The best headphones of 2020

Jabra’s Elite 85t really have it all: smooth and balanced sound, impressive noise cancellation, comprehensive controls, a compact form factor, solid battery life, and a barrel full of other top-flight features, adding up to the best wireless earbuds around—whether you pledge your allegiance to Android or iPhone.

Perhaps more than any single feature, it’s the Elite 85t’s open-style design that make them our favorite true wireless earbuds on the market. While a more bulbous design means fit isn’t quite as secure as their Elite 75t predecessors, the Elite 85t’s oval ear tips provide a proper seal without plugging up your ears. The innovative design means you won’t hear yourself chewing, walking, jogging, etc. in the same way as most earbuds, and yet music and noise canceling are intimate and effective respectively.

This makes the Elite 85t direct competitors to Apple’s open-style AirPods Pro, but with more features for either Android or iPhone, and a more active-ready design too. Since they’re device agnostic, you can choose any of the major voice assistants (or none), and they offer all the controls you need (including volume control by default).

Speaking of controls, they’re customizable through Jabra’s stalwart Sound+ app, allowing you to configure the dual onboard buttons how you see fit. Also customizable is noise cancelation and transparency mode, the latter of which is among the most natural-sounding you’ll hear on the market to keep you aware of your environment in style—again, a direct shot across the AirPods Pro bow.

The word “natural” keeps coming up when using the Elite 85t, and it’s a big key to their success. You can wear them for hours, even when you’re not listening to audio, and never miss a beat thanks to how seamlessly they transition between noise canceling and transparency mode; a few taps of the keys (even while wearing gloves) lets you slide between jamming out in solitude and striking up a conversation. Multi-point connection also makes it easy to switch between fun and work modes.

As for downsides, the Elite 85t’s IPX4 water resistance rating means you can splash them but they’re not as weather-ready as their cousins, the Elite and Elite Active 75t earbuds (though they meet or beat almost all other similarly equipped competitors). As referenced above, the fit is also less stable than what you’ll get in purpose-built workout buds.

There’s not much else to count against them, though, as these buds are about as well-rounded and versatile as they come. If you can afford their not-insignificant cost, you’ll be rewarded with good sound, great features, and the best usability on the market.

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