Wednesday, September 21st, 2011
A brilliant top-end Bluetooth headset
The Plantronics Voyager Pro+ is the latest version of Plantronics’ successful Voyager Pro line. With superb sound quality, a comfortable fit, and clever features, it’s one of the best Bluetooth headsets available.
The Pro+ uses a powerful in-ear speaker, resulting in excellent sound quality is excellent. As well as providing ultra clear calls, the speaker also makes it quite worthwhile to listen to music, something that’s achieved through the use of the popular A2DP standard supported by many top-end car stereos as well as most smartphones.
On the other side of things, the microphone is also of high quality. Whilst the good quality components used in the Voyager Pro+’s construction contributes to this, the greater factor is the excellent AudioIQ² noise-cancelling technology used, which does well to eliminate background noise like air conditioners, engines and the like.
Another strong point is comfort; the headset’s low weight and clever design ensures that it’s comfortable to wear for long periods, despite its large size.
One last point in its favour is that the Pro+ integrates well with the iPhone, offering an app that displays the headset’s battery life.
The Voyager Pro+ is one of the few products on our site to have received a near five star rating on average, with eleven out of twelve reviews offering full marks to the headset and a 4.8/5 score overall. The Pro+ is also critically well regarded, scoring 5/5 from What Mobile, 4/5 from PC Magazine and 4.5/5 from Hexus.
If you’re looking for a top of the line Bluetooth headset, then the Plantronics Voyager Pro+ is an excellent place to begin your search.
If you have any questions about the Pro+ or indeed any Bluetooth headset, feel free to contact me via the social media options below, or just leave a comment in the blog itself.
Loading ...
Tuesday, August 3rd, 2010
When it comes to Bluetooth Headsets you are spoilt for choice as there are just so many available, but with so many brands available, deciding on one can be a bit overwhelming.
There are numerous bluetooth headset manufacturers, but the top three are Plantronics, Jabra and Jawbone. I’ve already reviewed the Jabra Stone and Jawbone headsets, so I thought I’d take a look at the Plantronics Voyager Pro+.
Plantronics Voyager PRO+ Bluetooth Headset
In The Box
Plantronics are quite generous when it comes to the accessories in the box. As well as the standard mains adapter, you also get a continental adapter, a Micro USB charging cable, a car charger adapter and a supply of spare ear buds – more than I’ve seen in any other Bluetooth Headset recently.
Plantronics Voyager PRO+ Bluetooth Headset
Features
The Voyager Pro+ is more than just an everyday headset. It’s aimed at road warriors and heavy users that need a strong, clear and reliable headset. In terms of features, the headset packs a lot in to a surprisingly small shell. The pictures don’t really do much to convey the size of the headset, but I was pleasantly surprised when I opened the box.
The Voyager Pro+ features a boom mic which houses dual microphones . The microphones have three layers of noise reduction built in to eliminate background noise, road noise and wind noise. One microphone listens out for your voice, while the other one picks up background noise – clever software then removes these noises from the voice microphone for exceptionally clear audio.
Plantronics Voyager PRO+ Bluetooth Headset
Another handy little feature that’s built in is the voice prompts. These audible alerts will let you know when your battery is running low and confirm when the microphone is muted. It works well, but it would have been nice if it also read out the callers number when you receive a call.
Battery life is also worth a mention here. It offers up to 6 hours talk time and five days of standby, so even the heaviest of uses shouldn’t have a problem with it running out of power.
Design
Not every one will like the design of the Voyager Pro+ as at first glance it looks quite bulky, but when you see it in the flesh you’ll be surprised at just how small it is. The bulk of the unit sits behind your ear, leaving just the earpiece and boom mic visible.
Plantronics Voyager PRO+ Bluetooth Headset
It can be worn in either ear and the microphone is fully adjustable, so finding a comfortable fit isn’t a problem. The number of buttons have been kept to a minimum, both to improve the look of the headset and to keep it simple to use.
Controls & Set Up
There are just 4 buttons on the Voyager Pro+, but they aren’t all that obvious. The answer/end key is exactly where you’d expect it, but the power and volume keys are a hidden away on the main part that sits behind your ear. For the power button, this isn’t really a problem as you’re not really all that likely to turn it off while you’re wearing it, but some people may find the volume keys a little on the small and fiddly side.
Plantronics Voyager PRO+ Bluetooth Headset
They’re located on the top of the headset and are quite close together. You shouldn’t have any problems in pressing the wrong one, but as there are no raised markings, you might struggle to remember which is up and which is down!
Setting it up is incredibly easy. I tried one with the iPhone and pairing was almost too easy. The first time you turn the headset is on it goes into pairing mode, so all you have to do is search for Bluetooth devices on your phone. I wasn’t asked for a Passkey on the iPhone, most other new handsets don’t require one either.
Audio Quality
As you’d expect from Plantronics, the audio quality is excellent. The noise cancellation on the Voyager Pro+ is brilliant, I actually prefer it over the Jawbone (which can sometimes make people sound robotic) The ear gels fit well and are quite open in order to channel the sound into your ears, unlike some ear gels that partially cover the speaker.
I had no problems in hearing the caller or being heard even at 70mph on the motorway. It still worked well with the window slightly open, although road and wind noise were increased, but not to the point where the headset became unusable.
Why Choose
Plantronics have been around for a very long time and it shows in the quality of their headsets. The Voyager Pro+ is well built, easy to use and exceptionally clear. It is by far the best option if you spend a lot of time in the car making calls and don’t want a loud speaker.
There are a few features that I’d have like to have seen on the Voyager Pro+, Text To Speech, Support for music playback being the main two but neither are really that important and neither feature prevents the Voyager Pro+ from being an outstanding bluetooth headset.
Also Consider
Jabra Stone
Jawbone Icon
My Rating
Loading ...
Friday, August 21st, 2009
While shopping for accessories for your phone I’ve noticed that people tend to struggle when it comes to choosing a Bluetooth Headset – probably because at first glance they all seem very similar. They all allow you to use your phone safely in the car and can answer & end calls, so why are there so many different ones to choose from?
Up until recently my answer would have been that the main differences were size, weight and battery life. While that’s still true for most headsets, advances in headset technology have meant that there is now something else to consider when choosing a Bluetooth Headset – Noise Cancellation.
Noise Cancelling Bluetooth Headsets
Now, you might be thinking that noise cancellation is nothing new, and technically it’s not – noise cancellation has been around for years and in a number of formats. From simple design changes such as foam covers over the microphone to clever software that makes your voice clearer, but the newer generation of Bluetooth headsets go one step further. Most of the latest noise cancelling headsets have 2 microphones built into them, one that picks up your voice and another that picks up background noise. Software in the headset then analyses the sound from both microphones and any sounds picked up by both microphones are removed so that your voice comes through clearly.
Not all Bluetooth Headsets currently have this feature, and trying to find the ones that do out of the 140 that we sell will take you some time, so to help you along I’ve listed below our top 10 noise cancelling headsets. Most of these headsets have the dual microphone technology, although a couple of them have some other clever technology to cut out back ground noise.
(more…)
Loading ...
Tags: blueant q1, blueant v1, bluetooth headphones, bluetooth headset, ear candy, ivoice gx-7, ivoice gx7, jabra bt530, jawbone, jawbone 2, jawbone prime, jawbone2, motorola h15, motorola hx1, noise blackout, noise cancelling bluetooth headset, noise reduction, nokia bh602, plantronics voyager pro, voyager pro,
2 Comments
Subscribe to feed
