Jabra Elite 65t Left Earbud Not Working [Try This Magic Fix!]

The Jabra Elite 65t belongs to the first generation of Jabra ‘true wireless earbuds’.

Released in 2018, they were quite ahead of their time in terms of sleek design & sound quality, only second to the Apple AirPods.

I can still see people rocking their 4 – 5 years old Jabra Elite 65ts. Being that old, they are bound to have some problems, one of which is the Jabra Elite 65t left earbud not working.

This problem isn’t unique to just the 65t model, as other models like the newer Elite 7 Pro also have similar problems.

Good news is it can be fixed with some basic troubleshooting.

While doing research for this article, I came across quite a few solutions, including one magic fix that will totally void your warranty, but it will fix your earbuds (more about it below)

Jabra Elite 65t Left Earbud Not Working – Reasons

Jabra earbuds are probably the only earbuds other than Apple AirPods that I use regularly. The reason is their great sound quality and customizability.

I have the newer Jabra 75t Active, and they have been serving me well despite occasional issues with their right earbud.

The Elite 65t is a slightly older model but has the same Bluetooth driver and shares some hardware similarities as well.

One particular hardware similarity that I will discuss later in the article is a small “vent hole” near the charging pins which is one of the culprits of the left/right earbud not working on both models.

Anyway, there are many reasons for your Jabra Elite 65t left earbud not working, including:

• Unsynced earbuds during pairing.
• Undercharged or dead battery.
• Air pressure imbalance in the sound chamber.
• Outdated firmware
• Hardware damage

To figure out which one is causing your left Jabra Elite 65t earbud to not work, we will have to go through a step-by-step troubleshooting process.

We will start with the most common/easy steps first and go towards the difficult ones.

As promised, I will also discuss one “magic trick” that will probably fix your earbuds but will also void your warranty (according to the Jabra support team).

Let’s get started.

Properly Turn Your Earbuds ON

This probably sounds silly as a first troubleshooting step, but believe me when I say this – when I got my first pair of Jabra, I didn’t know how to turn them ON.

Turned out they were designed to turn ON when you take them out of the charging case.

However, sometimes, they don’t. Or at least one of them doesn’t turn ON.

So there is a manual method of turning them ON as well.

You can press and hold the VOLUME DOWN button on the Elite 65t left earbud to turn it ON if it doesn’t turn ON automatically.

Try this if you don’t see any light activity or hear any sound when you take your earbuds out of the box and put them in your ear.

If it turns ON fine and starts working, great. If not, let’s go to the next troubleshooting step.

Check Earbuds Syncing

Jabra Elite 65t belongs to the older generation of true wireless earbuds that uses the master-slave structure for Bluetooth pairing.

In master-slave pairing, one earbud (right side) acts as a Master node that connects to your phone and receives audio.

The left earbud is a Slave node that connects to the Master node (and not your phone) via a process called synching.

When you take out your earbuds from the charging case, it takes a few seconds for the left earbud to find and sync with the right earbud.

Only after that, your earbuds can properly pair with your phone.

But in some cases, this synching process doesn’t execute as expected, and you only end up pairing your right earbud (Master) with your phone, and your left earbud is ‘left out’.

Result – you get no audio in your left earbud.

In the recent models of the Elite series, like the Elite 7 Pro, they abandoned this master-slave structure, and each earbud can sync directly with the phone and be used independently.

So, if you are not getting any audio in your left Elite 65t, unpair the earbud from your phone and pair them again, but this time, give the earbud sufficient time to sync properly.

Check Charge Levels

This one is also a very basic check, but you have to do it regardless to make sure a silly thing like a low charge is not making you go haywire.

Good thing is there is an indication of a low charge on your earbud. The LED will blink RED rapidly when the charge is low on any of your earbuds.

If you see the LED on left earbud blinking RED, that means you have a low charge. Put your earbud back into the charging case and give it a full 2-hour charge.

You will have to go through a separate diagnosis process if your Jabra earbuds are not charging, but one common reason for not charging I will discuss below.

Clean the Charging Pins

Dirty charging pins cause charging problems in almost all earbuds. The same is the case with Jabra Elite 65t.

The charging pins are designed in such a way that they come in contact with your skin every time you use them.

Over time, they pick up oil, wax, and dirt particles and become non-conductive. When this happens, you have to clean them properly.

Cleaning them is quite easy. You can either use rubbing alcohol or WD40 Spray to clean the charging pins. Just soak a cotton swab in the solution and clean the contacts a few times.

Make sure you clean both the charging pins on the earbuds and on the charging case.

Clean The Vent Hole

Now here is the magic trick I have talked about at the beginning of this article. It is simple, yet for some reason, the Jabra support team is very much against it when you ask them.

If you look closely at the bottom of your earbuds, you will see a small pinhole near the charging pins (see below image)

This small hole is a vent hole to balance the air pressure inside the sound chamber.

When your speaker diaphragm vibrates with sound, it needs to take in & exhale air.

If this hole is blocked, the diaphragm can’t work properly, and you won’t get any sound.

You will see similar vent holes in each and every speaker in your house. This is a basic principle of how speakers work.

However, there is a design flaw in older Elite series like the 65t and 75t earbuds.

The vent hole is placed right where the earbuds touch the skin during regular use, and over time, it gathers oils, wax, and dust and gets clogged.

When this happens, the speakers won’t be able to generate pressure, and you won’t hear the audio despite the earbud working fine otherwise.

To fix the issue, you have to clean the air vent with a needle or toothpick, or some other pointy item. Get all the dirt and wax out.

But you have to do it very carefully.

The pinhole has a delicate and thin membrane at the other end, so if you poke it hard enough, it could damage the membrane as well.

That’s why Jabra customer service advises against doing it yourself. But people have done it carefully, and it works.

Reinstall the Jabra Sound+ App

Your Jabra earbuds are closely integrated with the Jabra companion App called Sound+.

It offers great customization settings to tweak your audio and how your earbud function.

But at times, a glitch in the app can also make your earbuds misbehave.

That’s why it is a good idea to either clear the app cache or reinstall the app completely to see if the app is the root of the problem.

While researching this topic, I read from quite a few Jabra users that reinstalling the app solved their Jabra Elite 65t left earbud not working problem.

It’s an easy thing to do, so you might just do it and cross it off your list of things to check for the cause of the problem.

Reset The Charging Case

This is one of those fixes that has worked for many, many users, and if the above steps haven’t been successful for you, this might work.

Before you reset your charging case, I would recommend resetting your earbuds by pressing and holding the multi-function button on the right earbud for 10 seconds.

Once your earbuds are reset, you can go ahead and reset your charging case by following the steps below:

1. Put your earbuds in the charging case but don’t close the lid. Keep it open.
2. Plug the charging case into the USB charger and make sure it has started charging.
3. Wait for up to 5 seconds, and then close the lid.
4. Wait for some time (10 seconds to up to 3 minutes), and the LED on the back of the case will start blinking purple.
5. The case will go through a reset process and also refreshes its firmware.

When the LED stops blinking, the reset process is complete, and you can remove the earbuds and pair them again.

See if this fixes your left earbud problem.

Update The Firmware

Outdated firmware can also cause issues with the normal working of your earbuds.

If you haven’t updated your firmware in a while, it is a good idea to check for updates.

If you have your Sound+ app installed and notifications allowed, it will automatically notify you of any available updates.

To check manually, pair your Jabra earbuds to your phone and then go to the app settings, and you will see an option to update your firmware.

Check For Hardware Damage

Jabra earbuds have a very solid build quality, and they don’t just break down with normal use.

However, like every other piece of hardware, they are also prone to shocks and water damage.

If you have been carelessly dropping your earbuds,, causing shocks, or have been using them in harsh environments like a sauna or sweaty gym sessions, there is a chance of hardware damage.

In case of hardware damage, there is little you can do as repairing them will not be very economical.

Your best bet is to contact Jabra support and see if they can accommodate a return or exchange if you are under warranty.

Contact Jabra Support

As a last resort, you can reach out to Jabra support for professional help in solving your issue.

Like most support teams, they will initially offer you generic advice to reset your earbuds or reset the charging case, but if you have followed this guide, you can tell them you already did that.

You can reach out to Jabra Support via their website or directly through the Jabra Sound+ app.

The Jabra Elite 65t comes with two years of warranty, and if your buds are within that range, you can claim a warranty as well.