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What with this wfh edict I need a new set of Bt head phones I can use for conference calls. I have a pair but the mic seems rubbish. Any suggestions, don’t need to be hifi quality but doesn’t hurt if they are.
I've been using my Anker Soundcore Q20s for the last week and they've been really good and pretty comfy for nearly all day use
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Soundcore-Bluetooth-Headphones-Cancellation-Playtime-Black/dp/B07NM3RSRQ
I have a Bluetooth headband.
It was bought for my other half as a joje when she was ill so I didn't disturb her because you can sleep in it.
After dragging my laptop to the very brink of destruction more than once wfh i've taken to rocking them. They're amazing!
faced with the same dilemma I bought a set of plantronics 8200s. Plantronics are very good with conference call stuff (its where they started out) - the 8200 is wireless, noise cancelling, and decent sound quality, but £300.
Fortunatey, there's a shop on amazon doing 'refurbished' ones for £80 - which is where I bought mine from. It still had all the plastic bits on from the factory, i guess they were returns or something.
They're probably not quite as good for music as my bose are, but at 1/4 the price they're close enough
The Anker or Taotronics BT ‘phones at around £55 are both worth considering, I’ve tried both, didn’t get on with the sound quality of the Anker ‘phones, bought the Taotronics SoundSurge ‘phones, nice big closed-back ear cups that fit over the ear, not on, noise-cancelling, and they have a 3.5mm jack socket, and come with a lead in case the battery dies.
I have a Lightning > 3.5mm lead with remote so I can plug them into my iPhone when the battery goes, cost me £7, IIRC.
Very happy with them, they fold up neatly and come with a decent clamshell hard case.
Noise Cancelling Headphones, Upgraded TaoTronics Over Ear Headphones SoundSurge 60 30 Hours Playtime Bluetooth 5.0 with Quick Charge Hi-Fi Sound for Travel Work TV PC Cellphone https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07MR52QWH/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_AhuEEbF712MWS
Anything on this list is Microsoft SfB/Teams certified (so has to meet various quality criteria) and will work fine with other vendors stuff too: https://products.office.com/en-gb/microsoft-teams/across-devices/devices/category?devicetype=36&filterIds=42&page=1
I use a Poly/Plantronics Focus UC which is great. There's a few that don't have a boom to get the mic by your mouth - I find they can pick up a bit more background noise (things like your typing) although I get the appeal of something you can use out and about too without looking like you've escaped a call centre.
Really important thing - all the MS certified ones come with a bluetooth dongle. Use it. Not only does it make things like mute work properly but the bluetooth connection is set up properly for audio and dedicated to it. These headsets can be made to pair direct to your laptop without it, but lots of laptop chipsets can struggle particularly if you use other BT stuff like a mouse at the same time. It's far worse if you have a corporate laptop that's running years-old bluetooth drivers because no-one bothered to update them.
Thanks all - I’ll give the discounted 8200s a whirl I think.
So having splashed out on these. Seem pretty good, although not had a call with them yet to test the mic- failed the first one as hadn’t paired with the dongle right and had instead directly paired so things got confused. Think I’ve fixed that now.
Nifty how it keeps both the pc and phone connected at the same time so I can stream music from the phone but still pick up a skype/teams call.
Is it possible to mute the lovely assistant who tells you each time you mute and Un mute the microphone. Also on my iPhone the volume is very binary with the minimum setting for music a bit louder than ideal- any suggestions?
In practice the lovely mute in mute assistant isn’t actually that intrusive on a call so all good there!
Any ideas on the volume issue?
sorry I missed this. I think you can set the mute assistance to be either a message or just a beep, you need to download the partner app to change the setting on that.
Not sure on the iphone - I'm an android user. Try updating it to the latest firmware, it saved some issues I was having previously. The volume control for me works great (as quiet as I like to as loud as I like). tried changing it on the phone separately from the headphones (the volume is the annoying twisty bit on the left ear)