Jabra Evolve 2 Buds Review: Earbuds That Work For Music AND Calls??

Jabra’s Evolve 2 Buds are a very interesting proposition and one that, in our opinion, works quite well. We have the Evolve 2 Buds with us today, and these are awesome because not only do they work as a pair of earbuds for normal, everyday music listening, they are actually engineered for you to take your work calls with.

Design

So, let’s talk design first. The case that these come in is certainly bigger than Jabra’s usual designs, although that’s only in length and not in thickness or width. And that’s also majorly due in part to Jabra adding in a USB adapter for you to use these with laptops or desktops. Jabra offers two options, one with a USB-A adapter and one with a USB-C adapter. The one we have here today is the USB-C adaptor.

The earbuds themselves are very much like any other Jabra earbud, although I do think they’re on the bigger side. I wore them for about two hours or so and they were already starting to hurt my ears. For people with larger ears, this probably won’t be much of an issue, but it’s certainly something for people with smaller ears to take note of.

The case contains both the earbuds as well as the USB adaptor, and interestingly enough, the USB-C charging port is shifted all the way to one end instead of being in the middle. Probably because it would interfere with the space the USB adaptor is housed in, but it’s a more unique look for sure. Regardless, there’s also wireless charging here, so you never have to plug it in if you don’t want to. The overall build quality is pretty good, the case feels solid in the hand and there’s no wriggle in the lid. Good job here, Jabra.

Touch Controls

Moving on to controls, these are still using the same physical button controls that Jabra has stuck to over the years. On the right, one press controls play/pause, while a double press skips tracks forwards and a triple press skips tracks backwards. As for the left side, one press toggles between ANC and transparency mode while a double press pulls up the voice assistant. This is all customisable in the Jabra Sound+ app of course. Lastly, a long press on the left earbud lowers volume while a long press on the right raises the volume.

In the app, you can adjust the intensity of the ANC, and you also get access to stuff like an EQ, firmware updates and stuff like that.

ANC

The ANC is certainly a nice addition, and it pairs well with the passive noise isolation since these earbuds do seal quite well in the ear. Unfortunately, the strength of the ANC itself is just alright. You still get pretty good cancellation for low-pitched noises, but higher-pitched stuff like keyboards or voices still slip through relatively easily when there’s no music playing.

Connectivity

These are running on Bluetooth 5.2 and support SBC and AAC. Thanks to the USB adapter included, you can use these connected to both a laptop or other source and a phone at the same time with no issues.

Battery Life

As for battery life, Jabra claims eight hours in the earbuds with ANC on and a total of 33 hours when the case is included. There’s also fast charge here, with five minutes of charge giving an hour of playback time.

There’s also an IP57 rating for the earbuds, which means that if you want to use these as your exercise buds, there’s no problem with sweat or rain or water.

Microphone Quality

Mic quality is actually quite good, as they should be for something that’s billed as ideal for taking work calls with. My voice did come across clearly, and there’s a good amount of background noise suppression as well, with my colleagues not being able to hear construction that was going on near my home when I was speaking to them.

Sound Quality

Coming to sound, I’d say it’s not too bad as well. It sounds quite typically Jabra, with a more V-shaped signature. Pretty ideal for most listeners and most genres of music, I think. The bass is present and a bit boosted, although not quite as powerful as some earbuds can get. Mids are a tad recessed, with instruments not as forward as I typically prefer, although this is easily remedied with the EQ and I did prefer to boost the mids and upper mids a bit to get the vocals even more prominant. The treble is also slightly emphasised and comes with a touch of crispness and sparkle, which is nice.

Soundstage-wise, it’s alright. Wide enough, not quite deep enough, but separation and layering is good and there’s plenty of detail retained.

Price

Unfortunately, the price is one of the biggest problems with these. While I get that they’re targeted as an all-rounder pair of earbuds that can tackle both music and work, it starts at S$424 and that’s a really expensive price tag. Yes, it is certified for Microsoft Teams or UC. Yes, it comes with a USB adapter for ease of use. Yes, it has all of those. But you can get the AirPods Pro 2, earbuds that sound just as good and have better ANC, at just S$360-ish. And if you’re using a Mac computer, then multipoint and switching is just as easy. If these go on sale, then they might be an easier recommendation. Right now, the price is just too high.