The size of the bluetooth earbud is shrinking. It's getting more flexible, fitting better in the ear and convenient though little high on the pocket. Wireless is making way for truly wireless with most the functions inbuilt in the earbud itself. Hailed as the two most popular earbuds here is looking at Jabra Elite 65T and Bose SoundSport Free.
Bose SoundSport Free
SoundSport Free are wireless in ear-headphones. Coming from the Bose pedigree It comes with powerful sound matched by vibrant sporty colors. They are comfortable to wear and offer great stability during activity. Bose SoundSport Free comes with a chargeable case and the earbuds can survive on a single charge for up to 5 hours. Priced at Rs.18,990
Features at a glance:
* Sweat Resistant
* Volume optimized EQ
* Bluetooth Antenna
* Complete access through Bose Connect App
* My Buds Feature enables users to find the last place where the buds were connected
* Track lost earbuds
* Comes with a chargeable Case
What’s Great
Sound quality
Sound quality is super. It’s sharp, crisp and clear, the bass is just perfect. The Bose signature in sound quality is evident.
Battery life
It also provides two additional full charges—or up to 10 hours of battery life
What’s Not Great
Connectivity with laptop
There is some technical problem when you connect with laptop. There is a time difference between speech on screen to hearing. Plus there are other connectivity issues. And this is on both Mac as well as Windows 10.
Casing
It isn’t something that can fit into your jeans pocket defeating the purpose of portability.
Verdict
Bose the name speaks for itself, so are the expectations. One has to think twice before making a comment simply because it’s Bose and also one feels there must be more to this. But consider this on amazon.com Bose SoundSport Free has 788 critical reviews and around 899 positive issues. Bose should seriously focus more on this. While the sound quality is awesome, the hardware and technical glitches doesn’t really make SoundSport Free the ideal earbud especially if connect to multiple devices. Bose engineers really need to listen to the feedback.
Jabra Elite Active 65t
Jabra Elite Active 65t is a set of true wireless, high on comfort the earbuds that fit in the ear really well. Aimed at those who want to use earbuds in an active environment, Jabra Elite Active 65t are fully enhanced for sports use with a more secure fit, through special coating, integrated accelerometer for tracking features in the Jabra app and IP56 sweat, water and dust certification. The Elite Active 65t has five hours of listening time on one charge and two-year warranty against sweat and dust. Available in ‘Copper Blue’ and ‘Copper Red’ colours.
Features
* Engineered for on-the-go true wireless calls and music experience
* Designed for activity
* Integration for Amazon Alexa on-the-go and integrated one-touch access to
* Siri and Google Now
* 15 hours battery life (with cradle)
* Priced at Rs.14,999
What’s Great
Battery life
* 15 hours with case
Design, Casing and Portability
Jabra Elite Active 65t gets the design awesomely well. The earbuds have passive noise cancellation and fit into the ear really well. The case is small enough to fit in the pocket
Stability
Jabra Elite Active 65t fit in really well and are really stable during activity. The design is really comfortable.
What’s Not Great
Connectivity issues
Jabra too had glitches especially with left bud getting disconnected and other connectivity issues but with the software update a no. of issues with regards to connectivity were taken care of well.
Verdict
Jabra Elite 65T comes as a pleasant surprise. It comes in a really sleek case that can easily fit in any pocket. Not only is Jabra Elite 65t true earbuds but it is also truely portabile with a case that adds as a backup charger.
Comparing both of them together
Performance and Sound Quality
In terms of sound quality Bose Soundsport free as well Jabra Elite Active 65t perform really well. Bose’s signature sound quality is awesome, the bass is just perfect, the sound sharp, crisp and clear.
Design
Both Jabra and Bose have secure in-ear fit. Both are really comfortable to wear. Both are dust and sweat resistant.
Glitches
Connectivity issues especially with multiple devices. In case of Jabra it’s the left earbud that gets disconnected at times. Other connectivity issues were take care of in software update. Bose Soundsport Free make watching a movie on a laptop a humorous experience. Even the dubbed dialogues movies get it better than the time difference between speech on screen to hearing.
Portability
Both Bose and Jabra have chargeable cases which gives 2 recharges. Jabra Elite Active 65t casing is winner. It’s so easy to fit in the pocket. Bose case is a bit bigger and not something one can carry around in pocket all the time.
Pricing
Jabra Elite Active 65t is priced at Rs.14,999 and Bose Soundsport Free is priced at 18,990.