I am not turning this blog into a product reviews space, but I have some extensive experience with a couple of models of earbuds and reviews I have seen, even when comparing these two brands/models don't include information that I think is important for someone to know.
I'm also hoping that the manufacturers may see my feedback and make some choices to improve their current products through firmware updates or future products.
I don't make any money off this blog. I am receiving nothing from Jabra nor from Sennheiser. This is just my opinion for the sake of sharing it.
I have used Jabra Elite 75t and Elite 75t Active earbuds for the last 3 years. I bought a pair of Elite 65t and used those until the 75t model was released. I upgraded to the 75t. When the pandemic hit and I started working from home, I was using earbuds all day every day. I realized having a second pair was going to be helpful because the battery only lasted 4.5 hours before I had to recharge them. I bought a second pair and then a pair of Elite 75t Active, so I had 3 pair of Jabra 75t in all. This gave me a backup to the backup pair in case one went missing, one died, or whatever.
I purchased all of those Jabra earbuds on sale and/or as refurbished units. I don't think I paid more than $130 for any of them. Here is a list of things Jabra 75t do better than the Sennheiser Momentum 3.
Jabra Wins
- Case size (the 75t case shape and size is smaller, fits better in my pocket, and it's more convenient)
- App interaction when the earbuds are connected to a second device.
- I can't open app controls or options at all when I'm connected to a second device using the Sennheiser. Jabra allows me to do all the same things no matter which device I'm using.
- Power controls on the earbuds
- No way to power off or on just using the earbuds on the Sennheiser earbuds
- Jabra earbuds can power off by clicking the buttons on both earbuds simultaneously
- Volume control
- Both models allow control from the earbuds, but the Jabra offers smaller increments of volume. There have been times when I want the volume lower on the Sennheiser and dropping the volume one notch further turns the sound off completely. Jabra offers more refined control.
- Comfort/feel
- Jabra win here only because they are smaller and feel better as I'm putting them in and taking them out. Another minor irritation with the Sennheiser is that the tips invert when I pull them out. They are a little softer than the Jabra, which means they flex more. They fit snug in my ears (I'm using the largest size) and they flip inside out pretty much every time I pull them out.
- Stability
- Both earbuds will do some odd things with spontaneously turning off and back on. But in the short period of time I have used the Sennheiser earbuds, they have turned off and back on again for no apparent reason. Most recently, I was on a call for work. The Jabra also do better for the fact that they tend to reconnect with my laptop if they do disconnect. The Sennheiser earbuds disconnected and failed to reconnect.
- Controls
- The Jabra (like many other brands) allows me to assign one button to the environmental control; hear through, ANC, or none. One button function allows me to toggle through those options. With the Sennheiser earbuds, I have one button function for ANC and another one for hear through. I can't use them both at the same time. It doesn't make sense to make them different buttons. And doing that means I have to
- Multi-Point connection
- Jabra had this function out of the box. For the Sennheiser Momentum 3, it was a firmware update. Jabra does it better. As stated previously, they reconnect automatically if they get disconnected. They interact with the app when connected to a second device. When pairing with a second device, the Jabra voice indicator says "Two devices connected". The Sennheiser buds just say "Device Connected". It's nice to know that two devices are connected. When one of the devices disconnects from the Sennheisers, it says "No connection." Well, that's not true. I just turned off one device.
- When I power on the Jabra, I can hit the play/pause button and they will start playing whatever media was last playing on my device. With the Sennheiser, I have to go to the device to hit play. It's a minor annoyance, but Jabra has the edge.
- Both earbuds have room for improvement on the multi-point connectivity. Sometimes I hit pause on a podcast that I'm playing on my phone, but when I hit play to start it again, they start playing a YouTube video I had up on my laptop. Sometimes I try to play something on my computer and it won't play until I hit play and pause on a song or podcast I was playing on my phone. Once I hit play and pause there, I can start to play the media on my computer. It's not seamless with either product, but it's okay.
- Price
- Sennheiser's regular price for the Momentum 3 is $250. I got mine on sale for $199 and I also had some other gift cards and money that basically brought them down to the price of the Jabras (where I paid for them). Jabras have been on sale for $99-120.
- Bluetooth connection
- Jabra seems to have a slightly stronger signal connection with my laptop. At my house, my laptop sits shielded by a large filing cabinet. This causes issues for the Jabra when I walk into the next room, but the Sennheiser has more trouble. This could be because my laptop is older and doesn't have the higher level connection options/hardware, but this is my lived experience, so for whatever that is worth. I do occasionally experience some hiccups with the Jabras when I connect with my laptop. I can usually turn them off and on again and the issue goes away.
Sennheiser Wins
- Battery life
- Sennheier Momentum 3 gives me a couple of extra hours
- ANC and Hear through
- Sennheiser is better on this point. The wind reduction is also great. To Jabra's credit, the ANC was an add on feature with a firmware update for the 75t. They could have simply kept that feature for other models to get people to upgrade, but they rolled out the update to users who already owned the earbuds. It's not amazing on the 75t, but it does a little something.
- App (one cool feature)
- Sennheiser has a sound check feature that works like an optometrist (better like this, or better like this?). While you listen to music, you click through sets of three sound settings and you pick the one you like the best of the three. I think it goes through 3 or 4 sets of options and, at the end, it shows you the equalizer settings you prefer. Using this, changed my preferences in the Jabra sound settings. I repeatedly chose a sound profile with boosted treble and reduced bass.
- Bluetooth connection (on paper)
- The Sennheiser connects with Bluetooth 5.2 and has higher resolution options for sound codex.
Sennheiser wins, but I don't use the feature...
- Single earbud use
- The Jabras work with right earbud only. The Sennheiser Momentum 3 you can use either.
- It would be nice if you could customize button controls when only using one earbud. I saw a review where a less popular brand did allow that kind of button configuration.
- This is not a feature I have ever used, but I can see why some people might like it.
- Wireless charging
- Sennheiser can. The 75t cannot. I don't have a wireless charging pad anyhow. Jabra 85t do have the wireless charging capability, so if you wanted the Jabra features and wireless charging was important to you, you could go with the 85t. Unfortunately, I think Jabra is also phasing out the 85t (which is one of the reasons I decided to try something else).
Jabra Wins
- Sound profile
- I have rewritten this sound opinion 3 times because I wasn't sure which I liked better. I was influenced by other reviewers who favor the Sennheiser I think, so I was giving them the edge. Finally, I sat down with both pairs and just switched back and forth between pairs while listening to the same songs. Jabra pulled out as a clear winner.
- Sennheiser has good sound and a slightly wider soundstage, but they don't have the bass. The sound just isn't as rich as the Jabras.
That last facet is really the clincher for me, and it's the factor that has lead me to conclude that I am probably going to return the Sennheisers. I may hold out to see what Jabra offers next. I still have one pair of 75t and one pair of 75t Active. I'm debating about whether to try the Elite 85t from Jabra. They are supposed to be similar to the 75t with a couple of additional benefits. I'm a little gun shy about the 85t because I recently tried the Elite 7 Pro from Jabra, which is evidently their new true wireless earbud flagship model and I hated them. I hated them. The sound was terrible. The control options were more limited. The other features I care about most were all worse than the 75t.
Well, that's all I have to say about that (for now) I think. I hope Jabra comes out with a model that keeps what is great about the 75t, but slightly improves them. Time will tell. I don't think I'm the only one who feels the way I feel about the earbuds out there.
Thanks for stopping by.
Gavagai
Addendum...
I wanted to note that I have returned the Sennheiser earbuds now. I reached out to Sennheiser through their website. The only response I got from them after about 10 days was an automated email response saying that a support ticket had been created. Granted, this was during holidays, but someone should have sent me something in that amount of time. I was disappointed in Sennheiser once again. I expect more with a $200 pair of earbuds and a company that is supposedly top of the line.
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