[Closed] Are headsets with boom mics worth having?

Only if they come with a 'crown race'

I'm using a Jabra Headset with boom Mic' while working from home.

I do notice some background noise, from colleagues, on work calls but I don't know if it's better or worse than with other headsets/mic' combinations. The heaset/mic' does the job I need and it's been faultless for the last 6-7 months.

i've just ordered one for work (expenses) and everyone i talk to that has them sounds crystal clear with minimal background noise, i've got this turnign up today

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0875ZFB8G/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Good thing, it will connect to both my phone and pc (for teams/zoom etc) and the boom mic when flipped up mutes it apparantly which i thnk is quite cool..

I read a numebr of reviews on headphones with mics - i really like the Sony WH-1000XM4, but a lot of reviews have stated the audio through the mic is really poor in comparison to BOSE and others. Excellent headphones fo listening, but not great at conferencing.

Hmm, I have the Sony xm3s. I listen to them a lot.. I would not want to give up the quality for the sake of better conf calls, but having two sets.. might be a faff.

I've also got an on-ear one that they bought me years ago, that would be better for travelling though of course.

My Jabra 65t earbuds provide a better sound to me and participants on calls than my boomed Jabra headset.
Those that do use them on my calls do tend to sound OK, but there is a tendancy for some folk to put the boom up as a faux mic muting gesture which results in them having to be told to put it down when they forget and try to talk.

Daughter got a set of Steel Series ones with boom for zoom schooling in lockdown. Very clear difference between the sound quality of kids with and without boom mics. Well worthwhile IMO.

Although I have gaming headsets with mic booms (that work well) I just didn't get on with using them for work on Teams calls, I ended up getting a separate USB mic and have the sound out through my laptop speakers. Means not having to wear headphones for long periods and no faffing about if I get an unexpected Team call pop up.

Was one of these:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B083R4D91N/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Apparently I sound clear to others (selected that one based on the reviews, cheaper options are available)

I got fed up of hot ears over summer and replaced a set of Bose headphones with a Jabra 510, off the amazon factory store for less than normal. It's been pretty spot on and no one complains about the sound although they did with the Mac. I prefer not to have headphones on if I don't need them, I am often home alone too so I can hear the door/dog going nuts if I need to also.

The mute button integrates with zoom, but not google meet, so you only have one place you can be muted in zoom, but you can be double muted in gMeet which is a pain in the bum!

on the Jabra 510, ive got an 810 i "borrowed" from work to see if it would do the job at home- it's useless, horendous mic pick up (sound out is good), people on the other end complained constantly about it. It's now an expensive paperweight..

it’s useless, horendous mic pick up

Weird, do you have a lot of background noise to deal with?

They're very worth having. You can pretend to be Britney.

When you got the Jabra 510 did you calibrate it during setup to the level of background noise you have now or is it still calibrated to when it was used in the office?

I have these: https://www.jabra.co.uk/business/office-headsets/jabra-evolve/jabra-evolve-65##6593-823-309

Used extensively for the last six months 😉 They are super-light, comfortable and have excellent voice quality. I do a lot of training so I need to have consistently good audio.

There is a specific Teams mono version. And a NC version. Since it's me in my shed, noise cancelling not a feature I need!

When I was travelling a lot, I used them as audio headphones for music/films etc. They were fine for that as the mic slides upwards.

It is the "I want to use my hifi BT headphones" -crowd who have most issues during Teams / Skype calls.

Good old fashioned wired ones are most reliable and have better sound quality in calls but they do sound dire when used for music, at least most Jabras I have tried - including my current Evolve 80s. They are also fairly uncomfortable as they are more sweaty than most hifi headphones.

Not long had a Senheisser USB/ bluetooth speaker delivered for work, having a headset on for hours a day is a pain in the ear. I'm not sure how well it filters out background noise but being able to just talk and listen without being tethered with a cabled headset is great.

Okay so coming from someone who has come at this from the gaming end - yes it makes a difference. However the biggest difference is your software setup, you absolutely need to set set your sensitivity levels or else suffer with PTT (Push To Talk) ie. They only work when a button is pressed.

I have a set of £50 HyperX Cloud wired headphones that are comfortable to use for hours at a time, I fitted the breathable ear pads instead of the plastic ones. Nothing wrong with Bluetooth but then you get into potential charge issues if you forget to do that or your cradle stops working.

Stop looking at work reviews and look at gaming reviews. Gamers have potentially loud machines, cherry reds clacking away and whatever else over and above your average office drone.

Jabra Evolve wired headset and Jabra 410 usb on the desk in my setup. Boom mic sounds a lot clearer and people on the other end prefer when I use it.

In a word, yes.

I've just switched from earbuds and laptop mic to Jabra Evolve 40 MS.
Positive comments from myself and my colleagues / clients on clarity etc..

So. Yes.

toby1
Full Member
it’s useless, horendous mic pick up

Weird, do you have a lot of background noise to deal with?

no, silent, though i know they say it needs plenty of room so the mics don't pic up odd echos (not sure how much i believe that).

Anyway - my new Aikela's just turned up, i've had a few calls already and the verdict.....

Well - people can obivoulsy hear me and im clear which is good, however the sound from the mono speaker is a bit pants really, Don't get me wrong it's clear, but its really flat, the sound out of my phone earpiece is better. Not being tehtered is great, the moving the boom mic for mute fucntion doesn't work very well.. Though for £35 what do you expect? i might try a different type.

Yes, particularly when there’s background noise.

The Jabra Speak round speakers are good solo in a quiet space (or the meeting rooms they’re meant for) but the quality of picking up lots of voices in a room means you hear all the kids/partner/pets/doorbell noise too.

I work with call quality data for Teams and a load of issues these days are people pairing Bluetooth headsets directly to PCs but things like BT drivers are years out of date on their corporate laptops. Go wired if you can, if you go wireless, use the dongle they come with.

Agree with the above. I've a pricey plantronics headset that's great quality (no boom mic). With the dongle it works great, direct connection is pants.

I've now ditched it for a razer desktop podcasting mic. Same quality, very directional, no hot ears.

I need a dedicated mute button, as I multitask through webex all the time

We have plantronics wired headsets. Great In the office. Hateful at home. Not bad for listening to Radio 3 to dull out the background noise too. Have a senheisser desk speakerphone which is very good too. But the sound is poor for music. So now I use a dedicated webcam as a speaker and a set of Bose speakers. Much nicer. And stage laptop is put away out of sight. The Jane’s is better for sound, we have those at work too. If it’s on a desk, go wired every time.

No headphone hair on Teams or Zoom now either.

The plantronics headset i use is a 8200, its not quite up there with bose for music (I have some of them too, and some grados) but its much better than either for voice (as the grade doesn't have a mic that's a no brainer). Theyre not far off the competition for general audio quality or noise cancelling, when I was doing business trips that needed a bit of everything they'd be the set in the bag every time.

I've got a sennheiser mb2 pro headset which is great for a headset, but I end up using my jabra 510 nearly all the time. Much better on the ears.

I think they're quite decent - Evolve 65 here.

If you can get them free from work just get them and find out for yourself.

Another vote for the jabra evolve 65 here.

I spend loads of time on Teams video calls and it’s very noticeable that people who use boom mics are often easier to hear / have less background noise. Conversely the people who rely on the laptop mic alone are generally the sort that always turn up late for meetings, haven’t don’t the pre-read etc etc. Nothing like sweeping generalisations ...😂

Anyone using the Jabra headsets/speakers, don't forget to update to the latest firmware using Jabra Direct if you have any issues.

A lot of the wireless Evolve/Engage sounded terrible out of the box.

These https://www.poly.com/gb/en/products/headsets/voyager/voyager-focus-uc

You can be in a battery farm call centre and with the noise cancellation it removes the background noise not only in your ears but in the recipients of your audio.

How bizarre - we used Jabra Evolves at work, we've found frequent drop-out issues using Bluetooth. As a result, I just stick with a cabled Sennheiser headset with boom mics, sounds crystal.

Pondo > with dongle or direct paired?

The other thing is that wireless headsets (and the dongles they come with) tend to have firmware updates that fix a bunch of early issues. Install the Jabra or Plantronics software and it’ll tell you if they need an update.

Hmm, good question - will have a look and check for updates.