.

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Helping users with the long-term usage of the Evolve2 Buds, Jabra includes three pairs of its EarGel-based earpieces to help users find a solution that best fits their ears. The earbuds also come with a Bluetooth adapter that can be used to extend the wireless range of the products as far as 65 feet when it is plugged into a computer.

Getting into more detail about the earbuds and their specs, users can pair the Evolve2 Earbuds with as many as eight devices that includes two simultaneous components. The earbuds utilize 6mm drivers, and the company states that in “speak mode” the earbuds deliver a frequency response of 80Hz to 8kHz, and in “music mode” the earbuds produce a frequency response of 20Hz to 20kHz.

The Evolve2 Earbuds also offer Active Noise Cancellation (ANC); the earbuds feature Jabra’s HearThrough technology that uses built-in microphones to pick up or allow environmental audio to pass through without the user having to remove the earbuds from their ears.  Total battery life with the Evolve2 Earbuds with the charging case is 33 hours. Battery life with Music Time ANC off is up to 10 hours; Music Time with ANC on provides as much as eight hours of battery life, and the Fast Charge option will charge the earbuds for up to one hour of use in five minutes.

Highlighting the earbuds’ conferencing capabilities, the product is Google Meet, Microsoft Teams and Zoom Certified to allow users to easily participant in work conference calls.

One last part of the Jabra Evolve2 Buds package is the Sound+ app. Through the app, which is available in the iOS Store and Android store, users can personalize the performance of the earbuds through a number of features that range from customized EQ profiles based on a user’s specific hearing, to what level of active noise cancellation a user wants to employ.

Setting up the headphones with my iPhone 13 Pro and Apple MacBook Pro was easy. Once I pulled the earbuds from their packaging, I simply pressed the two built-in buttons in earbuds simultaneously to pair the product with my phone and computer. Because the company sent me a set of preproduction units, I had to wait a few weeks before the earbuds were added to the Sound+ app. Using the earbuds without the benefit of the app to tailor the sound of the products to my hearing, I thought the product worked fine with phone calls, conference calls and music. The sound with music was a bit on the thin side with very little bottom end extension and not much weight to the midrange.

Once the Evolve2 Buds were added to the app I took the software’s hearing test to determine my level of hearing. Knowing that I like most people that are aging lose the top end of their hearing—I know that I probably don’t hear anything about 12kHz. Figuring the test will detect this, I listened to a series of test tones for my left ear and my right ear. Analyzing the data collected for the hearing test the app will provide a customized EQ curve. Knowing that many earbuds—and this is physics—lack deep bass I went into the app’s EQ options to add a small amount of low frequencies. I didn’t want the bass to become bloated, so I bumped up the frequency curve on the graphic equalizer at 60Hz.

CE Pro Features

• iOS and Android compatible
• Bluetooth 5.2
• Google Meet, Microsoft Teams and Zoom Certified
• Battery operation up to 33 hours
• Active noise cancellation (ANC)
• Supported by Jabra Sound+ app that includes custom equalization
• Retail price point is $269

I also set the ANC to the maximum level, and finishing up, under the light bulb tab at the bottom of the app, I left the button settings on the earbuds in their default modes. The app allows for a range of control preferences through a series of button presses to the left and right earbud buttons respectively. I will note that I saved my personalized EQ mode as “Bob 1” to join the app’s other preset EQ curves that include Neutral, Speech, Bass Boost, Treble Boost, Smooth and Energize.

Performance and Final Thoughts

With my EQ and noise cancellation settings in place the Jabra Evolve2 Buds have been providing me with a high level of value. I use the earbuds for phone calls on my iPhone and for conference calls on Zoom and Teams. I’m also using the product for entertainment that includes streaming videos from YouTube on my computer and music from my Apple Music account on my phone.

The noise cancellation works well to minimize distractions such as background noise in environments such as at home with the TV on and commercial settings that include at airport while sitting at a gate.

With the benefit of the EQ, the sound of the earbuds is warm with enough bottom end to give life to content such as rock and pop music without the mid-bass sounding bloated and undefined. The midrange is extremely detailed and the top end also provides high levels of resolution without sounding rolled off or too shrill.

A couple of small things with the Evolve2 Buds that I did have small issues with was the swapping out of the earpiece fittings. I did not have an easy time pulling the pair off that the earbuds come prefitted with, but I was able to put the smaller pair on, which do provide a better fit for my ears.  The other point I’d like to make note of is the supplied USB-A to USB-C cable that is supplied is extremely short. I ended up using the USB-C cable that comes with the Logitech MX Series keyboard and mouse that I use with my computer because it is much longer and easier to use for earbud charging purposes.

Some other things I found was the wireless range of the Bluetooth has been good. I am able to walk around my house, change floors and wear the Evolve2 Buds at distances that I estimate are over 25 feet and remain solidly connected to my devices. I will add that I have not used the wireless USB adapter because I haven’t needed that option. It’s also important to note the earbuds work fine without the companion Sound+ app, but if you really want to maximize the capabilities of the Evolve2 Buds I do recommend downloading the Sound+ app.

Adding everything up, I think the Jabra Evolve2 Buds equal a good, all-around audio solution that will do everything that people need for work, including WFH and hybrid offices, and entertainment at home or traveling.

If you are looking for a discreet headphone/earbud solution that can be used for a range of activities, the Jabra Evolve2 Buds are definitely worth looking at.

CE Pro Pros and Cons

Pros:

• Compact design makes the Evolve2 Buds easy to transport
• Excellent sound quality through the custom equalization options
• Good wireless transmission distance

Cons:

• This isn’t a real con, but users really should download the Sound+ app to fully realize the capabilities of the Evolve2 Buds
• Ear fittings can be a struggle to change for a better, more personalized fit

More news from Jabra: Hands-On: Jabra Evolve2 75 Headphones Brings Work Activities Home

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