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Most of my working week is in my study at home where my MS Teams calls are on my Mac Mini using the mic on my webcam and output to desktop speakers. This works perfectly and I’m very happy with it.
Occasionally I go into an office and for that I use a mac book air and use a pair of Bose QC35s – they’re fine, but I must wear them on one ear only as I find not being able to clearly hear my own voice really off-putting. As they’re a few years old the battery isn’t what it once was and they’re often a bit temperamental at connecting
So I’m in the market for headphones I’ll only use for office work, no music or anything like that, just calls. I obviously don’t want the noise cancelling feature. My priority is ease of use and call quality. Small form factor would also be helpful in minimising stuff to carry.
Before I crack on and buy the basic AirPod4 without noise cancelling tho, does the lack of noise cancelling impact the quality of noise isolation introduced by the open plan office into calls ? I’m generally leading calls rather than sitting on mute until “nothing from my side” at the end, so in an ideal world I’d be able to do that without constantly going on and off mute, but perhaps that’s an unreasonable expectation
I used AirPod Pros when working, the noise cancelling was handy when I was in an open office. It allowed me to concentrate on the meeting without leaving my desk where I usually needed to sat at.
love my airpods max, much more comfortable than my bose when wearing for a long time. Use the noise cancelling when im in a noisey environment (open plan office, flights) and the transparency mode when i want the edge taken off the exterior noise, or an im a quiet environment (like the home office)
when I originally bought the Bose headphones for returning to the office after covid based WFH I thought I'd really like the noise cancelling - the reality was I found it too effective and they made me a bit anxious that I couldn't hear what was going on around me. these days, the couple of times a month I visit the office its primarily to catch up with people so we're chatting all day rather than concentrating on a solo task, but theres sometimes the need to run a call too
People use these things in an open office drive me nuts (when im receiving the call) as you get all the background chatter.
love my airpods max, much more comfortable than my bose when wearing for a long time. Use the noise cancelling when im in a noisey environment (open plan office, flights) and the transparency mode when i want the edge taken off the exterior noise, or an im a quiet environment (like the home office)
what is the transparency mode like when you're on a call? can you hear your own voice ok?
Yeah, I wouldn’t use them in an open plan office for teams calls, the mic on my Max’s picks up noise from the entire office.
yes you can hear yourself talk and breathe just fine, you dont get the weirdness that you have with full noise cancelling
Slight aside: I read a couple of reviews about hte new Airpods Pro 3 that raved about the quality of the microphones. If that's important to you for your calls it might be worth reading up to see if the new microphones will do a better job of picking out voice vs background noise.
FWIW to the OP: I use some airpods pro daily for a whole bunch of stuff and they're by far the most seamless bluetooth earphone experience I've had. All other earphones/headphones I've used have had some sort of faff associated with connecting/disconnecting or switching between devices but my airpods have been great for this.
Airpod 2 user here, primarily for calls and music on my personal mobile. Forgot my work headphones last week when in the office and used my airpods for the afternoon, no issue for me, I would see no issue with the 4's which might be my next upgrade.
Save cash and get a wired headset if it is just for the office...
Experience of other folks using AirPod Pros as a headset for Teams is poor. Too much ambient noise pick up is my biggest gripe. Then the variable voice pickup. Then the ‘empty room’ acoustic effect.
Similar for some Sony over ear headphones too.
when I’ve used AirPod Pros folks have commented on similar things and expressed preference for the sound and quality of my Jabra wireless headset with its ‘boom’ style mic.
Using AirPod pro with work PC is no fun compared with home Mac.
It’s your money but personally I don’t see the need to spend £120 on something purely for teams calls in a specific situation when a wired plantronics headset will do a better job for under £30
Almost Anyone using anything other than a boom mic headset sounds utterly horrendous in an open office with more than a handful of occupants.
Doesn’t your company provide something for the office?
sound is terrible when anyone is using airpods to speak to me
I've got a lovely over the ear pair of soundcore bluetooth headphones, think they start at 40 upwards... optional noise cancelling, the lot, id prefer a boom mic on them however as an option
Doesn’t your company provide something for the office?
yes they do - company will buy me whatever I want.
I’ve previously used a corporate spec headset - probably plantronics - comes with foam earpads that make my teeth itch just thinking about them, a cable that’s roughly half a mile long, has a wired remote control inline at the perfect distance to achieve maximum inconvenience by being far enough away from the headset that it’s not hanging usefully about your person, but not far enough away that it’s not pulled off the desk any time I move my head. It’s also oldschool usb which my Mac doesn’t have. Sound quality was always fine tho
the main reason I was considering AirPods is there are a few people I speak to regularly that use them and the mic quality always sound good from my end - they are however all people in quiet home offices
can anyone then suggest a wireless headset, single ear with a boom mic that will pair and stay paired and connect quickly from off to my MacBook. Price within reason is immaterial
For Teams use I am a big fan of my Jabra Evolve2 55. You can get one or two ear versions, and with either a USB-A or USB-C dongle. Though, on a Mac I've used a straight Bluetooth connection fine (wasn't fine on my crappy work Windows machine).
If you want headphones where you can hear yourself, I strongly recommend those without the rubber tip like the Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 (not the pro version) that don't have the rubber tip that blocks your ear. These are designed to allow outside sounds in, and they do, which I rather like in a lot of situations. In a quiet office or room they are ideal for teams calls, and they are also a lot more comfortable than the ear blocking ones. They do have a mild noise cancelling feature that just takes the edge off background noise.
Anything without a boom mic is horrendous as above. Jabra Evolve2 50 or similar with ANC is perfect. The Jabra ANC is not as good (probably on purpose) as the AirPod noise cancelling and as a result feels more natural and you don’t get that issue with your own voice being muted to your own ears. I’ve just been given a set of £300 Jabra wireless ear buds on eval from Jabra and they’re not a patch on the Evolve2 for normal Teams calls.
I got a jabra evolve2 something or other off eBay for about £40. Dual sided leather feel on ear, no noise cancelling and they have a feature that pipes some of my voice back into my ears so I don’t end up shouting cos I can’t hear myself properly. Work great. I bought a pair of replacement ear cover things when I got them for ‘hygiene’.
Given your company will buy what you'd like, get a usb adapter so the wired headset can plug into your Mac - or get a wired headset with the right plug already fitted.
As for the length of cable - very easy to wind it onto a loop so the excess is tidier...
Save some cash - and add it to your yearly review as a positive - saving the company money.
Where I work they gave everyone AirPods post Covid, they seem pretty garbage for Teams though due to the mic picking up general office background noise. I just use a wired Microsoft headset with a boom mic when in the office, works much better.
Everyone in our office who opted to have an iPhone gets a free set of Airpods bundled in with each phone. I''ve never seen ANY of them use Airpods on a call/conference. No matter what they are using for a computer. Some people have three or four sets of different generations, some still in the original packaging...
We get a selection of Jabra Evolve/Evolve2 headsets to choose from instead, everyone uses them. Except Kjell, he uses some wired AKGs that he's had for years.
I have some Evolve 65e (now discontinued as far as i can tell.) but they are almost perfect, can use them for 4-5 hours straight, microphone sits in exactly the right place and they work well with teams.
Just spotted a review for the new Nothing earbuds where you can turn the car into a microphone. Absolutely zero experience of them obvs but just mentioning in case they fit the OPs brief.
IME, headphones aren't great for calls as they have a tendency to pick up more background noise, (unless they're the headset type obvs).
I use a pair of soundcore 40i for work and the occasional voice call at home. They do a good job of filtering out background noise and the noise cancelling is good enough. I can sit on a teams call in a busy office and speak & hear clearly.
I don't like them for normal use though as the buds are elliptical rather than circular and don't fit the shape of my ear canal well.
www.amazon.co.uk/soundcore-Cancelling-Wireless-Environments-Bluetooth-Black/dp/B0CQXG17RL/
Sound core 40i I can sit on a teams call in a busy office and speak & hear clearly.
As someone who has sat on the end of someone using these in a non busy office environment.
I suspect your colleagues are just being polite.
I suspect your colleagues are just being polite.
You wouldn't say that if you knew my colleagues. 😉
suggest a wireless headset, single ear with a boom mic t
Plantronics Voyager 5200 works well, no experience with Macs, but worked seamlessly w teams on a desktop, laptop and android phone (until the dog chewed it)
I use my AirPods, I frequently have to speak to people at another (client) company who all seem to use non apple ear buds when calling from their open plan office. I also visit their office regularly so know what the actual background noise level is.
no complaints on background noise pickup.
Also far prefer speaking to someone on the phone when they are using headphones rather than holding it to the side of their head.