Jabra Evolve2 65 Flex: Made for hybrid workers

In the world of hybrid working, a decent headset is no longer a tool, but rather a necessity. Jabra positions the Evolve2 65 Flex as a convenient solution for employees who often find themselves in different work environments.

The Jabra Evolve2 65 should be designed for hybrid workers who need flexibility and portability but don’t want to sacrifice comfort and sound quality. We tested this model out for you.

Design and wearing comfort

What is immediately noticeable when you remove the headset from the fabric case is how compact and therefore how portable it is. That cloth travel case also has a Bluetooth dongle tucked away, by the way. You can fold the Jabra 65 Evolve2 Flex so that it’s completely flat and easy to store on the go thanks to the swivel ear cups.

The headband is made of perforated foam layers that distribute pressure on the head, providing a comfortable fit. With a weight of 136 grams, however, that pressure never becomes significant, as you will forget after half an hour that the headset is on your head.

The black design looks understated, but professional: in fact, exactly what you can expect from a business headphone. The microphone is neatly tucked away in an ear cup, and is actually completely unobtrusive when not open. A light lets your surroundings know that you are in conversation.

You’ll also find an on/off button on the headset, which doubles as a Bluetooth connection button, a button to switch between Hear Through and Active Noise Cancelling (ANC), and three to control your media (volume up/next song, music play/pause, volume down/song restart). There is also a button provided to mute your microphone, but you can also do that by folding it shut. Most notable is the Teams button, which allows you to take Teams calls.

However, the placement of the power button feels totally illogical. It would have been easier had it been at the bottom of the ear cup and protruded a little further. Now it takes some searching to find the right button. It was also not always clear during testing when the headphones were actually effectively on or off.

“The Jabra 2 is a thoughtful choice for professionals.”

Despite being lightweight, the Jabra 65 Evolve2 Flex feels very solid. We noticed the same solidity with the Jabra Elite 10 Gen 2 earbuds we reviewed earlier. It’s just a shame that so much plastic was used; a slightly more durable or sturdy material could have done the job instead. And plastic always looks a little less attractive.

The pads are made of synthetic leather and are soft on the ears. That soft feel and flexibility is also formed in part because the Evolve2 65 Flex is not an over-ear, but rather an on-ear headphone. Then you might ask, does ANC work equally well on that kind of headphone?

Sound quality + ANC

Active noise cancellation and on-ear headphones often don’t go hand in hand. We also noticed this during our test with the Logitech Zone Wireless 2. Although noise cancellation works surprisingly well with the Jabra Evolve2 65 Flex. Most background noise disappears like snow in the sun, but it’s not really perfect. You can still hear murmurs or typing at times. However, that background noise is negligible and not at all distracting while working.

The Hear Through mode lets the sound come in well, but creates an annoying hum when no sound plays through the headphones. You also get a high-pitched beeping sound when you set the headphones properly on your head. This is also the case with other ANC headphones, but it’s still consistently noticeable.

Microphone

The microphone quality is very good during virtual meetings. Everything sounds very clear, the microphone focuses well on my voice and completely cancels out background noise. The quality was just as good in a test with Teams as in the audio clip below, although that clip does have a special background noise that didn’t show up anywhere else.

Jabra Evolve2 65 Flex

Bose QuietComfort 35 2

Jabra Elite 10

Connectivity

The headphones come with a Bluetooth dongle and a USB-A to USB-C cable. The connection via the dongle works very well and actually remains stable at all times. It was notable that everyone in the office received a notification to connect to the headset. Jabra recommends downloading the Jabra Direct app, available in Windows and MacOS, to set up that connection correctly.

To connect the Jabra Evolve2 65 to your smartphone, the company recommends installing the Sound+ app. That is available for both iOS and Android. To connect, press and hold the power button for four seconds until a sound plays. From then on, the process works itself out in the app.

It’s also nice that Jabra offers the ability to pair two devices at once. So you can quickly switch between your work laptop and smartphone.

Battery

In the box you’ll also find a QI charger to charge your headphones wirelessly. You put the left earcup on the charger, and within two hours it is fully charged. That could have been a little faster, but Jabra claims the headset lasts 32 hours on a charge. That claim seems pretty accurate, in our opinion. During a full work week, the headset only needed to be on the charger once.

App

However, the Sound+ app is not just for setting up the connection. You can use it for much more than that, such as downloading the latest firmware, personalizing audio via an equalizer, setting the “busy” light, and listening to white noise … There are six Equalizer presets to choose from: Bass Boost, Energize, Neutral, Smooth, Speech, and Treble Boost. In addition, you can adjust various settings, such as how loud you hear yourself during a conversation.

Through the MySound feature, you can set your headphones so that they are customized to your specific hearing. To do that, you have to enter your gender and age, and then a hearing test takes place where you have to indicate at what time you hear a sound.

The Jabra Direct app for Windows and macOS actually lets you do pretty little except set up your dongle.

Conclusion

The Jabra Evolve2 65 Flex is a considered choice for professionals who are on the go a lot and like good sound, a comfortable fit and easy-to-use features. The ANC is surprisingly good for an on-ear model, and the microphone quality is solid. A little more premium material could have been used, but that can’t dampen our enthusiasm.

Jabra Evolve 2 65 Flex + charging cradle – available from 349 euros excluding VAT.