Jabra Evolve versus the Evolve2 series
April 1 20202, Jabra launched it’s new Evolve2 series office headsets. This is the new standard according to Jabra.
The headsets are designed to improve concentration, collaboration and flexibility in any workplace. But to what extent is Jabra succeeding in this, what does this new standard mean?
In this blog we take a closer look at one of the most famous headsets in the Evolve series: The Jabra Evolve 65 and the new Jabra Evolve2 65.
“Old standard versus new standard. ”
For this test we use the Jabra Evolve 65 MS Stereo and Jabra Evolve2 65 Link380a MS Stereo Black.
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Specs
| Evolve 65 | Evolve2 65 | |
|---|---|---|
| Speak time | 14 Hours | 37 Hours |
| USB Dongle | Jabra Link 370 USB-A | Jabra Link 380 USB-A |
| Busylight | Yes | Yes 360degrees |
| Microsoft Teams certified | Yes | Yes |
| Noisecancelling | Noisecancelling on microphone and Passive Noisecancelling on ear cushions | Noisecancelling on microphone and Passive Noisecancelling on ear cushions |
| Microphone | State-of-the-art noise-cancelling microphone eliminates background noise | 3-microphone technology for outstanding call performance |
| Introduction time | 2014, September | 2020, April |
What’s in the box
Jabra Evolve 65 MS Stereo
The Jabra Evolve 65 comes in a fabric protective case. Included with the headset is the Jabra Link 370 USB-A dongle, which is optimized to carry real-time audio over Bluetooth.
“Integrated Bluetooth chips from notebooks are often less suitable for this. ”
This dongle also ensures that call control (accepting and disconnecting calls) functions properly. An USB-A to USB-Micro charging cable is of course included to the box.
Jabra Evolve2 65
The Jabra Evolve2 65 Link380a MS Stereo black comes in an imitation leather case. In our case the Jabra Link 380 USB-A dongle is included.
Where the Jabra Link 370 still uses Bluetooth version 4.2, the Jabra Link 380a uses Bluetooth version 5.0. An USB-A to USB-C charging cable is also included in this box.
With the evolve2 series you can now choose for USB-A or a USB-C Jabra Link 380 dongle. You can even choose for a black or beige colored headset.
Experiences
Comfort
What immediately strikes you is that the wearing comfort of the Jabra Evolve2 65 has been improved. This is mainly due to the headband, where the Jabra Evolve 65 is still made of hard plastic, the headband of the Jabra Evolve2 65 is made of imitation leather soft material.
Evolve 65
Evolve2 65
Noisecancelling
It is immediately noticeable that the Jabra Evolve2 65 series closes much better than the first generation evolve 65.
Background sounds are perceived as much less because of the custom ear cup shape, which makes you feel more closed off. Where this is round in the Evolve65, the auricle shape of the Evolve2 65 is more shaped towards an ear.
Evolve 65
Evolve2 65
Teams certified
Jabra Evolve 65
The Jabra Evolve 65 can become an official Microsoft Teams certified device since July 15th 2020, by means of the latest software update (Valuepack 3).
The Jabra Evolve 65 that we used came out of the box with Valuepack 2 as standard and was not yet Teams Certified. Before we started our tests we provided our device with the latest software update Valuepack 3.
Whether you are already using the latest software update is easy to see on the Jabra Link 370 USB-A dongle. This dongle turns blue before the update, now after the update it turns steady purple which means Microsoft Teams Client Ready.
Jabra Evolve2 65
The Jabra Evolve2 65 came out of the box as a Microsoft Teams certified device, which is also clearly stated on the packaging.
However, we did have an update for both the Jabra Link 380 USB-A dongle and the headset itself. In addition to audio, performance and stability improvements, new features have been added such as support for USB Audio (meant to optimize the experience in disturbance prone areas) and the Busy light can now be turned on and off manually using the Jabra Sound+ app.
Conclusion
With the Jabra Evolve2 65, Jabra has made beautiful and useful enhancements to one of the bestselling wireless office headsets. In particular, the biggest improvements have been made in the areas of wearing comfort, noise isolation and battery capacity.
In terms of noise cancelling on the microphone, there are still some improvements to be made, perhaps through future software updates a better cooperation of the 3 integrated microphones can be realized.
The Teams button and optical signals that the headset emits when it is time to attend a meeting are also very useful. With a push on the Teams button of the headset, the meeting is started and calls can be accepted and disconnected.
“There is also a nice to have feature built in and that is that you by means of long press of the volume buttons can flush a song in spotify, for example. ”
Now that the COVID-19 pandemic has created a delivery problem for, among others, the Jabra Evolve 65, the Jabra Evolve2 65 is the best choice in the short term. When stock levels will probably have stabilized again by October 2020, we would also choose the Jabra Evolve2 65.
As far as we are concerned, the better wearing comfort and the better ability to shut off ambient noise are decisive factors. The Jabra Evolve2 65 will continue to be the best choice in the future, as a lot will still be developed for this next generation headset. Of course, in this choice we are assuming that the noise-cancelling on the microphone will be improved, and we are confident about that.
Update: Just prior to publishing this blog, Jabra released new firmware for our Jabra Link 380 USB-A Dongle on October 20th 2020. The release comments include: “Fixed: Robotic Sound and Performance and stability improvements”.
In order to test if the noise cancelling has improved as a result of this update we have performed our tests with the Evolve 65 and Evolve2 65 again.
Our experiences are the same before and after the update of the Jabra Link 380 USB-A Dongle.
Thanks to my colleague Ronald Magendans for help with the testing.
Would you also like to have your equipment tested by means of a review (blog), please contact me.
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