Best Headset?

[deanwebb]

We all have to be on the phone a lot... what headsets have done the best job for you?

Consider the following:

1. Head fit - should be able to wear the headset for a while without the head feeling pinched or pressured anywhere. Single-ear, over-head models are the ones most likely to make the side opposite the earpiece feel the pinch.

2. Ear fit - for those bluetooth thingies. Does it make your ear feel like it's going to fall off or does it ride well?

3. Hot ear - does it get uncomfortably warm, does it make your ear sweat, is it icky?

4. Ear friction - is it smooth on the ear, or is it scratchy?

5. Microphone quality - how clear is your voice?

6. Speaker fidelity - how clear is the voice on the other side? Be sure to compare in a Skype/Zoom/WebEx call where the quality is potentially tip-top, not a conference call where the phone makes everything echo

7. Location of mute button - is it where you can reach it fast enough before you sneeze or cough? Also, does it emit a periodic beep when you're on mute to remind you that nobody can hear you?

8. Range - is it on a long wire? Or if it's bluetooth/wireless, can you go on mute and get yourself a snack or a bio-break and not drop the call?

[deanwebb]

Myself, I've got a Plantronics Blackwire C310-M. I've had it for almost a year, and I'm very happy with it. It's a USB plug-in to my PC, so it needs to be leveraging the PC softphone/conference software. I've had other Plantronics products for desk phones and have liked the feel of them, even if sometimes the base set had issues...

It's a light headset, goes over the head so that I don't have it hanging off my ear. Doesn't pinch, but I can feel the support bar there. Mic and sound quality is great, never a complaint there. The earpiece is an over-ear foam pad, so it's comfortable and doesn't make the ear get hot the way a plastic-covered pad does. Mute button is not in the best place, but I can reach it in time for a sneeze. I just wish it was lower down the wire so I could cradle it more comfortably for those conversations where I'm in and out of the discussion frequently.

For the price, it's been a great buy. It's traveled well, because it bends just about everywhere. Nothing so stiff that it breaks off. I can definitely recommend this if you're looking for a USB headset.

[Nerm]

I have never been a fan of the feeling of headphones. I keep a cheap $40 MPOW set off Amazon for flights, but anywhere I can I use a Jabra 510 mobile conference room puck.

[deanwebb]

I prefer headphones so that if I have a private conversation, at least the part I hear can stay private.

[wintermute000]

My personal criteria

- has to be decent for music. I'm not carrying around TWO pairs of cans.
- must be wireless
- must have decent battery
- must be able to pair with 2 devices simultaneously (laptop + phone, or tablet + phone) and switch audio. Not manually reconnecting back and forth....

I initially settled on Plantronics Backbeat 500s which basically did all the above (for under 100 USD) EXCEPT 1 call in 4 people would complain about my sound quality. MIght be just a flaky unit, but by then it was > a year and everything else was still perfect so I just kept it as a personal audio headset.

I ended up using a Jabra Evolve 65 stereo because it was free (work standard issue). That basically does it all EXCEPT the battery life is average (guesstimate around 10 hours?) and the volume is not high enough when you're on a plane (struggle to hear what people are saying in a movie for example). For my music needs during my daily commute though its perfectly fine and demolishes any pathetic earbud even if it is more of an office headset than a music one. The microphone is perfect and it pairs with my phone + PC simultaneously no problem - when audio comes through on the other unit its smart enough to switch automagically. Same with tablet.

I would love to splash out on something like a Bowes and Wilkins PX (death to micro-usb in 2018) or even the standard go-to Bose QC35s but I can't justify spending 400-500 bucks when what I have is good enough, and I'm not going to bother spending small dollars for an incremental sidegrade.

[deanwebb]

That one goes over both ears... I get hot ear pretty easily, so do those ventilate well?

[wintermute000]

They're fairly loose and 'open' not enclosed, I don't get hot/sweaty unlike some of the more gigantor noise cancelling ones.

[deanwebb]

How quickly do they recharge?

[wintermute000]

erm an hour or maybe 2? never given it a thought. I just charge them every 2-3 days at my work desk. That's basically good for the next 2-3 days which includes 2 hours music and at least an hour of calls a day (hence my rough guess of 10 hour battery).


Its noticeably worse than my plantronics which is double that, and definitely worse than my good old Sony DRBTN200 cans which had a legendary 40 hour (no kidding) battery life at a price under USD100. Too bad they're now 5+ years old and falling apart LOL those were the best ever but yeah old tech.

[deanwebb]

Dang... 40 hour battery life es mi gusta...

[deanwebb]

Since I'm putting in lots of time on the phone, I've started to get waxy buildup behind my ears - heat, pressure, lack of air circulation, whatever it is, it's messing up my skin there. I'm going to switch to an in-ear or near-ear system. Looking at bluetooth necksets, I see this: https://headphonescompared.com/best-neckband-headphones/

I'm going with the LG model rated #2. It's actually now a 760, but reviews say it's an improvement over the 750 reviewed well in the link above. I passed over the first one because ear stuff.

I loved my Plantronics headset, but I got too much hot ear.

[wintermute000]

You really have two conflicting issues:

- hot ear - you want on-ear. I am similar, I wear glasses so the on-ear design is much more comfortable.
- noise cancellation - you want over-ear. I've gone into stores and tried on literally every single over-ear noise cancellation headset, from $200 to $500 models, and I cannot find a single one I feel totally comfortable in. Every brand (Bose, Bowes and Wilkins, JBL, Sennheiser, you name it).

Since I don't fly as much as you, and 90% of the flights are short (Melbourne to Sydney = just over an hour), the noise cancellation can go jump vs comfort.


Give the Plantronics Backbeat 505s or Sense a go (no noise cancellation but fits all your other criteria). I suspect the Jabra Evolve 65 is too open - you basically can't hear sh1t on a plane.


The other first world problem to consider is USB-C.... dear god when are they going to start making USB-C charging BT headphones. One charger/cable to rule them all please.... I can carry one charger and two USB-C cables to handle my laptop, phone and switch, but I need an extra micro-USB for the bloody headphones (I won't mention the goddamned surface but I don't carry that on work trips)

[deanwebb]

Well, if it comes to choosing headphones for work or for flying, I have to go with work and lump it on the flying.

Actually, on my last flight, I just read a book. I read most of it in-flight and finished it later the next day. I've got some more reading for my next set of flights (on the road again next week) and may just be fine with the buds I've got for listening casually to music on my phone.

As for watching movies on a plane, I usually go for films with subtitles... and that's more a matter for my eyes than ears.

[icecream-guy]

As for watching movies on a plane, I usually go for films with subtitles... and that's more a matter for my eyes than ears.

WE all know you go for those Bollywood made movies in native Hindi or Urdu, and suck up those English subtitles 

[deanwebb]

As for watching movies on a plane, I usually go for films with subtitles... and that's more a matter for my eyes than ears.

WE all know you go for those Bollywood made movies in native Hindi or Urdu, and suck up those English subtitles 

I never knew how handy such a passion would be until I started traveling...