Yahoo Finance Engadget has been testing and reviewing consumer tech since 2004. Our stories may include affiliate links; if you buy something through a link, we may earn a commission. Read more about how we evaluate products.
Jabra adds Elite 85t earbud fit test to its Sound+ app
And the ability to turn both ANC and ambient sound off with on-board controls.
When it comes to active noise cancelling (ANC) earbuds, proper fit is essential to create a good seal in your ear. Without that, ANC won’t be nearly as effective, so selecting the best size of ear tips determines how well your earbuds will work. To help with this, several companies offer an app-based fit test to monitor the seal. This week, Jabra is adding that tool for its Elite 85t buds that debuted last fall.
With the MyFit feature inside the Sound+ app, Jabra plays a few seconds of audio to check sound leakage with the Elite 85t’s in-ear microphone. If an issue is detected, the app will recommend users adjust earbud positioning or try a different set of ear tips. The company says this process can be repeated at any time and will help ensure “an enhanced audio experience” and “deeper bass” in addition to better overall ANC performance.
Jabra is also expanding the on-board controls for sound modes in this update. Before now, you could choose either ANC or HearThrough (ambient sound) on the earbuds themselves, but you couldn’t choose to turn both off at the same time. You could do so in the Sound+ app, but that required picking up your phone. Now the on-board controls mirror the software options, and you can choose how the earbud function works. The options are HearThrough and ANC (default); HearThrough and Off; or HearThrough, ANC and Off. In other words, if you don’t want access to all three sound modes on the earbuds themselves, you can nix the one you don’t need and just leave the other two.
Lastly, the company is offering users the ability to rename their earbuds in the Sound+ app. This will also change the device name that displays in the Bluetooth menu of your connected device. It’s a small thing, but if multiple people in the same household or office have the same device, for example, this will help avoid any confusion.
The update for the Elite 85t that adds all three of these features is now available in the Sound+ app. Jabra released an update for the earbuds in November to fix a noise issue, but this is the first that adds new features to this model.
