Jabra Evolve2 Buds are tuned for work

Jabra is perhaps the very first brand name that comes to mind when someone looks to buy headsets that, well, work at work. Jabra has a whole collection of such audio products with many overlapping in features and capabilities. The Evolve2 Buds joins them with a familiar configuration, adding to a series of Evolve2 audio products.

The Evolve2 Buds arrive in a rather elegant sustainable packaging. Flipping open the box, you'll first off see the case with the buds inside and a set of extra ear tips. The only other significant item here is a charging cable which you probably won't use, opting instead for your phone's cable and charger. The case is in a smooth premium plastic material which immediately shows up fingerprints, unfortunately. It looks more rectangular and wide than most cases. The reason for this is that there's a little space taken up inside by a little adaptor or dongle which connects to your laptop and boosts the Bluetooth range and connectivity so you can step away from the desk when you want to without losing your call. The adaptor sits between the two buds and you just need to lift it out and connect it to your laptop's USB-C slot.

As you open the case, its LED and the buds light up and with a long-press change colour in readiness to pair, which is done through Bluetooth settings in the usual painless way. There's a Jabra Sound+ companion app that you must download. Chances are you'll be led immediately to a firmware update, but there's a lot else besides to be configured using the app.

All the controls

As is typical for the more full-featured companion apps, Sound+ needs to first find your device. After that, you can get in to take two tests, one for fit and another for noise cancellation. With each of these you will be presented with a set of frequencies and must confirm hearing them. Once done, your profile is set and sound quality as well as noise suppression level will be tuned to your own hearing and what you're doing. From the app (in addition to presses on the buds themselves) you can manually choose noise cancellation category and level and you can fiddle with the equaliser. There are some pretty good presets such as Bass and Treble boost, Energise, Neutral etc. Also one for Speech, as this is a work-centric product. You can also create custom sound profiles and save them.

A lot of further control is possible through the app. You can set the actions to be triggered with the buttons on the buds (one for each) and choose to do things like activate mono mode. You can use one bud at a time, which is more comfortable for many people, and use multi-point pairing - useful for those who use two phones.

Stay on call

The Evolve2 Buds do a decent job of noise cancellation, dimming noise from conversations, traffic, machinery enough to focus on one's own calls and meetings without being unnatural. The hear-through mode is available at a press. Calls are nice and clear. Jabra uses what it calls MultiSensor Voice which is a combination of four microphones, bone conduction sensors, and algorithms to block out as much of the surrounding noise as possible so the user can be heard clearly by those on the call, contributing to more focused conversation. Overall the ANC isn't in the same league as some, but is nevertheless quite usable.

The Evolve2 Buds are in the clumpy design that Jabra uses for all its earphones. The fit can be a little tricky, but if you figure out how it sits best in your ears (with the help of the test) they're comfortable enough and don't pose a problem on long calls and meetings. These earphones also sound wonderful for music. Crystal clear, with enough bass and energy and a pleasing open soundstage that doesn't sound confining and suffocating for something that's in your ear canals. Different genres of music sound just great on these earphones, making them usable for work and relaxation, listening to podcasts on commutes, using them on the go when travelling. They may not be the best for vigorous exercise, but walking with them works well.

These buds are IP57 water and dust resistant. Battery can last up to eight hours per charge with ANC on, or up to 10 hours with it off. The case gives up to an additional 25 hours of battery life.

Evolve2 Buds are full featured and do a good job of what's important. Being work-oriented, they still sound very good. But they do happen to be quite expensive at ₹39,122, a distinct disadvantage in a market with a lot of options.