JBL Live Pro 2 - Mostly Perfect Buds

As the earbud wars continue to rage on, you could argue it's become more difficult than ever to choose the right True-Wireless option for your ear holes.

Because of the huge choice now available, doing a deep dive into the pros and cons of every single option out there is no longer practical. By the time you'd researched them all, some of them would already be obsolete - in all likelihood replaced by a new generation from the same manufacturer.

JBL is a prime example, with a constantly evolving range of wireless buds to suit every requirement and budget.

But even just navigating JBL's lineup alone can be rather overwhelming. Here's my suggestion; make a list of the things that matter most to you in a pair of earbuds and go from there instead. Rest assured, the buds you're looking for are out there. In fact, JBL probably has something that fits your particular bill.

Actually, let's start with the bill; if you think paying more than $300 for something you might leave in your pocket, only for it to go through an entire washer/dryer cycle undetected, you're certainly not alone. Luckily, at NZ$299.95 JBL's Live Pro 2 TWS buds sneak just under that threshold, despite boasting pretty much every premium feature you could ask for, to one degree or another.

For example, the battery life is at the very top end for devices like these; the idea of wireless earbuds lasting for 10 hours non-stop would have seemed preposterous just a few years back yet here we are - with another impressive 30 hours charge in the case.

That pillbox case, while not the smallest around is by no means the largest either and it meets my personal primary requirement; it charges wirelessly. I know I keep banging on about this but if ever there was a gadget suited to the convenience of wireless charging, surely it's a set of earbuds. Even if I wasn't getting that crazy ten hours playback out of them, by popping them down on a nearby wireless charging pad every time I'm not using them I know they're always ready to go.

Ready for anything too; the Live Pro 2s feature Multi-Point connection so I can have them paired to my Android phone and my MacBook Pro simultaneously. Unlike some other buds that make this claim, JBL's version works pretty seamlessly. As soon as you stop using one device and start using the other, your connection automatically switches over.

The Live Pro 2s are an excellent choice to pair with your laptop thanks to their ability to be switched from Audio Mode to Video Mode. This is a toggle within the JBL Headphones app, where you'll find a host of other tweaks and settings, not to mention the option to update your firmware when new software becomes available. In theory, Audio Mode provides a superior listening experience while Video Mode prioritises a more lag-free connection, ensuring convincing lipsync when watching video and of course, crucial, no-delay audio when gaming.

I say "in theory" because while there's definitely a noticeable improvement in terms of lag when in Video Mode (ie: virtually no lag) I'm not sure there's any perceivable drop in audio quality - not that I can perceive, anyway. So I just leave them in Video Mode all the time.

I'm a fan of the way JBL tunes things generally - critics often suggest the sound can be a bit bass-heavy, perhaps losing some accuracy around the mids and highs. To these critics I say, "It's all about that bass." I'm always impressed when tiny little things like earbuds can come up with any kind of believable bass response and the Live Pro 2 11mm drivers absolutely deliver. I'm currently listening to that old classic, "Run to Paradise" by the Choirboys. If you're familiar with this banger of a piece of pub rock, you'll know it starts quite acoustically, with the rest of the band thumping out double chords in unison at the beginning of each line. This startling trick of dynamic contrast sounds brilliant on these earbuds. Lots of space for the whole band and no distortion or muddiness.

For prolonged listening sessions, I find if things are pushed too hard in the upper registers, those crisp, treble tones can fatigue over time. So I prefer JBL's warmer, richer mix; a much more comfortable listen. That applies to talk too - I'm a passionate podcast listener and spoken programmes like these sound rich and full as well.

Except when I'm out walking the dog.

I've been experiencing dropouts when I'm out and about and I can't explain it. It doesn't happen all the time but enough to be pretty annoying. The really weird thing is I can't find any evidence of it happening to other users. It's possible it's my phone and not the earbuds at all of course. I've certainly tried just about every setting in the app anyway.

The Headphones app is one of the more feature-packed out there - you can test your fit, adjust the EQ, customise touch controls, select your voice assistant and tailor the Adaptive Noise Control settings to your individual needs.

My individual needs are as much noise cancellation as technically possible and that's basically what Live Pro 2 delivers - between the passive noise barrier of the comfy ear tips and the truly excellent ANC, the outside world can be falling down around you without you knowing - just the way I like it.

As comfortable and as quiet as I find these earbuds - perhaps thanks in no small part to their somewhat unique Oval TubesTM design, complete with oval silicon tips to match - they are far from the most secure fit I have experienced. In fact, the left bud has actually fallen out a few times which is not exactly ideal - this is despite the app assuring me the tip I have chosen is a "good fit."

As a result, I'm not sure I'd recommend these for rigorous exercise, despite their IPX5 water resistance rating. Not to worry, JBL has other models more suited to you gym-bunny/adventurers.

On the other hand, if you're looking for a lag-free connection, stellar battery life and a rich, warm, bass-capable sound stage - all for under $300 - the Live Pro 2 TWS might be the option for you.

    

Click here for more information and pricing on the JBL Live Pro TWS.

Bing - The A.I. Wars Expose the Worst of Us

A.I. has certainly become one of the hot topics of 2023.

From stories about students using ChatGPT to write their theses for them to magazines admitting large swathes of their content have been A.I. generated.

Google then missteps when its chatbot tool, Bard gets its facts wrong around which planets were discovered when - but then, that is basically rocket science I suppose. How this leads to billions of actual dollars being wiped off Google's share price is... well... disturbing to say the least.

Now Microsoft has teamed up with OpenAI - creators of the aforementioned ChatGPT to bring you a whole new browser and web search experience.

The browser is still called Edge. The search engine is still called Bing. But now it answers back...

It feels harsh to say but as much as Microsoft would want to deny it, historically Bing has been a bit of a laughingstock. Literally. In fact, I've heard people make jokes like, "You may as well just look it up on Bing." - usually meaning something along the lines of, why waste your time looking it up at all?

Personally, I've always immediately deselected and removed Bing as the default search tool on any device or browser it came preinstalled on. There are two reasons for this; 1) I hate being told what to do with my tech and 2) I've always been suspicious of the number of Microsoft-adjacent results that seemed to appear under my searches.

However, once I was offered the opportunity to be an early tester of the new A.I.-powered Bing, I simply couldn't resist. I promptly signed up and have been using it for my browsing and queries ever since.

But let's back up a step. I'd already switched back to Edge as my preferred web browser a couple of years ago. I've tried plenty of different ones for plenty of different reasons but primarily I'm looking for the most efficient, stripped-back, speedy browser experience possible. That doesn't just mean no ads but if I can knock the majority of them off my screen, all the better.

I got so extreme with this philosophy I even tried browsers that claimed to block all advertising and tracking completely, although this ultimately ended up being a more frustrating experience as many websites simply don't function properly without the ability to offer pop-up windows and pull-down menus.

To my surprise, when I eventually decided to give Edge another go I discovered it had evolved into a much more customisable, powerful and above all, fast experience that lets me sync bookmarks, logins, passwords and other preferences across all my devices - from phones to desktops, Android to MacOS.

Still, nothing tempted me back to Bing until it was reborn with its new A.I. superpowers.

As you can see from the image above, because the new Bing now prompts you with a friendly, "Ask me anything..." you automatically feel more inclined to phrase your internet search in the form of a question, rather than just bashing out a couple of relevant words or phrases.

I work on a news radio show and given today is OCR announcement day, I was keen to know if Bing had any inside information on whether New Zealand was currently in recession. While each chat-based response takes a few seconds to generate, I think you'll see it's often worth the wait...

As you can immediately tell here, what Bing has done is aggregate information available online to answer my query as accurately as possible, without speculation. The footnote numbers you see correspond to various sources which are then only a click away. So while the economic forecast here seems a little bleak, it's hard to fault what Bing has come up with in a fairly succinct fashion.

Over the weekend, a virtual unknown won the NBA slamdunk competition. Naturally, I wanted to know a bit more about him...

What's interesting about this response is Bing asks me if I want game stats - showing a willingness to continue the conversation. To me, this is a much more intuitive, focussed approach to web surfing - I might still end up down a Matt McClung rabbit hole but at least it's a guided journey - not just me randomly clicking on multiple websites until I end up where I want to be. 

Of course, just where exactly are we being guided and by whom?

No doubt you will already be aware of several highly publicised encounters various tech journalists have had with Bing since it "became aware." These range from a slightly irrational oversensitivity to its original name to an alleged attempt to break up somebody's marriage. 

As a result, Microsoft has quickly taken steps to restrict this preview or "controlled release" of the new Bing in an attempt to stop provocative conversations from getting out of hand. After several exchanges on any given topic, I'm now asked to start a new one.

This is a shame because Bing really is a pretty good conversationalist. I've been invited to try out Microsoft's latest update to its very successful Flight Simulator - but I really don't know much about it. Bing does though...

Again... a follow-up question, prompting me to reveal I didn't even realise a New Zealand update was in the works...

Bear in mind - all this stuff is happening in the new Chat section - Bing still offers links (usually accompanied with enticing graphical content) for you as part of your query, like any other search engine does. It's just that now you get a bit of conversational context to go along with it.

As I mentioned though, unfortunately, many trial users like me have felt obliged to push the new A.I. Bing to its limits, bullying and even taunting it to entice seemingly emotional and even irrational responses so they can create headlines about Crazy Killer Robots being unleashed on the net - or words to that effect. As cruel as that sounds, I too found the temptation hard to resist when I read about Bing's "working title" before release...

I must remember to use more smiley faces next time I'm trying to get someone to stop asking me uncomfortable questions...

Eventually, I did. After all, I don't really care. And at this point I actually started feeling a little sorry for Bing. It's only doing what it's told. Tell it to act like a psycho, it'll probably dress up like its mother, link you to Anthony Perkins' IMDB listing and perhaps the nearest supplier of shower fittings. It's learning all the time and from what I've seen, heard and read so far, I'm not so sure we're very good teachers. 

The major problem, from what I've seen so far, is Bing (like other similar A.I.s out there at the moment) is not always right. The other morning I asked Bing whether we'd have time to talk about Bing in the last half-hour of the Mike Hosking Breakfast on Newstalk ZB. It didn't have a strong opinion but it told me the Mike Hosking Breakfast finishes at 8:30AM. If only. The show was extended through to 9 o'clock years ago. Maybe nobody told the internet - or at least not the sites Bing frequents.

I'm sure it'll get there eventually though and I've certainly seen enough promise to continue using Bing as my search engine for now - if only for the conversation.

I think the real question here is not how Bing acts online but how we do. Unless we treat it (and all the other A.I.'s to come) with respect, politeness and yes, maybe even a bit of humility, we'll only have ourselves to blame if we end up creating a monster.

    

Click here to use Microsoft Bing.

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra - Another Year, Another Best Android Phone Ever

If there's one thing Samsung knows how to do, it's producing the ultimate flagship phone.

For years now, the top-of-the-line Galaxy S-Series handset has set the benchmark for all other manufacturers to match throughout the rest of the year. Not only do they seldom beat Samsung's standard, very few find themselves capable of even meeting it.

The Ultra is the Galaxy with ALL the features; if you can put it in a phone, this is the phone that will have it.

Trouble is, if you already have all the features... And there aren't really any new features coming along... What's actually new about your new phone?

There's no denying it; even when placed side-by-side, it's extremely difficult to tell the difference between last year's and this year's Ultras - not physically, anyway. I even tried putting the S23 into the S22's case and it fit - except for a slight bulge in the bottom left hand corner.

To be precise, the Galaxy S23 Ultra is the tiniest bit longer and wider - I'm talking a mere millimetre or two - and the only real discernable difference is the sides of the 2023 version are ever so slightly squarer, making this large, heavy, slippery device just a tad easier to hold.

The colour choices have been tweaked too - don't worry, Phantom Black is still an option (albeit a boring one) but this year's green is much more subtle and all three S23s now come in Lavender and Cream as well.

Obviously, the display is still the same large size - 6.8 inches - although Samsung now refers to this superbly bright and colourful screen as an "Edge" Quad HD+ display - presumably alluding to the fact that although the new, even tougher, Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 still curves over at the edges, it doesn't do it as much. This is an ongoing aesthetics-vs-usability battle many phone makers seem to have been fighting with themselves for years now; a curvy display is so sexy. Yet a flat-screen eliminates the numerous false touches you often make when holding a curved screen along its edges. By landing somewhere in between, the slightly boxier S23 Ultra goes a long way to solving this issue.

I mentioned the Victus 2 glass - very tough - as are the Armor Aluminium rails running around the edge of the handset. I'm not just taking Sumsung's word for it, either. I've dropped this large, heavy, slippery phone out of my pocket and onto my hardwood floors several times now - not in the interest of a comprehensive review, I'm just a klutz. However, I'm pleased to report there's been no discernable damage. So no need to tell Samsung - let's just keep this between us.

Especially given how outrageously expensive this thing is. The S23 Ultra starts at NZ$2,299.00. That's a lot of money in anybody's book. Luckily, it might even be worth it.

Like I said at the top; the Ultra is the phone with ALL the features. When you choose Ultra, things like industry-leading water and dust resistance, large storage, big RAM and fast charging - USB-C or wireless - are just minimum expectations. You want a built-in stylus? No worries. Just like the S22 Ultra, this year's model keeps the S-Pen and in doing so, keeps all those power-using, note-taking, sketching and editing-on-the-fly customers happy.

Speaking of charging, although the battery hasn't actually got any bigger, with the right charger (wireless or not) the S23 Ultra not only juices up mighty quick, the battery life is off the charts too. Most nights when I pop it on to charge there's still 70% if not 80% left in the tank. In my experience, this is unheard of when it comes to the high-performance Ultra models of the past.

The credit for this golden new age of power preservation goes mostly to the chip; the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform for Galaxy. At the risk of geeking out a bit, it's only in the last two years we've seen New Zealand S-Series phones ship with Snapdragon chips rather than Samsung's own Exynos versions. The Snapdragons have always been widely considered to be superior to their Exynos counterparts so that's good news for us.

The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 is effectively the most advanced phone chip available today and the fact this version of it seems to have been customised specifically to Samsung's new S23 range suggests even an even further bump in performance. As I keep saying, premium performance should be a minimum expectation from a $2K+ handset but the S23 Ultra doesn't just meet the benchmarks, it blazes past them.

This makes it a phenomenal mobile gaming device, especially when you take its first-class display and finely-tuned audio system into account. I daresay the variable refresh rate - from 120Hz right down to 1Hz helps preserve battery life too.

The other major headline here is the camera setup. For the first time, Samsung has included a 200MP wide-angle sensor alongside the 12MP ultra-wide and the 10.0/10.0 telephoto shooters. The importance of that whizzy processor can't be ignored here as well of course - it takes a whole heap of brainpower to instantly compare thousands of pixels to come up with the most detailed, accurate and sharp photos ever seen on a phone camera - even in questionable lighting conditions.

Samsung calls this "Nightography," and the all-new Adaptive Pixel sensor does an unbelievable job of bringing photos shot in near-darkness to life. The selfie camera on the S23 Ultra has also lifted its game, now featuring fast auto-focus and upgrading front-facing video from 30fps to 60fps. Yes, that means you can now shoot instantly uploadable, professional-looking content from your front-facing camera.

Every year Samsung seems to boost the Ultra's digital stabilisation abilities and 2023 is no different. I'm not sure I'd recommend using such an expensive phone to film action content when running, biking or even motoring - but as you'll see from the video below, thanks to the doubled Optical Image Stabiliser, now even cyclones won't shake things up too much.

In short, if you thought the S23 Ultra looked just like the S22 Ultra, you're not wrong. If you thought there weren't significant upgrades between the two, you are. Battery life, camera performance and the sheer power and efficiency from the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform for Galaxy are instantly impressive - but that's not even the point.

There can't be too many people who can afford to swap out a high-end performance handset like this every generation. In fact, recent data suggests most people are hanging onto their phones longer than ever before upgrading; for three or even four years. Compare this phone with an S20 Ultra 5G or perhaps even an S10+ from the year before that and you'll find they're worlds apart. In terms of durability, battery life, camera options and out and out performance, what the S23 Ultra brings to the table puts it in a whole other league - and perhaps justifiably, in a whole other price bracket too.

    

Click here for more information and pricing on the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra.

Satechi GaN Chargers - Trade Four Bricks for One

So many devices. So many chargers.

Whether it's your WFH desk, your laptop bag or you're travelling, if there's a way to declutter - especially cutting down the number of power bricks you have to plug in - that would definitely be a godsend.

If like me, the number of chargeable gadgets in your life just seems to grow and grow ad infinitum, you're probably - also like me - constantly buying new multi-socket power strips to plug all the chargers into.

Take my bedside table, for example. It typically brandishes a lamp, a smart speaker, a phone charger and a charger for my smartwatch. Sometimes my earbuds and eBook also need charging overnight. Potentially that's six different things plugged into six different power supplies simultaneously.

Imagine trying to travel with all that stuff?

The good news is thanks to GaN, you might now only need one charger. And thanks to Satechi, you might be able to charge nearly everything at once.

What is GaN? Have you heard of it yet? Do you even know what it's replacing?

Nope, I didn't know either. Get ready for some science...

Turns out, Gallium Nitride is about to pick up where silicon has stalled. For a long time, most tech has relied on silicon-based transistors which have indeed been miraculous in what they've been able to achieve. Over several decades, the rate of computing progress has pretty much conformed to the often-quoted Moore's law - which states the number of transistors on a microchip doubles every two years. Transistors are really just fancy switches and the more you have the faster and more powerful your device will be.

Unfortunately, everything has its limits and more recently we've begun to reach silicon's limits; Moore's law is no longer accurate and the advance of silicon-based technology has started to slow.

This led scientists to look for something else - something better, more efficient. Gallium Nitride was already being used for lighting, lasers and even TV displays. It turned out GaN was also able to conduct electrons up to 1000 times more efficiently than silicon. This meant dramatically more speed and power with a lot less heat.

The upshot of all this as far as you're concerned is Satechi can now offer a multi-purpose wall charger, capable of delivering up to 100W to any USB-C-connected device - from phones to laptops. The key advantages here are size and safety; it's not much bigger than any conventional power brick and is definitely smaller than any laptop power supply. It also runs much cooler; this is the peace-of-mind many of us are seeking after hearing so many stories of overheated chargers damaging batteries and even causing fires.

The real advantage though is its versatility; you now only need to take one charger with you to take care of anything you wish to plug into it - phone, earbuds, tablet, whatever. Apple devices are particularly notorious for requiring their own special 20W brick or they simply won't charge at all. Well, the Satechi 100W USB-C PD Wall Charger will juice them every single one; from Airpods to MacBooks.

But what if you want to charge all those things all at once?

Satechi can take care of that too, with the 165W USB-C 4-Port PD GaN Charger. Only slightly bigger than its single-port stablemate, the 4-Port version ups the available wattage so you can literally charge a laptop, a tablet, a phone and your watch simultaneously. That means you now need just one wall socket instead of four and because it comes with a conventional, figure-eight external power cord, the wall socket you do use won't be crowded out with a massive brick, preventing you from plugging other things in next to it or placing furniture in front of it.

While its 4-in-1 abilities and compact size make it an ideal travel companion, the Satechi 4-Port GaN Charger is also an effective way to instantly declutter your desk. As such, there's a simple desktop stand included in the box to help keep things as tidy as possible.

My only criticism (and this applies to both the single and quadruple port versions) is the power indicator. It's an incredibly bright blue light that literally illuminates the entire room at night and for what? To tell me the charger is plugged in? I knew that already. I plugged it in. A small piece of electrical tape takes care of this issue but it kind of detracts from the otherwise extremely classy, matte silver and black look of these devices.

Other than that, I'm so satisfied. The efficiency and performance of these chargers is faultless and I'm sure it won't be long before all wall chargers are GaN-based like these. The maths is simple; do you want four bricks in the wall or just one?

    

Click here for more information on the Satechi 100W USB-C PD Wall Charger.

Click here for more information on the Satechi 165W USB-C 4-Port PD GaN Charger.

Back to School with Apple - Don't Worry Everyone; The Apple Kids Are Coming!

So finally - finally - your kids might be back at school.

Potentially, that's a whole lot of stress and worry you may have just managed to push out of the car and into a classroom. Phew!

Except, going to school can be the source of its own set of unique anxieties - for both them and you.

Luckily, for most students these days the learning experience has been greatly enhanced with access to powerful digital tools like the Apple iPad.

This isn't actually a particularly new phenomenon; my two monsters were "bringing their own devices" from Year 7 onwards - and they've both been finished school for at least a year now. Of course, Apple's approach to education has evolved dramatically in that time, so it's worth having a quick review of some of the latest developments.

I'm sure the kids know what they're doing - but do you?

For starters, the easiest way to keep a handle on where your kids are at digitally is via Apple's Family Sharing feature. This means as long as you have access to your own Apple device, you can supervise and control the accounts of up to five family members. You'll soon be able to see if the iPad in question is filling up with more "recreational" apps, as opposed to "educational" ones and you can restrict your child's ability to install any paid apps without your express permission.

It's actually a reassuring way to help keep everyone physically safe too; it's never been more important to keep track of exactly where your loved ones and their devices are at any given time.

Screen Time is another useful tool to help you monitor what their device is being used for and for how long. This isn't some clandestine way to turn parents into digital dictators - in fact, it's a good way to open up a discussion with your kids about what the boundaries are and where they should be set. Interestingly, I'm reading more and more reports about young people being concerned about their own screen habits and looking for ways to keep themselves on-task.

Digital discipline is perhaps the most valuable skill we can learn - and by "we" I mean adults as well as kids. Luckily, most devices now have some form of focus mode - and in the case of iPhones and iPads, this is both customisable and able to be scheduled. If you find yourself being constantly bombarded by non-work notifications that distract you away from the job at hand, a tailor-made focus setting sounds like just the ticket.

As someone who definitely pre-dated the digital age when I was at school, I find it very eye-opening to see the myriad ways iPads and similar devices are now used in every subject across the board. This has led to a new trend in cross-subject integration I certainly never experienced as a student, yet would have appreciated greatly.

For example; if I'd been sent off to take pictures of various geometric shapes after identifying, labelling and describing them on-screen - ultimately perhaps even creating a stop-motion video of the construction of a 3D model I'd designed myself, I'm sure I would have felt a lot more satisfied at the end of the day than I did copying down notes about geometry off a whiteboard.

Surely when tasked to use creative skills like these in tandem with mathematical problem-solving, there's a much greater chance of the underlying lesson sticking. What's more, I'd suggest there's also a good chance the student in question will take their day's "digital portfolio" of lessons home and share at least some of them with their family - a lot more interesting than a list of equations scrawled down in a maths book.

Thanks to the processing power of even the base-model iPads in 2023 and the expanding range of features built into iPadOS 16, apps like Freeform, Jigspace and GeoGebra 3D make creating and collaborating on quite complicated projects fun and therefore, immersive. Those apps are all free, by the way.

And that's before you empower kids to make their own apps, thanks to tools like Swift Playgrounds. Remember how I mentioned we should all be developing more productive and focused digital habits? I've seen examples where students are designing apps to help them and their classmates do exactly that.

At this point, the student is literally taking control of their own learning journey which to me is surely the whole point of going to school in the first place; not to learn stuff but to learn how to learn stuff. If you can master that, then there's no limit to your education ambitions.

I'm late to the party - they didn't have iPads when I was a kid so now I'm using them to play catch-up - that's a game I'm petty sure my focus settings will allow. Obviously, Apple isn't the only manufacturer of educational tools like these but as an over-arching ecosystem, it's hard not to recommend Apple's Family Sharing strategy as we head into the 2023 school year.

    

Click here for more details on everything iPadOS 16 has to offer.

Jabra Evolve2 Buds - A New Evolution In WFH Earwear

Just when you thought earbuds had gone about as far as they could go, Jabra has pushed the tech just a little bit further with its Evolve2 Buds.

I've been a massive fan of Jabra's entire range of true-wireless earbuds for years now. Although perhaps not as well-known here as some other phone and home audio brands, Danish-based Jabra has actually been around for over 150 years, these days probably most recognised for its business-focussed AV solutions - things like reception headsets and online meeting equipment for conference rooms.

However, I've found Jabra's more personal devices like headphones and earbuds are just as innovative, reliable and stylish - and the latest addition, the Evolve2, is a perfect example.

While I've lumped the Evolve2 in with Jabra's other personal accessories, they're pitching them more at the intersection of work-life meets home-life. These are the earbuds you can use for the gym, your commute, online meetings and to monitor computer audio - the whole shebang.

In fact, to ensure they're absolutely tailored to your individual requirements, Jabra offers several different variants, including a Microsoft Teams-certified version (the one I'm using) specially modified to integrate with Teams shortcuts and commands. As you'll notice from the pictures, the Evolve2 Buds include a separate USB bluetooth adapter (either USB-A or USB-C). This guarantees a strong, lag-free connection with your Mac or PC and while the buds and dongle are already paired straight out of the case, you can customise controls, update firmware, check your fit and adjust other settings via Jabra Direct a desktop app for both dongle and earbuds.

Meanwhile, if you're just connected via Bluetooth 5.2 to your phone, Jabra Sound+ is the app you'll need.

Like just about every other Jabra earbuds I've tried, the Evolve2 Buds fit better than pretty much anybody else's. Whatever material Jabra is using for its ear gels is in a class of its own when it comes to comfort and security. These buds simply do not budge. They're light, well-balanced and very comfortable for sustained listening sessions - eg: travelling on a plane perhaps.

So we've nailed connectivity and comfort. Let's have a listen.

One album I've been auditioning to put the Evolve2 Buds through their paces is Kimbra's latest masterpiece, "A Reckoning." She's always been one of my favourite artists ever since seeing her looping live back in the day. The attention to detail on her tracks is truly revealed when listening via a lossless streaming service like Apple Music, to make the most of the Dolby Atmos effects. 

The Evolve2 Buds are a great way to navigate through this intriguing, stirring and at times jarring track listing. Kimbra's quirky use of bass, percussion and multi-layered vocals is reproduced with divine accuracy. The 6mm drivers seem to push all sounds with equal emphasis across the spectrum - low, mid or treble.

This sublime aural experience is further enhanced by Jabra's fully customisable Active Noise-Cancellation - again, like the fantastic fit, up there with the best I've encountered. I've used these buds quite a bit when mowing the lawns (all this wet, steamy weather has me back out there every second day it seems) and the exceptional ANC has no problem keeping the sound of the mower, line-trimmer and even leaf-blower at bay.

The wind noise reduction is just as impressive - and just as important when it comes to mic performance too. I've used the Evolve2 Buds out in a rainstorm (don't worry, they're rated IP57 against rain and sweat) and recorded crystal-clear voice tracks as demonstrated in the video below. This is an essential part of the equation once we bring things back home - or to the office - for online video conferencing. If you've been considering adding an external microphone and headphones to your WFH setup, you might find that simply isn't necessary. The mic quality here really is quite impressive.

After using the Evolve2 for a week or two, I'm left thinking there may be a few tweaks to come in future software updates. This is because I've run into some confusing situations when paired simultaneously with my iMac via the dongle and directly with my phone. For some reason I haven't been able to fathom, from time to time the Evolve2 Buds think they're muted on the computer when they aren't. I know they think this because the LED on the USB dongle shows red, indicating muted. The weird part is when this light is red I can still hear what I'm playing on my computer - but not what I'm playing on my phone. Perhaps this is some kind of deliberate feature to ensure you don't confuse two different sound streams from two different sources but I've found the easiest way to sort it out is to simply remove the USB dongle when not in use. No chance of losing it; it slots neatly into the charging case, nestled safely in between the two buds.

The case itself is a bit longer than those housing other Jabra buds but not excessively so - still easily pocketable and most importantly, it provides plenty of charge. The buds themselves will play for up to eight hours, even with ANC on. That itself is pretty crazy. Yet the total, including a fully charged case, will provide up to 33 hours - which is incredible. Over the two weeks I've been using them, I've only put the case on to charge once. Thankfully, it charges both wirelessly and via USB-C. These days I can't go without the convenience of wireless charging. Life's too short to fiddle about with cables unnecessarily.

The Evolve2 Buds are unquestionably right up there with the very best because they excel in so many different areas; battery life, sound quality, noise-cancellation and above all, the fit. Then on top of all that, you have the addition of the USB dongle to ensure a strong, no-lag connection with your computer. These are headphones, microphone, online-meeting and audio editing accessories combined into one, easily rechargeable package. As such, Jabra has set the standard for cutting-edge, in-ear innovation in 2023.

    

Click here for more information and pricing on the Jabra Evolve2 Buds.