Jabra Elite 85h review: like the rest, but not the best

Jabra’s Elite 85h are worth considering for many of the same reasons you might want Sony’s 1000X M3, Bose’s QC35, or one of the other models in our roundup of the best wireless headphones. They’re good at silencing distractions with noise canceling (NC), they fit comfortably for hours at a time, and they’re simple to pair and use.

It’s a nearly complete package that’s spilling over with other appealing features like SmartSound, Jabra’s intelligent preset-switching function that automatically adjusts to ambient noise, and excellent battery life that outperforms its competitors. All that’s missing is fantastic sound, and for me, that’s a deal-breaker.

I can’t ignore that Jabra’s latest over-ear model is a fantastic value. Sony and Bose dominate the conversation surrounding wireless noise-canceling headphones, but Jabra’s pitch is well worth listening to.