headset needed for teams calls

[shirt]

i have been using sony xm4 earbuds upto now but seems that whilst they're great for me, they're not great for those on the other side of the call.

i will be using teams a lot more in my new job. i have several pairs of decent audio headphones so really looking for a dedicated set, so something designed for speech not music. i'd prefer in ear if possible, not sure if that's a thing though. definitely travel oriented with a case etc. i'm too good at breaking stuff that gets flung in a bag.

[Mammasaid]

I use these one's now for Teams, they're cheap and cheerful and I'm told the sound is fine.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0BTYCRJSS/ref...

If you want ANC, the equivalent is these

https://www.amazon.co.uk/soundcore-Cancelling-Wire...

[surveyor]

Personally I keep it simple.

Hate the Bluetooth stuff colleagues use, which is always crap and unclear.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Plantronics-Blackwire-Ste...

[bunchofkeys]

surveyor said:

Personally I keep it simple.

Hate the Bluetooth stuff colleagues use, which is always crap and unclear.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Plantronics-Blackwire-Ste...

Another vote for the Plantronics brand of headsets.

[Tycho]

surveyor said:

Personally I keep it simple.

Hate the Bluetooth stuff colleagues use, which is always crap and unclear.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Plantronics-Blackwire-Ste...

Agreed, the BT stack in Windows has always been poor IMO.

[chrisch77]

Another vote for Plantronics or Jabra DECT headsets for work calls, another league from bluetooth alternatives both in terms of sound quality and range so you can roam whilst on a call!

[Mars]

I quite like the Microsoft wireless headset issued by my company. Usually I prefer the larger "over the ear" types like the Bose QC35s for the noisy data centres I sometimes work in, but for normal desk conversations, the "on the ear" MS headphones work well. In fact, I would prefer a single-ear device as I find I talk too loud if both of my ears are covered, so I rest one ear-piece on my head behind my ear.

They aren't Bluetooth either - they come with a USB dongle, so there's no setting-up. The dongle has an LED in it, facing me when inserted into my Surface Pro, and the boom mic works as a mute/talk button when you swipe it up or down. The dongle's LED shows red when you're muted and green when you're "on".

It's simple to use, has excellent battery life (weeks) and is charged by USB-C.

[shirt]

wyson said:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KLJJ9EBtZo

Here you go.

Make sure it has a boom mic.

Thanks, that was a much better vid than the ones I’d seen.

I was thinking buds but I’ve had 2 calls today for the new role and on both there were people with terrible comms who got cut out of the conversation. I don’t want that happening to me, especially as I already rejected their headset offering.

Jabra evolve2 55 looks a good option.

[shirt]

Found it for £95 on Jabra’s German Amazon store, so ordered that. Thanks all

[wombleh]

Expensive but worth going with jabra. Crystal clear audio, and great noise cancelling.

Been on calls when we had building work going on with drilling/cutting the wall in the room next to me, I was apologising for the background noise and folk on the call saying there was none.

[x5tuu]

Appreciate the OP has ordered but another option for anyone else considering that has been totally flawless for me was Logitech (or Logi) Zone 2 Wireless headset - bluetooth and USB connectivity, boom mic, ANC - really decent build quality and highly recommend them.

[The Hofff]

Jabra for me, have been using the Evolve2 65 with stand for both home and work setups.

Very good audio for music and calls, good interfacing with MS Teams also.

The Jabra direct app allows you to set it up to your liking with a multitude of menus

[FlossyThePig]

When I was WFH (before I retired) the company provided me with a simple headset (MPOW) which had a dongle that fitted in a USB port.
All TEAM meetings and individual team member calls were much better after I used it.

[surveyor]

The Hofff said:

Jabra for me, have been using the Evolve2 65 with stand for both home and work setups.

Very good audio for music and calls, good interfacing with MS Teams also.

The Jabra direct app allows you to set it up to your liking with a multitude of menus

My previous Jabra came with a really naggy app that always wanted updating, which took an IT person's permission to do.

[ATG]

Depends where you're set up, but the mics built into Logitech cameras are surprisingly good. I used to used a jabra headset at home, but not i just use the laptop's speakers for sound and the camera's mic. Works really well and is more relaxed and natural.

[GlenMH]

FlossyThePig said:

When I was WFH (before I retired) the company provided me with a simple headset (MPOW) which had a dongle that fitted in a USB port.
All TEAM meetings and individual team member calls were much better after I used it.

I have also got an MPOW headset and it works very well.

ATG said:

Depends where you're set up, but the mics built into Logitech cameras are surprisingly good. I used to used a jabra headset at home, but not i just use the laptop's speakers for sound and the camera's mic. Works really well and is more relaxed and natural.

Agree with this too. Logitech streamcam is surprisingly good as a mic.

[Honourable Dead Snark]

I don’t like using headsets so have been using apple earphones for 4 years now without an issue. The mic on them is actually quite decent.

[RizzoTheRat]

surveyor said:

Personally I keep it simple.

Hate the Bluetooth stuff colleagues use, which is always crap and unclear.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Plantronics-Blackwire-Ste...

We have these at work. They work so well I bought one for personal use, and when my wife kept nicking it bought the next model up, the C5220.

In my opinion anything without a boom mic is waste of time, it might sound fine to you but the person on the other end is getting all the background noise in the room. A friend uses Apple ear buds and you can hear her kids in the background. I've had my wife and I both on the same call in the same room and people the other end getting no echos from my mic picking up her voice and vice-versa.

My mother has a Bluetooth Jabra headset with a boom mic that also works well.

Edited by RizzoTheRat on Thursday 24th October 10:39

[Mont Blanc]

ATG said:

Depends where you're set up, but the mics built into Logitech cameras are surprisingly good. I used to used a jabra headset at home, but not i just use the laptop's speakers for sound and the camera's mic. Works really well and is more relaxed and natural.

Yep. This. For home, a good webcam can often be an excellent Mic solution as well as video.

For my home office setup, I have a pair of Creative Pebble V3 desktop speakers for the sound output, and I use the mic that is built into my Aukey webcam. I bought the Aukey after watching a big test on YouTube where they demonstrated the audio of loads of different brands of webcam including the big ones like Logitech etc, and the Aukey was crystal clear and ideal for voice.

I have had a few comments about how clear my audio is, and loads of comments about how clear the video is from my end. Apparently you can read the spines of the books on my bookshelf in the background Not sure if that is a good or bad thing...

For office use, I have a wired Jabra Evolve 40 headset which works great, and I just shove in my bag with everything else.

There is absolutely no excuse for bad audio and video on Teams calls. It just screams "I don't give a fk".

[indigochim]

surveyor said:

The Hofff said:

Jabra for me, have been using the Evolve2 65 with stand for both home and work setups.

My previous Jabra came with a really naggy app that always wanted updating, which took an IT person's permission to do.

I too use a Jabra 65 and it is very good for range using the PCs built in BT antenna and also audio quality. I have 2 issues with it though. The foam pads don't last long if you use it regularly. The adhesive fails and they drop to bits. 2nd issue is the software auto answers teams calls and you can't configure it to not do so.