- Table of Contents
- Intro
- Updates
- Comparison
- Best Headphones
- Conclusion
- Discussions
We've currently reviewed 6 Plantronics headphones. They're a brand known for their wide range of wireless business-oriented headsets, but they also produce some of the most feature-packed Bluetooth headphones for casual use on the market too. Here are the best Plantronics headsets we've tested.
Updates
- 03/05/2019 Plantronics Backbeat Go 810 reviewed
- 06/21/2018 Plantronics BackBeat Fit reviewed
- 05/29/2018 Plantronics BackBeat Go 600 reviewed
- 05/11/2018 Plantronics BackBeat Pro 2 reviewed
- 05/01/2018 Plantronics RIG 800LX reviewed
Best Plantronics Headphones
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Best Plantronics Headphones For Casual Use
Type Over-earEnclosure Closed-BackWireless YesNoise Cancelling YesMic YesTransducer DynamicThe best Plantronics Bluetooth headset for casual use are the Plantronics BackBeat Pro 2 Wireless 2016. They're feature-packed, noise cancelling headphones with a comfortable yet durable design that's very easy-to-use. Their bass-rich sound profile helps bring out the thump and rumble of electronic music while still sounding balanced enough for rock or jazz. They have an outstanding 30-hour battery life with lots of power-saving features to help them last even longer. They can pair to two devices simultaneously and support aptX-LL for lower latency with the right Bluetooth adapter. The SE variant even comes with a nice hard carrying case and supports NFC for easier Bluetooth pairing. Like most Plantronics headphones, their noise cancelling isn't great and they have a rather bulky design. The Plantronics BackBeat Go 810 Wireless have a sleeker look, but aren't as comfortable and their ANC is worse.
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Best Plantronics Headphones For Gaming
Type Over-earEnclosure Closed-BackWireless YesNoise Cancelling NoMic YesTransducer DynamicThe best Plantronics headphones for gaming are the Plantronics RIG 800LX Wireless. They're easy to use, have a well-balanced sound, and a great battery life. Thanks to a comfortable and lightweight wireless design, they can be worn for long gaming sessions. The dongle is only compatible with the Xbox One (800LX) or the PS4 (800HS), depending on the variant you choose, but the transmitter dongle has a good wireless range and a low latency connection. Unfortunately, they're not customizable like some of the other gaming headsets we've tested, and also tend to distort quite heavily near max volume, so they might not be ideal if you like to listen to your music more loudly. That said, they're still a good choice for gaming overall.
Compared to other brands
- Lots of features. The Plantronics headphones we've reviewed so far have some of the best combinations of active features. Their best models typically have noise cancelling, a great battery life with lots of different power-saving features, multi-device pairing, and even sometimes support for low-latency Bluetooth codecs, NFC for easier pairing and talk-through modes.
- Good audio reproduction. Most Plantronics headphones have good audio reproduction, that's either very neutral or with a bit more thump and rumble while still-sounding well-balanced.
- Great controls. One of the most noticeable features of the Plantronics lineup are the controls. They're unique and often unorthodox compared to other brands, but they're efficient and ergonomically placed on the ear cups, making them easy to use.
- Mediocre noise cancelling. Although Plantronics headphones are packed with features, noise cancellation is not their biggest strength. They isolate well enough for certain environments but they have a lot of self-noise and do not block ambient noise as well as other noise cancelling headphones from competing brands.
- Bulky designs. While most Plantronics headphones feel durable and comfortable, many have a rather bulky design that doesn't look as sleek as stylish as competing models.
- Limited budget options. While Plantronics headphones usually aren't that expensive, they don't have very many options in the budget range, unlike other brands that cover greater price ranges.
Overall, Plantronics makes versatile headphones that tend to be quite reasonably priced, especially considering how feature-packed they are. Their headphones have some of the best control schemes we've tested so far, and usually also feature noise cancelling, great battery performance, and even low latency Bluetooth codecs. Their noise cancelling doesn't usually perform as well as competing models, and they don't have the most elegant designs, but the brand still makes some of the best headphones for everyday casual use we've seen to date.
Conclusion
Plantronics doesn't have the biggest lineup geared towards non-business users, but they still make sturdy, versatile, wireless headphones that are packed with features. We have yet to test their full lineup, but their Pro series offers an excellent wireless range, easy-to-use control schemes, and an exciting bass-rich sound. However, despite having all these great active features, some of their headphones struggle with noise cancellation, typically delivering an average-at-best isolation performance and a lot of self-noise when the ANC is enabled.
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