PPCG Review: Plantronics Voyager PRO
This week I had the opportunity to test out and review the Plantronics Voyager PRO bluetooth headset. It has an internal 20-band equalizer to adjust to background noise to maintain a natural-sounding voice. It also has Plantronics' newest technology, AudioIQ2.
Some of its features include:
- Dual-mic AudioIQ2 noise canceling technology enriches voice quality
- Boom places mics where they best capture your voice
- Three layers of protection from wind noise
- Durable headset withstands daily wear and tear
- Multipoint pairs one headset to two phones
- Voice prompts alert battery and mute status
- Fast-charging, long-lasting battery
Its also rated for 6 hours of talk time and up to 5 days of standby time!
If you search for other reviews of this device, you'll see that its among one of the highest rated bluetooth headsets out there, so I had high expectations from the start. I've owned a Motorola H700 and a Jabra headset in the past, so those will be my main comparisons.
Read my full review after the break, you won't be disappointed!
Buy it in the PPCGeeks store here!
Unboxing:
It comes in a sleek black box with a clear plastic part showing off the headset. As usual, the first thing I did was put it on the charger to let it fully charge before I use it. The first thing I noticed is that it uses a microUSB charger, so that may disappoint the HTC crowd since they're accustomed to miniUSB chargers. With the 6 hour battery life, this may not be an issue though.
It is a bit on the larger side for bluetooth headsets, mostly due to its large battery. It has a long mic boom and a sleek design. It also comes with quite a few different ear pieces so you can try to get just the right fit.
Usage:
This is where the real test comes in. With the bluetooth headsets I've used in the past, I've had problems hearing the other person if I'm in a loud environment. I have a fairly loud vehicle on the road, so this is a good test. So I turned on the headset and it connected to my phone right away (after my initial pairing of course). I made my first call, and to my surprise, it was quite loud. I even had to turn the volume down a bit. During the whole 30 minute call, I never had a problem hearing the caller.
After talking for a bit, I asked the caller how I sounded. They said I sounded really clear and they couldn't even tell I was driving. While I didn't try it in heavy winds or a really loud environment, it appeared as though the AudioIQ2 feature works quite well.
The one complaint I had from someone was when they called me. After pressing the multi-function Talk button it took a few seconds for the call to come through the headset, and during that time the caller said they heard a loud noise.
Overview:
I must say, this is one of the best headsets I've ever tried. While its on the larger size, it still has a comfortable fit with excellent battery life and call quality. I rate this headset a 4.5 out of 5 stars, and I say this is a "must buy" for anyone on the market for a bluetooth headset. CNet rates this as one of the top 5 best headsets on the market today, and I find no reason to disagree with them.
© 2009, mindfrost82. All rights reserved.
I have this BT also. I like it, but I must say, this thing is big.
i would really go for this if it had A2DP as well. i still can’t find anything that tops the jabra bt8040, due to the fact of the A2DP profile it has. i loved the voyager series though, so if i do get another it just may be this one.
I love this unit…but I still see room for improvement.
I purchased the Voyager Pro because it offered multiple device connection, that way I could connect to my phone or my laptop. It works as advertised but sadly you won’t get great quality audio if you want to watch videos or listen to music, you will however get great quality if you make a phone call and in the end this is a bluetooth headset for your phone so I would give it 4.5 stars out of 5.
I too have this headset and would recommend it, the reason i picked this one over competing ones, besides the semi retro look, is because the plantronics voyager pro has the best sound quality on my end. The newest jawbone might have slightly better sound isolation, but it is just not as full a sound in my ear. I have quite a few friends and even family with piece of junk phones and i cam hear them much better with the plantronics voyager pro.
I got this headset a few weeks ago from sprint and I will say compared to my Motorola H780 it is much louder but the noise cancellation is by far better on the Motorola unit so I took it back…I only bought it because I thought I lost my Motorola H780 and I couldn’t find one at bestbuy or sprint but when I found it I was soooo happy. my problem with it was when I was in windy environments people could not hear me other then that it worked well but I Bike a lot and also do a lot of talking on my bike so it became useless for me…but if the H780 was louder then it would be the best headset to date for me and I have tried them all..lol
The Voyager Pro is by far the best on the market right now in terms of comfort and quality, sure it’s big but you don’t even know you’re wearing it sometimes, and I have never had that with a headset before.
I have actually, mistakenly went to bed wearing it and not noticed until I woke up frantically looking for it on my desk thinking my dog ate yet another headset…. It wasn’t until I went to shave that I notice it was in my ear… this thing is bloody invisible to the senses.
never mind the amazing voice quality in and out, better than most phones by themselves.
Great talk time as well, I am on the phone about 120 minutes a day and I only recharge once every 3 days (sometimes 4 on if a weekend is in there). the specs really don’t lie. I get at least 6 hours talk time out of it.
Did I mention I can be about 45 feet from my phone and still have acceptable voice quality. at 30 feet it is still near perfect, I have left my house with out my phone before because of this.
I was once in a store, answered a call and was talking to a customer, when I got off the phone my friend asked me where my phone was, turns out I left it in the car at least 40 feet away.
One con: it won’t win any fights with your car tire.
Yeah I ran over it, went out to buy another the same day.
I also picked up the q1 to compare and it doesn’t come close, the q1 went back to bestbuy 2 days later.
Room for improvement maybe a little, better control communication with my TP2 would be nice. but as far as all headsets that have ever been sold this one is the best. to rate it anything less than 10 out of 10 isn’t doing it justice.
I should mention that the only thing that the voyager pro still worked, but the ear piece was pushed in towards the speaker , there was a separation of the plastic at the swivel part of the ear band, and the metal casing for the mike was pushed way in on one side and out on the other.
Like I said, it still worked, (no damage to the electronics at all (or the behind the ear housing) it just wasn’t comfortable to wear because the ear piece was pushed way in.
Audio quality on this is tops for both ends of the call. Even though bulky it is comfortable. My only issue with it is it seems prone to dropping the connection with my HTC TP2 and it had the same problem with my old clamshell Nokia. I bought a Jawbone 2 on sale at Costco so the Voyager has become my backup. I had a JB2 prior but it was stolen… dirty *&^#&SD!!