New Headphones for video calls – recommendations please

The old ones I nicked from work pre-pandemic have finally died, well the leatherette peels off the foam covers about a year ago and now the foam covers have worn through to the plastic so I guess I need new ones. I have been back to the office but no-one has left any lying around so it looks like I might be buying them.

What headphones, with microphone, blue tooth, preferably noise cancelling and at least able to survive 4-6 hours a day on continuous use?

I’ve been rolling some Sony WF1000 XM4s (the in ear ones) for a couple of years now and have been mega-impressed with the battery life. Can easily do a day of calls with them. YMMV however with regards whether you can tolerate earring in-ear earbuds for a whole day. Sony have jus released the XM5s (updated version) which apparently boast better battery life.

In addition to being great sounding headphones (clear, solid bass etc) the noise cancelling’s pretty good, and they have clever technology that picks up the vibrations through your jawbone when talking which means that in a busy office people only hear what I’m saying (and due to the NC, I can only hear the call that I’m on).

If you haven’t already considered it, for wfh it’s well worth having a jabra style speakerphone so you don’t have to wear headphones all day. You’ll get one on eBay for £40ish

For headphones, I guess it depends on your budget

I use the basic usb-c Apple EarPods. I have the right shaped ears and they are very comfortable. Wires make things more reliable.

A home I use a DAC/D-class amp and Rogers HiFi speakers, with microphone duties handled by a Razr Kyo camera.

I don’t like the ‘stick them in your ear’ type headphones as I find them uncomfortable and the left one always falls out – same ear with half a dozen different ear bud style things.

I just googled the Sony WF1000 and they get great reviews for sound, noise cancelling and battery life but quite a few comments about the microphone quality. Have you had any problems with people listening to you? I was a bit surprised at £200 but then found out the Jabra ones I nicked previously were £180!

Budget was about £50 – it is a while since I bought headphones – but has been inflation adjusted to £200 max.

Over ear style to block out background noise rather than having to shout over it + noise cencelling

The best thing I ever did was get an Amazon knock off Jabra replica, usb only version. So much nicer than any headsets if you are doing long calls. I don’t like big headphones if I’m doing long calls makes my head too hot and gives me sore ears. I’d rather have cheap crappy light ones.

mrhoppy – I have tried both and I think my oversized head means the skinny light ones push inwards more without the padding. I had a couple of pairs ‘lent’ to me by a client and a conf-call centre and was amazed how much more comfortable I found the big padded ones. I have refused to steal the skinny ones ever since.

You can get replacement covers for Jabra headsets.

You can get replacement covers for Jabra headsets[/] – my head has been turned by the improvement of noise cancelling and also, after 5 years the current ones are pretty ropey so I thought new ones would be nice. Admittedly, that is when I thought they were about £50 so I might just check new covers

I’d add to the speaker option mentioned above I’ve been using a jabra 510 since early in the pandemic, it just works and I’ve not had hot ears ever since (particularly useful in summer I’ve found).

I know you said not in ear, but my Google Pixel Buds Pro are the only ear buds I’ve had that don’t fall out of my ears and yet I can barely tell they are in. great sound quality both ways.

If you’re in a quiet room, do you need headphones? I spend a lot of my time on calls so just bought a half decent usb mic, pop it on my desk when it’s call time and listen through the laptop speakers. Far more comfy

The correct answer is whatever Jabra is in budget. Which is fortunate given your budget that I can recommend the Jabra Evolve2 55’s  as they are blinking ace.

In line with the classic STW method of question answering, I’ll echo the other comments for the Jabra conference speakers. I love them and they are far, far more comfortable and reasonable to use than having headphones or in-ears on. Small, reliable and pretty much bullet proof. If you are working from home then I can’t see why you wouldn’t go for something like that. For music duties I have my Edifier speakers connected via Bluetooth.
The number of people I see on Teams calls who have difficulties with Bluetooth headphones gives me plenty of reasons to not even consider them as an option. When in the office I use the standard, wired headphones we got issued. They’re fine for short use but I’d not be happy if I had to wear them for more than a few hours a day, every day.

F it’s for voice rather than music and you’re in a quiet space (you mention noise cancelling, so maybe not) I like using bone conducting headphones for video conferencing. Don’t take you out of the room you’re in or disturb anyone else

Jabra speaker, can’t be having with headphones on. If i’m in the office, airpods, which currently are playing nicely with my dell, failing that joining on two devices.

I have a Jabra speaker and a set of Plantronics Voyager wireless headphones.

The plantronics headphones are great.Can walk about most of the house while on calls – my team are quite used to me just getting up and wandering off while we’re on calls. The noise cancelling is mediocre but the microphone quality and noise cancelling is incredible – I can grind coffee while on a call and my team are none the wiser. I’d buy another set in a heartbeat.

For comparison I have a pair of Sony XM4 headphones and, while the noise cancelling and music quality are both much better, everything else is worse. Mic quality, poor. Bluetooth on windows – poor. Wired I hear you say? Nope, mic is bluetooth only. All day wear-ability? Only if your ears are the perfect shape.

Forgot to say that work issue plantronics and they’re decent. But open design so you can hear the music playing in open plan where say next to someone. At home if not in the office, it’s always a desk speakerphone. I use a wired senheisser that I liberated from work before we shut the site for covid. The Jabra sounds better for music use, but I’d always go wired for work use. I too see too many Bluetooth issues in meetings.

Headphones for multiple video calls a day are too uncomfortable and clammy. And I worry clients will think I look like a dork gamer. I either use  speakers and mic, or plantronics voyager 5200 BT earpiece which is great and unnoticeable I wfh so can control my background noise

Anker Soundcore range is pretty good. I was looking at the Q30 which is spot on your budget but got the Q45 for not much more. The noise of the office just disappears with the noise cancelling and I’ve not had a single complaint about the quality of the mic. Can wander around the house in range and the battery easily lasts all day. Big plus on them is they connect to two devices so could listen to music on my phone and it instantly switches to answering a call on the laptop.

I wanted ones that could be used for personal use into work use, they’re probably not quite as good as a dedicated work calls offering but I’ve found them absolutely perfect for both uses.

Oh and the transparency mode massively picks up what’s happening around you, can be very useful when wanting to hear a conversation but not wanting to be dragged into it (or more accurately being nosey!) or when out on a walk. Actually that’s one negative, the transparency or normal modes massively pick up the wind noise if its a windy day and make full noise cancelling almost essential, not the best if on a shared use path.

The correct answer is whatever Jabra is in budget. Which is fortunate given your budget that I can recommend the Jabra Evolve2 55’s  as they are blinking ace.

Work dish out Evolve2 65s though they may be quite spendy

Whatever work give out is my solution. When I’m at home I use the speakers. In the office the headphones that came with my work phone

I think a Webcam would be better for video calls than headphones?

I have speaker in the screen and a mic on the laptop so I can use that set up if I don’t want headphones.

This doesn’t work when my wife wants to vacuum the hallway for no apparent reason and have the TV playing in the background, loud enough to drown out the vacuum cleaner, which she leaves playing at that volume when she goes into the garden and I should just stop complaining as it doesn’t bother her .

Headphones also let me walk around the house while on a call closing all the windows so there is not a wind tunnel effect throughout the upstairs of the house ‘just letting fresh air in’. This doesn’t affect downstairs as she finds it a bit blowey with the windows open but upstairs is just fine as it doesn’t bother her.

Just read that back. Hmmm, it isn’t that bad really but obviously wife my wife at home all day, she will make some sounds while I am on calls and being able to walk around a bit when not on camera is nice too, so wirefree headphones it is.

I know you said not in ear, but my Google Pixel Buds Pro are the only ear buds I’ve had that don’t fall out of my ears and yet I can barely tell they are in. great sound quality both ways.

I bought a pair of Pixel Bud Pro’s as they seemed like the first pair of earphones I could actually wear when I tried them (I have very narrow ear canals) but nope they don’t work for me for more than about an hour.  The touch/gesture control is pretty cool though and the noise canceling / transparent modes are actually useful.  e.g. transparent mode in the gym seems to cut out the noise of the fan, play music and let you have a completely normal conversation at the same time, witchcraft.

If anyone’s interested I’ll swap them for something on-ear or make me an offer?

Work gave me EPOS IMPACT 1060 ANC – they are stretching your budget slightly but they are amazing, ANC is so good when on calls or listening to music, loud colleagues just melt away, they also pause music when you put them on the desk which is pretty cool if you go off to make a brew etc.

I have a pair of Jabra Evolve 2 65’s (work) and a pair of Sony WH1000XM4’s, they both have their advantages.

The Jabras are comfy, I actually forget I’m wearing them. They also come with preset noises in the app (water, white noise etc.) which is good for focus. The dongle is also stupidly powerful and you can go a decent distance (I walked about 4 houses down the street with the laptop near my front window) if you have a relatively uncluttered line of sight.

The Sonys are superior for cancelling noise around me but they rub on my scalp so need adjusting every so often. I can still wear them for hours but you know they are there.

Speakers are good but unless you’re in your own room nobody else wants to hear your conference call.

Lastly nobody gives a **** if you look like a “dorky gamer” and if they do their opinion isn’t worth anything anyway. Be your own person.