Jabra Elite 65T vs Bose SoundSport Free Review

The Jabra Elite 65T and Bose SoundSport Free are definitely two of the top 10 most popular true wireless earbuds on the market right now.

There’s a lot to like with both of them, but how do they compare? What are the big reasons you’d go Jabra over Bose and vice versa? That’s what we’re covering in this post. If you’re interested though, we did publish full reviews of both of these headphones:

– Jabra Elite 65T Review
– Bose SoundSport Free Review

Areas of overlap

Given that these are both fully wireless earbuds, naturally, there are some areas where they’re basically the exact same, such as:

– Battery life of ~5 hours on a single charge
– Charge cases that provide an additional 10 hours of battery life
– Multiple size silicone ear tips provided in box
– Extremely strong Bluetooth connection
– Remote system provided on earbuds
– Built-in microphone for phone calls
– Compatible with Siri and Google Assistant

Why get the Jabra Elite 65T over Bose SoundSport Free?

We indeed would get the Elite 65T over the Bose SoundSport Free for a number of reasons, some larger than others.

More affordable

Hard to argue with this one. The 65T have an MSRP of $170 while the SoundSport Free are $200. If you’re choosing based on price alone, you’re going with the 65T.

More secure fit

The 65T have a twist lock system and secure very well in your ear. The earbuds are also relatively small so they hardly stick out of your ear. They are ideal for everything from intense workouts to general everyday use.

Secure, comfortable fit (65T Active shown)

The SoundSport Free on the other hand, are large, bulky earbuds, and only somewhat seal off your ear canal. This means that when you run or do box jumps the earbuds actually bounce up and down, which is very odd. They sort of feel like they’re going to fall out of your ears, but they don’t. It’s just an odd sensation.

Big earbuds

If you’re concerned with getting a solid, secure fit, the Elite 65T are the way to go. The SoundSports are really comfortable, but they simply don’t have the lockdown that the 65Ts do.

Adjustable EQ Settings

It’s hard to pick an outright winner in terms of audio quality (both are good), but the Elite 65T get the edge because you can adjust the EQ settings within the Jabra app.

Soundscapes (left) / EQ settings (right)

As you can see in the screenshot above, Jabra allows you to adjust the bass, mids, and highs manually or you can select from one of their six preset sound profiles.

Additionally, Jabra has a section within their app dedicated to what they call “Soundscapes,” which are environmental sounds that you can play to focus on your work. For example, you can have the headphones play the sound of ocean waves or rain in order to tune out what’s around you and focus. Really neat that they incorporated this into the app.

Sound isolation and noise cancellation

Because the 65T completely seal off your ear canal, they do a great job of naturally isolating the sound. They’re actually so good that you pretty much need to take them out in order to hear the people around you.

Great for focusing, but not great for when your coworkers are trying to ask you questions.

Fantastic sound isolation (65T Active shown)

When you’re playing music, the 65T also run active noise cancellation, which constantly tunes out the sounds around. Again, great for focusing, but not great for discussing quarterly reports with coworkers.

But since not everyone wants active noise cancellation on, Jabra did equip the 65T with a HearThrough setting that allows the microphones to pass through audio from the environment around you.

Waterproofing

The Jabra Elite 65T and 65T Active are IP55 and IP56 certified respectively. Basically, they are rated to withstand dust and light amounts of water and sweat. 

Elite 65T Active are IP56 certified

The SoundSport Free are only IPX4 rated, which means they’re splash resistant, but not quite as resistant as the 65T. You’ll be fine with either brand for workouts, but if you want to get technical, the Jabra earbuds do win here as well.

SEE ALSO: Today’s Top Audio Deals

Those are some pretty compelling reasons to get the Elite 65T, but I wouldn’t completely sleep on the SoundSport Free if I was you. There are some areas where they win and for certain people they are the better true wireless headphones.

More comfortable fit

I know we said that the 65T have a more secure fit, but in terms of sheer comfort and which earbuds I’d rather wear all day, those would be the Bose SoundSport Free.

With the 65T, your ears come in contact with quite a bit of plastic whereas with the SoundSport Free it’s just silicone that your ear touches.

Find My Buds

In the event that you misplace your SoundSport Free, Bose has a section within their app that allows you to locate the place where you last paired them to your phone. It’s not a perfect solution, but it can definitely come in handy. The Jaybird Run also have a Find My Buds feature.

SEE ALSO: Bose SoundSport Free vs Apple AirPods

Remote system

We’re not big fans of the remote system on any true wireless headphones, but if we had to pick our best of the worst, we’d go with the Bose SoundSport Free.

Volume controls and multifunction button.

The buttons on the SoundSport Free are on the side of the earbud, which means when you press the volume up button, for example, you’re not pushing the earbud further into your ear. This means the earbuds do not fatigue your ears like they will eventually do with the Elite 65T.