Review: Plantronics Voyager PRO UC Bluetooth headset


There’s a small market for Bluetooth headsets that come with auto-pairing dongles. Some peeps need a quick and reliable way to use software like Microsoft Office Communicator and Skype and so I tested out the Jabra GO 6430 a few weeks back. While I found the audio superb, it didn’t fit right in my ear.

Plantronics heard my cry and sent me the Voyager PRO UC. This boy is comfy.

Features

  • Ships with auto-paired receiver
  • UC standard version on-touch call control
  • Three layer wind shield
  • Dual noise-canceling mics
  • $199 MSRP

Pros

  • The epitome of comfort
  • Great sound quality

Cons

  • Looks silly with behind-the-ear battery pack

Review

I have a confession. I have never used a Plantronics’ headset. I always thought the behind-the-ear battery pack looked goofy and wouldn’t work with my glasses. I was partly wrong. It looks totally goofy, but I’m down with it because it’s so damn comfortable.

My glasses do not affect the battery pack at all. But I’m sure many of you already know that. This style has been out for years so it must work.

But what surprised me the most was how it feels. The headset doesn’t fit into your ear canal at all, rather rests on the outside with springy silicon tips. The design works perfectly and doesn’t cause any of the irritaitions I had with Jabra’s pro VoIP headest.

Thankfully the Plantronics is just as good in the audio department as it is with comfort. I wouldn’t say it’s better than the Jabra, but that’s just fine as I found the Jabra headset to feature great clarity.

It works the same way, too. It can either be paired manually to a computer or mobile, or computers can take advantage of the auto-paired USB receiver that takes care of the pair with just a touch of a button. Easy.

This headset wins in both audio clarity and comfort, but drops the ball a bit with the style. That’s fine with me. The former two traits are the most important anyway. It’s not like you’re supposed to wear these things while shopping for shoes at the mall. Right? I hope so.

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