Review: Plantronics Voyager Pro HD bluetooth headset

October 25, 2011 by Bill Palmer

by Bill Palmer

At a time when bluetooth earpieces keep getting smaller and lighter, including some of the new offerings from Plantronics, the company’s Voyager line remains steadfast in its size. The earclip is about two inches tall, and the boom mic is about three inches long, even in the product’s latest Voyager Pro HD incarnation. But there’s a reason for its size, and an important one: audio quality. The extended boom places the mic closer to your mouth and allows for a more sophisticated microphone mechanism, delivering what Plantronics refers to as HD audio. We’ll just go ahead and call is the highest quality audio we’ve ever heard from a bluetooth earpiece.

That doesn’t mean the Voyager Pro HD is suitable for everyone. It’s positively gargantuan in comparison to earpieces from the Plantronics “M” lineup, for instance. That doesn’t mean it’s less comfortable. The entire product takes the shape of a rubbery earclip, which feels softer and gentler than the thin hard plastic clips which come with smaller earpieces. Then again, the smaller ones often don’t need to wrap around your ear in order to stay in place; this one does. But it has some tricks up its sleeve, including the ability to sense whether or not it’s in your ear and therefore to turn itself on or off as needed. The boom mic also works great in the wind. And although this appears to be ear-specific in the photography, it turns out the pieces can be rotated for left ear or right ear use as needed.

To wear something as large as the Voyager Pro HD, the superior audio quality has got to mean something to you. But if you’re on the phone all day with bad reception or in noisy environments, this product is great at what it does.

Rating: 4.5 stars out of five • Price: $99 • Plantronics.com