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The best bluetooth headsets
By Marianne Schultz and Nick Guy This post was done in partnership with The Wirecutter, a buyer's guide to the best technology. When readers choose to buy The Wirecutter's independently chosen editorial picks, it may earn affiliate commissions that support its work. Read the full article here. If you're hopping on and off the phone throughout the day, or if you're typically talking on the phone while driving (despite the safety concerns), the Plantronics Voyager Edge is the best Bluetooth headset for most people. After putting in 50-plus hours of research and testing more than 15 models over the past three years—including 12 hours of testing and three new models for the latest update—the Voyager Edge continues to lead the pack with its combination of stellar sound quality, long battery life, excellent Bluetooth range, and comfortable fit.
Plantronics outs Voyager Legend Bluetooth headset with enhanced voice recognition, improved battery life
For the most part, the headsets we've seen from Plantronics this year have been aimed at gamers, but make no mistake, the outfit is still churning out Bluetooth earpieces for road warriors: the company just announced its fifth-generation Voyager headset, the Voyager Legend. In many ways, it's an iterative product, with longer battery life (seven hours, up from six), and more mics (three instead of two). It also has an elongated windscreen and is 25 percent smaller than its predecessor, though Plantronics claims the in-ear fit hasn't changed. Key internals include Bluetooth 3.0, not 4.0, and support for streaming over A2DP. All told, exactly what you'd expect from the latest and greatest BT headset. But even more important than enhanced performance and a more compact design, the headset responds to voice commands in a smarter way. Say, for instance, that you receive an incoming call and happen not to be wearing your headset (maybe you took it out to charge). You can put the earpiece in and the headset will automatically pick up the call. Or, if you're not wearing your headset you can have it route calls to the phone instead. As for answering calls, you can say "answer" or "ignore," and you don't even have to press a button to activate the voice recognition. The earpiece can also announce your caller's name, so long as it's in your phone book. Additionally, the headset responds to about 10 other commands such as "check battery" and "pair me," but in these cases you do have to press a button first. Rounding out the feature list is a new Android-only Find MyHeadset app that uses tones and geolocation to help you figure out where you last saw your earpiece. The headset is available today for $100, and the company is also selling a desktop stand and charging case, both priced at $30.%Gallery-164953%
Plantronics Voyager Pro HD headset knows when it's kissing your cheek
If you drive around all day bumping your gums with remote friends and colleagues, then you can't really get along with those more diminutive headsets on the market. That's where the fat and proud Voyager range from Plantronics comes in, with features like all-day battery life, a long boom, A2DP and an InstantMeeting app to connect you to conf calls on your iOS, Android or BlackBerry. The latest Voyager Pro HD model is the first to contain sensors that detect proximity to your jowls and allow the device to re-route calls appropriately. The Pro HD is available now at $100, which includes a year's subscription to the company's Vocalyst voice recognition service -- although we suspect a certain newcomer might have that area covered. The full PR is a click away. Update: We've just been reminded that the earlier Pro UC headset also had the sensors, so please ignore what it says above (and in the Plantronics press release) about the Pro HD being the first. Thanks, b-e-q.
