Comparing The Best Headsets

Comparing The Best Headsets

This is a big one! In this post, we’re comparing the best headsets and testing the microphone audio quality of these heavy hitters: Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones 700 UC, EPOS Adapt 660, Jabra Evolve2 85, and Poly Voyager 8200 UC!

With more people working from home as well as the rise of remote learning, the ability for the headset wearer to block out surrounding noise via ANC speakers has become very important. Typically, the best ANC (Active Noise Canceling) comes from headphone style headsets. Additionally, they need to be compatible with leading business collaboration platforms from Microsoft, Zoom, Cisco, Google, and more!

The challenge? When comparing the best headsets, how well do the mics perform in a noisy home office environment?

Product Information

SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCESBose 700 UC Comparing The Best Headsets

BOSE 700 UC

EPOS Adapt 660 Comparing The Best Headsets

EPOS ADAPT 660
Jabra Evolve2 85 Comparing The Best Headsets


JABRA EVOLVE2 85
VOYAGER 8200 UC
POLY VOYAGER 8200 UC
UC Certified✔️✔️✔️✔️
ANC✔️✔️✔️✔️
Padded Headband✔️✔️✔️✔️
Bluetooth 5.0✔️✔️✔️✔️
MSRP$449$439$429$379
Weight9oz8oz10oz10.1oz
Battery Life20hrs30hrs37hrs20hrs

This graph demonstrates the features, pricing, and weight of each headset:

So Which is the Best? Unfortunately, there is no “best headset”. However, there is a best headset for you. What is your use-case? Where are you working? How are you working? If you want more information on choosing the best headset, check out this video we made, highlighting the key points for choosing a headset:

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In this video we do our best to nail the information, and get the details, facts and figures out as smooth as possible comparing the best headsets based on microphone audio quality. This is a non-biased review of the Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones 700 UC, EPOS Adapt 660, Jabra Evolve2 85, and Poly Voyager 8200 UC.  If you have any questions regarding these items, please, feel free to reach out to us and check out our other videos on Youtube and subscribe. Enjoy the video below!

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Bose 700 UC

Bose 700 UC Review

­­­­Bose is now Microsoft Teams certified?

Much to everyone’s surprise, Bose’s 700 UC headset Is now teams certified, giving us the green light to cover this new business solution!

Not only does the Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones 700 UC along with Bose USB Bluetooth link (USB dongle) work with teams, but also Google Voice, Google Meet, and is compatible with Zoom.

This is a boomless mic headset solution that has an adaptive four-microphone system that isolates your voice from surrounding noise. You can personalize your work environment with 11 levels of noise cancellation, from virtual silence – for times to focus – to open and ambient, so you can hear what’s going on around you. Surprisingly, with phenomenal ANC like this, you get up 20 hours of wireless battery life.

Why Bose?

Now, the world is your conference room. Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones 700 UC equip you for better collaboration in the workplace and beyond: home office, remote, open office, and everywhere in between. An adaptive microphone system helps you turn any space into a meeting place, isolating your voice so you sound like yourself

Bose is dipping their toe into the business world. No longer is Bose strictly a “consumer” product, but now a company that wants their take at a slick, innovative, and don’t forget, wicked good ANC, business headset. We are very excited to see what else Bose has up their sleeve for later releases/updates.

Check out our video below where we unbox this product and throw it up against some tests. We also cover some close competitors like the Sony WH 100 XM4 and the Jabra Evolve2 85.

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Jabra Evolve2 85 Review

Jabra Evolve2 85

The Jabra Evolve2 85 premium ANC headset is certified for all major UC and collaboration platforms like Microsoft Teams, Cisco, and Zoom.

From Jabra; “We set out to create instant quiet, anywhere. The result is a world-class professional headset with cutting-edge digital hybrid Active Noise Cancellation (ANC), powered by our most advanced digital chipset ever, and designed for incredible noise isolation; just put it on for instant immersion in your thoughts.”

From Jabra; We set out to create instant quiet, anywhere. The result is a world-class professional headset with cutting-edge digital hybrid Active Noise Cancellation (ANC), powered by our most advanced digital chipset ever, and designed for incredible noise isolation; just put it on for instant immersion in your thoughts.

Features

Jabra has built a headset with powerful leak-tolerant 40mm speakers. Factoring in the advanced chip and the latest AAC software, and your business calls will sound better than ever.

Busy lights have been innovated to make sure it’s visible from all angles. The red light is automatically activated when you’re on a call or in a meeting, or you can activate it yourself at the touch of a button.

With a whopping 37-hour battery life, Jabra has set a new precedent in industry leading technology.

The Evolve2 85 works with all leading Unified Communications (UC) platforms, for easy collaboration. If your preferred UC platform is Microsoft Teams, the Evolve2 85 is well adapted and optimized to give you a seamless experience.

Jabra has already promised to release multiple updates to better the firmware/software, pushing this headset even higher. value packs are already on the way to boost it even further. There are numerous differences between the Evolve2 series and Evolve series, but the biggest take away is the hardware, software, and of course, being UC certified with the industry’s largest platforms.

In our video, we overview some of the features of the Jabra Evolve2 85. We discuss how this headset can be utilized in a business scenario, as well as a work from home scenario. To finish it off we get into the mic tests with boom down and up. Check it out below and take a look at all Jabra Evolve2 85 headsets here!

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UC Ms headsets ADAPT 660_lifestyle_alt

What’s the difference between UC and MS Headsets?

Online articles report that as of April 30, 2020, Microsoft Teams had increased its Daily Active Users to 75 million. Leading manufacturers partnered with Microsoft have developed a full line of Microsoft Teams certified devices to support users in individual and group workspaces. Today there are audio & video peripherals, PCs and mobile devices, IP Phones, all-in-one collaboration devices, room systems, and large screen displays all certified for Microsoft Teams.

To keep things short and sweet, we’ll focus on headsets. When it comes to business-grade headsets by Poly, Jabra, EPOS, Logitech, Yealink, and Bose, they all offer UC and Microsoft Teams certified headset models. 

What’s the difference between UC and MS headsets? This is a frequently asked question. In this week’s video, we tackle this and four other frequently asked questions when it comes to selecting a UC or MS headset for your environment.

  • When should I use a UC vs MS model? 
  • If I use multiple platforms like Microsoft Teams, Cisco, and Zoom, do I use the UC or MS model?
  • What does the Microsoft Teams button do? 
  • Will the Microsoft Teams button work in a multi-platform environment? 

If you are upgrading to Teams from Skype for Business, you won’t need to replace previously replaced devices. All Microsoft certified devices are supported for both Microsoft Teams and Skype for Business. There is one key difference between previously certified devices and it’s the Microsoft Teams button that provides additional functionality. 

UC and MS headsets offer multiple wearing styles, USB-A and USB-C connectivity, along with Bluetooth and DECT wireless options to support the various employee types and use cases across organizations. 

If you would like to learn which variants are best for your environment, contact us Monday-Friday, 8 am-5 pm ET. In the meantime, get answers to the questions above by watching the video and check out additional videos on our YouTube channel

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Bluetooth or DECT

Bluetooth or DECT Wireless Headset for Work From Home?

It’s been six months since most were sent home with a laptop and corded USB heasdet. (If even that much). Now that work from home has become more permanent, people are looking at upgrading to wireless headsets. In this video, we tackle whether to go with a Bluetooth or DECT wireless headset to work from home. Key things to consider: Range, Connectivity, & Battery Life. 

Choosing between Bluetooth and DECT is solely based upon your use case. What are you looking for? Do you want to get up from your work space and pour a cup of coffee while attending a webinar? Do you have dogs to let out? Being able to narrow down what you want, and what you need, makes it easier to choose. Call One can assist you through the process. We’re here to help people do their business better. Narrow your choice of wireless headset by connectivity, whether you’re looking for a headset that offers Penta connectivity, triple connectivity (desk phone, PC and mobile) DECT and more. Take a look at the video below and subscribe to our Youtube channel here.

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Video Collaboration 2020 Konftel

Video Collaboration in 2020

Video Collaboration is crucial for companies in 2020.

Video conferencing and collaboration was already being widely used in business thanks to easy to use cloud-based platforms like Microsoft Teams, Zoom, and Cisco Webex. The pandemic accelerated it to new heights. What solutions are best for you are highly dependent on use case.

Leading video conferencing solution providers offer a wide range of options to fit all use cases and applications. How does your company use video collaboration in 2020? If this is an option for your team, joining the collaboration train can boost site, video, and project attraction. For more information check out our video:

Sennheiser MB 360 Banner

What’s the difference between ANC and NC?

Every day I hear customers requesting “ANC” or “NC” headsets. Some know the difference however many don’t. It’s kind of like “Bluetooth”. To some, “Bluetooth” simply means “wireless”. Whether it’s DECT, 2.4Ghz, 900Mhz is irrelevant to them. They want a “Bluetooth (Wireless)” headset. For this blog, I’m talking about headsets for professional use by Poly (formerly Plantronics), Jabra & Sennheiser.

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Why Jabra PanaCast?

By Danny Hayasaka

August 13, 2019

Jabra acquired Altia Systems in February 2019. In June 2019 they announced Jabra PanaCast. Since then, there’s been a lot of buzz.

 

Why? Jabra PanaCast has a lot of really cool technology in a small little package.

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