Jabra Elite 75t Versus Beats Studio Buds

As brands, Jabra versus Beats could hardly be more different. What they do have in common, though, is an excellent line-up of headphones and earbuds. Among the most popular from the two manufacturers are Jabra’s Elite 75t earbuds and Beats Studio Buds from Beats by Dre.

Both offer true wireless listening, active noise cancellation, and around 24 hours of battery life. They’re also priced similarly at under $150. But which are the better earbuds overall? Let’s take a closer look.

Jabra continues to wow with its growing range of wireless earbuds. However, as a brand, it lacks a little of the credibility more regularly afforded Beats by Dre and Apple (of which Beats is a subsidiary). Still, while historically better known for its office and call center headsets, Jabra remains impressive across the board.

In fact, Jabra’s Elite 75t wireless earbuds were recently named among the best on the market by Wirecutter. And with good reason, because at $150, they have plenty to offer.

The best-selling Jabra option includes an impressive raft of features and other benefits. For example, Elite 75t buyers get IP55 water and dust resistance, cutting-edge four-microphone call technology, a two-year warranty, and plenty more.

However, the battery life isn’t the best. With active noise canceling turned on, there’s barely five hours of life in the earbuds themselves. Turn off the feature, and you can stretch this to over six hours, but that’s still significantly behind competing products, such as the identically priced Beats Studio Buds.

At the same time, with at least two or three extra full charges stored in their case, they promise between 24 and 28 hours of life. And while the $150 Elite 75t model from Jabra lacks wireless charging by default, it’s possible to upgrade. Add in a wireless charging case, and the same earbuds will cost $180 in total.

Furthermore, if buyers are happy to shop around, getting a deal on a pair may be possible. While California-headquartered Apple and Beats rarely discount their products, Danish manufacturer Jabra has, on occasion, given customers the chance to save up to 33 percent on its Elite 75t earbuds.

They feel like solid value for money even at full price, so discounted to $99.99, they’re a steal. Accordingly, be sure to keep a close eye on the official Jabra website, as well as Amazon, Best Buy, and Walmart, for a potential Elite 75t deal.

Founded by music producer Dr. Dre, Beats is arguably a more fashion-forward brand than its competitor Jabra. Straight away, this reflects in the appearance of the Beats Studio Buds. Although following a similar recipe as far as design goes, the Beats option immediately looks sharper.

Unfortunately, there’s a degree of style over substance at play, particularly when compared to the more traditional brand better known for its call center equipment. For example, the Beats Studio Buds lack dust resistance and are sweat and splash resistant only.

There’s less focus on call quality, too, with performance in terms of music listening placed front and center. Even so, there’s relatively little to set them apart from the Elite 75t earbuds from Jabra in this sense. Both offer richer sound than Apple’s similarly priced AirPods, with the Beats Studio Buds, in particular, standing out slightly from both on the bass front.

The Beats Studio Buds further excel in battery life, granting eight hours of use on average. The case stores another two charges, meaning up to 24 hours in total. They also boast Beats’ impressive Fast Fuel charging system. With that, five minutes plugged into a power source grants an hour of playback. Meanwhile, to get 60 minutes of listening time from the comparable Jabra earbuds, you’ll need a 15-minute charge.

That said, there’s no option for wireless charging with the Beats Studio Buds. So, if wireless charging is a must-have feature, consumers have no choice other than to go elsewhere, at least until Beats catches up with the competition in this regard.

The standard warranty offered by Apple is also a letdown. They get just one year, compared to Jabra’s two-year coverage on its Elite 75t offering.

When it comes to warranty provisions, Jabra beats — quite literally — Beats by some margin. Thankfully though, Beats Studio Buds buyers can upgrade their warranty protection to match that offered by Jabra and its Elite 75t earbuds with a policy from Upsie. Jabra Elite 75t buyers can also extend the two-year coverage provided by the manufacturer in much the same way.

Upsie offers a range of headphone warranties that provide comprehensive protection. Their warranties protect against:

In addition, Upsie offers warranties that last up to three years. Upsie’s plans overlap with the manufacturer’s warranty and take over once the previous coverage expires. With Upsie, you can protect your earbuds every step of the way.