INTRODUCTION

   Working out while listening to music has always been a serious issue for many people (myself included) especially for those who also like to run large distances and although stability may be the most crucial factor audio quality and resistance to sweat are two things many have been looking for. I realize that many people don't think that sweat is sufficient to render any headset inoperable (must have had that discussion with friends over a dozen times) but over the years I’ve had several models fail because of that (including some far from what anyone would call affordable) so my experience says otherwise. Unfortunately there aren't that many sweat/water resistant wireless headsets out in the market that also feature good audio quality and stability so the Elite Sport by Jabra have been the best solution to date for me ever since i first got my hands on them in August of last year. This may however change since today's review is about the latest Elite Active 65t True Wireless Earbuds again by Jabra.

   Jabra, part of the GN Group, is a leading developer and manufacturer of communications and sound solutions. We are committed to letting people hear more, do more and be more than they ever thought possible. We believe that through sound, we can transform lives. Jabra innovates and empowers with sound solutions for businesses and consumers, producing corded and wireless headsets, portable and in-office speakerphones, and sports earbuds. Jabra employs 1,000 people worldwide, and produced annual revenue of DKK3.5 bn in 2016. The GN Group operates in more than 90 countries, and has almost 150 years’ experience in innovation and delivering reliability and ease of use. Founded in 1869, employing over 5,000 people, and listed on Nasdaq Copenhagen, GN makes life sound better. www.jabra.com

   If our review of the in-ear Elite 65t didn't fly under your radar then it shouldn't be a surprise to you that the Elite Active 65t is basically identical to the Elite 65t with the addition of IP56 rating which renders it water and dust resistant. Granted this is not as "impressive" as the IP67 rating of the older Elite Sport model but it's something we felt was missing from the regular Elite 65t model. So once again inside the Elite Active 65t Jabra has squeezed two 6mm dynamic drivers (20Hz-20KHz frequency response with 16Ohm impedance, 103dB sensitivity and 8mW max input), 4 digital MEMS microphones (100Hz-10KHz frequency range with -38dB sensitivity - microelectrical-mechanical system microphones offer advanced noise cancellation with hearthrough and sidetone controls), motion sensor (accelerometer), lithium-ion rechargeable battery packs (power the earphones with up to 5 hours of continuous use) and Bluetooth v5.0 connectivity (10 meters range/ 2 simultenously connected devices/ up to 8 paired devices in total) complete with all the latest profiles (A2DP v1.3/ AVRCP v1.6/ HFP v1.7/ HP v1.2/ PBAP v1.1). Of course just like both the Elite 65t and the Elite Sport before that the Elite Active 65t is bundled with a compact charging case which can provide both earphones with 10 extra hours of battery life.

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

As always a large product picture takes most of the front of the box (the water enveloping the Elite Active 65t is obviously pointing to the IP56 certification).

On the left side we see the charging case with the earbuds and the 6 bundled silicon EarGels.

All of the product features are listed at the rear right above yet another product picture.

Once you remove the exterior of the box you will find a welcome note on a piece of cardboard.

As you can see the bundle is safely placed inside a piece of plastic with 4 compartments.

Along with the Elite Active 65t earbuds and their charging/carrying case you will also get 4 extra silicon EarGels (6 total with the pre-installed ones), USB charging cable, Warning and Declarations paper and the get started guide.

THE ELITE ACTIVE 65T

The design of the Elite Active 65t is almost identical to the Elite 65t (minus the material and color since the active version is rubberized and dark blue).

In order to showcase their size we placed the Elite Active 65t right next to models by TRELAB, SoundPEATS, xFyro and Sandberg.

Just like with the Elite 65t the Elite Active 65t features controls on the exterior of both earbuds (the center of the right piece is used to turn on/off the set, turn on/off the hearthrough feature, initiate Bluetooth pairing, play/pause music, answer/end calls and use the voice assistant feature while the left and right buttons placed on the exterior of the left earbud is used to lower/increase volume levels, skip tracks and check the status of the battery).

The 4 MEMS microphones (2 on each earbud) are placed at the front and external sides.

Left and right markings are located at the rear of both earbuds just over the charging contacts.

Inside each earcup Jabra has placed 6mm dynamic drivers.

Just like with the charging case of the Elite 65t the one bundled with the Elite Active 65t is not very easy to open so you will never have to worry about the earbuds falling off.

I have to admit that dark blue is not really my color but that's just about the only thing i find wrong with the design of the Elite Active 65t (notice the small charging LED placed between the earbuds).

Another activity LED is also placed at the base of the charging case right next to the micro USB charging port.

SOUND+ APP

To fully utilize the features of the Elite Active 65t True Wireless Earbuds you will need to download the latest version of the Jabra Sound+ App for iOS and Android devices (the first tab you will see after installation is the voice assistant one from where you can choose the desired voice assistant such as Amazon Alexa - android devices - and Siri - iOS devices).

After you select the desired voice assistant you will see the main tab (preferences) from where you can enable/disable the hearthrough feature, manually adjust the equalizer or use one of the 6 available presets.

Jabra has also placed a commute tab in their app from where you can again enable hearthrough and choose one of the 6 equalize presets.

From within the focus tab you can mask the noise coming from around you by choosing one of the 12 available sounds.

When using the active tab the hearthrough option is always turned on and ontop of that you get several activity stats recorded.

The discover button placed at the bottom of the app alerts you of available firmware updates and gives you step by step instructions on how to complete them.

From the discover tab you can also see a product picture showcasing proper use of the Elite Active 65t and you can also add/remove widgets from the tabs.

CONCLUSION

   When we reviewed the Elite 65t True Wireless Earbuds again by Jabra we all ended up liking its audio quality (lack of bass was evident but pretty much the only downside), design, fit (quite improved compared to that of the Elite Sport) and of course call quality thanks to its 4 MEMS microphones. Unlike the Elite Sport the Elite 65t did lack one thing however and that was an IP certification which the Elite Active 65t has (it’s resistant to water jets, don’t throw it in water) and after just over 1 month of tests we can confirm that it's still ok even after countless hours on the treadmill. Unfortunately for some strange reason the audio quality offered by the Elite Active 65t seems to be one step lower compared to that of the Elite 65t and although we imagine that this could be due to the IP56 certification the reason matters not. Battery life is also almost identical to that of the Elite 65t since we surpassed 4 hours of playback time at almost full volume (we hit slightly over 12 hours with the charging case) here as well so no problems here either. Jabra has also added several EQ presets in their Sound+ App (something which we wanted to see back when we reviewed the Elite 65t) along with several new features such as the Commute, Focus and Active Tabs which could come in handy to some people. Of course as already mentioned in our review we didn’t really enjoy the copper blue combination of the earbuds and the carrying/storage case but that’s something that always comes down to personal preference (Jabra also offers the Elite Active 65t in black and silver).

   The Elite Active 65t True Wireless Earbuds are just slightly more costly compared to the regular Elite 65t (due to their IP56 certification) and so currently you can find them for USD189.99 inside the USA (Amazon.com) and for 181Euros inside the EU (Amazon.co.uk). This may look as a hefty price tag for a pair of wireless earbuds but considering that at launch the Elite Sport was priced roughly 40% over things are not really that bad. At the end of the day the Elite Active 65t is basically an Elite 65t with an IP56 certification so if this isn’t something you need you can always save some money by getting the latter. Overall however we do think that its IP56 certification will be welcomed by athletes and people who like working out and since everything else pretty much remains the same as with the “regular” Elite 65t the Elite Active 65t is definitely worth our Golden Award.

PROS

- Build Quality
- Design / Size
- IP56 Certified (Dust & Water Resistant)
- Available Features
- Good Audio Quality (For The Size)
- Call Quality (Other End)
- Excellent Stability
- Bluetooth v5.0
- Jabra Sound+ App
- Bundled Charging Case (Up To 10 Extra Hours)

CONS

- Price Tag (Compared To Other Similar Models)
- Bass Levels (Compared To The Elite Sport)