I’ve been wearing a headset a lot more at work since almost all of our communications are done through Teams or Zoom meetings. I have an inexpensive Logitech set that works fine but I’d really like something more comfortable without breaking the bank. My only written-in-stone requirement is that it be USB. I know that they make adapters but I’m not interested in keeping up with one. Under $150 would be nice but I can go higher if I have to. My home and work offices are both really quiet, so noise cancellation isn’t necessary.
Is this their only use because a Bluetooth set would be more adaptable, and do you need stereo?
I’m using one now, made by MPOW. It has the USB plug but will also work with a standard audio jack port. It was about $50, if I recall, and I bought it at the start of last year. Well padded and comfortable enough for an hour long meeting. Good sound and good mic.
I have a wired Jabra headset that was very cheap; like under twenty bucks at Amazon. It works well enough but the cable was annoying. So I recently bought an Logitech H800 Bluetooth headset for about sixty or seventy dollars. It seems to work well enough. It’s battery powered, obviously, but I’m not using it all day long but only for an hour-long meeting here and there. The rest of the time it stays connected to the charging cable.
My laptop has Bluetooth but my desktop doesn’t.
That Logitech headset comes with a dongle you can use instead of Bluetooth.
And that would work but I’m in the office a couple of days a week and at home a few. I’d have to remember to get the dongle (and keep up with it) regularly. I could do it that way but it’s not my first preference. I’d forgotten about Bluetooth when I wrote the OP but missed the edit or I would have included that it’s not preferred.
I have an older version of this model that I really like:
Comes in 4 colors, replaceable ear pads, mic, and can be used wired with a 3.5mm OR USB cord (both included), or Bluetooth, so you have all options. The sound is decent, if a little bass-y, but it’s a good value at just 50 bucks. A good backup option, at least.
Someone on Amazon sells the nano receiver separately from the headset. Of course it is $35 so half the cost of the whole kit (or Bluetooth dongles cost $10-15 on Amazon). Two of those headsets with two nano receivers would cost you less than your $150 budget, so perhaps just leave one at home and one at work?
I have been working from home for over a year now. I spend many hours each week in Teams meetings and do the odd Zoom meeting as well. Although I have really good headphones, I have recently become sick of wearing them. I mostly prefer to just use the earbud with the microphone from an old standard phone set. My place is very quiet and I don’t need both ears blocked. It feels far less restricting.
I have also recently started using the Teams app on my phone more. I can be in a meeting both on my laptop and the phone, and get up and wander around as much as I like. And unlike Bluetooth headphones (which I also have) I can still see what is happening in the meeting.
If you want a speakerphone-type setup, we’ve been using these little Jabra speakerphones where I work. They’re little discs roughly the size of a hockey puck and are available both wireless Bluetooth and USB wired. They’re smart enough to disable the speaker when you’re talking so you don’t get that annoying feedback loop.
Does the microphone work very well?
Honestly I’ve never actually used the mic, I only use it for listening to stuff.
For what it’s worth, many Amazon reviews say the mic quality is decent.
I use a headset in meetings. I prefer an over the ear headset with a mic boom for noise cancelling.
For bluetooth I use a Jabra Evolve 65 MS. It’s comfortable, good range, excellent sound for ears and mic. A nice feature is if you flip the mic boom up it mutes you.
For a usb wireless headset (sometimes bluetooth isn’t workable) I use a Logitech H820e headset. Very light weight, good sound up and down, there’s a mute button and mute light on the mic boom. Very nice.
Also my H820e headset has incredible range. I’ve gone to the mailbox at the end of my driveway in a meeting if I just had to listen, no problems. The Jabra Evolve 65 not so much, I start getting “robot voices” if I stray more than 20 feet any direction, but that’s a bluetooth limitation not a problem with the headset.
After years of using a cheap wireless one, I noticed a colleague whose voice always came through crystal clear. I bought one two months ago and have been very happy with it. It comes with a USB dongle, but I use it through Bluetooth.
It’s right at the OP’s price point.
Plantronics Voyager Focus UC Bluetooth USB B825 202652-01
ETA: oh and I can walk away pretty far and still have good reception.
I love these. But I hate wearing headphones. Honestly, I usually just use the sound directly from my laptop, which is adequate for my Teams meetings, which is perhaps half or a third of my typical work day. And I both listen and speak.
I have come to the conclusion that for me, the comfort of the setup is more important than the quality of the sound. Every headphone that I’ve used has adequate sound. Especially the wired ones. So I’ve moved to wireless. I have an expensive Bose noise canceling headset that I wear when I need that, and it’s great. But I hate both the feel of having my ears covered (especially when it’s warm) and also I hate the feel of being cut off from the space I am in.
So in wired headsets, I bought ones with a small speaker that sits on a single ear, not over both. In wireless headsets, I am using a Aftershokz
https://us.aftershokz.com/products/opencomm
which is a little above your price range, and frankly, it’s a little buggy talking to PCs via bluetooth, so it probably doesn’t meet your needs.
But my point is that people have wildly different preferences, and most headphones “work” well enough, and you should spend some time thinking about what you find comfortable to wear and to listen through, and buy something of that type.
I bought my son a set of “over the ear” wired headphones:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06X92G8HG?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2_dt_b_product_details
…for Christmas. Features:
- Wired connection for better audio (he says)
- 9 FOOT (almost 3 m) wire, so he can move around his office more easily. Previously he used a wireless (probably BlueTooth) type.
- Fully over the ear type. More comfy than headsets that appear to be over the ear but have small holes so you ear doesn’t actually fit, so the ear cups squeeze the edge of your ears (ouch).
I just use my Apple Airpod pros. Comfortable with the mics built in. Nice in the open office since I can switch between noise cancellation when I want to close off any ambient sound around me and ‘pass-through’ mode to hear everything going on in the office.
That sounds like a very nice solution. But for some reason I’m not comfortable using airpods. The headset I posted above work really well in the office, but they’re not great for walking around. On Groupon yesterday I ordered the same ones my son uses. When they arrive I’ll see how they go.