Very short Plantronics 925 review

[mededitor]

Originally Posted by Wicho

Well, I've now had time to play with both the B250 and the Calisto headset, and here are my thoughts:

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Plantronics Calisto Headset
This is a really nice headset. It has a boom and is very light. You don't have to buy the entire Calisto phone set - you can just order the BT headset as a replacement part. You'll have to buy the power plug separately, but if you have a Plantronics 510 or other headset that uses the same connector, you're all set.

The headset is $89 from Plantronics directly, charger about $15, but you can find them for less online.

I may be a bit biased to towards the Calisto headset because it is very similar to what I wear at work. I'm used to the earhook it comes with, so putting it on isn't a chore. It will take a bit of getting the hang of it to someone new to it though. One thing to keep in mind - it's bigger than most headsets out there today - not small like an H680, Plantronics 925, Jabra BT8040, etc.

The audio on both ends is very good. On your end, the volume can be turned up nice and loud if you need it that way. Not as loud as the B250, but loud nonetheless. On the other end, the sound is very good. I did call a few people as well as my voice mail to leave a recording. Here's how it went.

People could not tell I was in the car, until...I rolled the windows down. Then, I sounded fainter to them with some interference. They could hear me, though, and we could carry on a conversation. The noise reduction works great, although my voice was not as crisp as on the B250.

One nice thing the Plantronics has that the B250 lacks is multipoint - I do use two phones at the same time, so this is good for me.

Both headsets have booms, which place the mic much closer to your mouth for better sound quality.

Which headset would I keep? The Calisto one, but that is going to be a personal thing. I don't drive with the windows rolled down, use my headset at home, work and in airports (won't get a chance to try it out there for a couple of weeks but I'll report back when I do) so I need something I can throw in my briefcase.

So there you have it, my contribution to the confusion of "what BT headset should I buy?" question so often asked.

I have a couple of questions about the Calisto, if you don't mind. I went to the Plantronics site to look at it and I can't find a picture with the actual earpiece showing. I have very small ears and ear canals, and the Jabra mini gels seem to be the only ones that work for me; I guess it has to do with their direction as they point directly into the ear rather than sitting on top of the ear. How are you finding the fit of the Calisto earpiece? Do you know if a Jabra mini eargel would fit on it? I tried a Plantronics Voyager in the past and the earpiece didn't seem to fit me well; I don't know if the Calisto uses the same earpiece.

I'm not sure what to purchase to charge the Calisto headset. I know that you said that the charger was around $15 and I do see one (the Calisto AC Adapter for $14.95), but I'm not sure that I'm looking at the correct thing on the Web site. It looks like the headset has to plug into the "base unit," so I'm not sure if where the charger would connect to the headset.

I apologize for the questions, but I definitely want to try the Calisto or the B250, and if the Calisto works well I would go with that simply based on the size.

TIA.

[grandpa]

Wow! I can't believe all the trash talk on the 925. I have done a lot of searching and bought 6 different BTs in the last couple of months and think the 925 is definitely the best of all. I have Jabra, Plantronics, Motorola and the Jawbone.

I work as a consultant in the oil & gas field and find myself around very large and loud diesel engines along with a lot of other rig noise and the biggest problem I've had is I have to hold it to position it in high noise, so I can here better. People on the other end don't seem to have too much trouble. Ear piece fits good though not as good as the Jabra.

I bought the 925, it was like the 5th BT, and love it. I lost it after a week and had to buy another one. Saw Tiger Direct had a sale and had to buy the Jawbone, too good a deal, because it is the best according to all the guru's like CNet and the like. I barely got it out of the box before I was giving it away to my youngest boy. He must not have liked it either cause he tried it on and kept using his Jabra.

I also drive a straight piped loud Dodge diesel and don't have any problem with it driving down the road. Of course, I don't roll down all my windows and turn up the stereo and the fan or what not. It's like 100 degrees here, I leave the windows up and a/c on. I either got 2 really good ones or y'all all got bad ones.

[whitewolf]

How the **** does the thing fit?? I cannot for the damn life of me figure this out. I am used to the ear hook style. Perhaps I am just BT challenged or have too small of ear canals.

Any help guys is grateful.

[SevereDeceit]

My 925 rocks! I love it, so light, sound and reception is great, and it so easy to use...

[grandpa]

Originally Posted by whitewolf

How the **** does the thing fit?? I cannot for the damn life of me figure this out. I am used to the ear hook style. Perhaps I am just BT challenged or have too small of ear canals.

Any help guys is grateful.

Sorry so late. I haven't been on in a while. It comes with the smallest or medium ear piece, can't remember which, installed. All you have to do is turn the loop opposite the mic and push it straight in your ear. Slips in and stays quite nicely. New info is the ear piece gets loose and the mic starts falling down. A small dot of rubber cement fixes this plus still makes it relatively easy to change ear pieces if need be.

[notqytryt]

I have used the 925 for only a week, and I work outside with the public and have no problems with it. I also use a jabra bt8040 the 8040 is very good for the price. the 925 is better. I have not had a single complaint on the sound quality of either. both suffer when walking into a headwind. the 925 handles it a bit better than the 8040. I have these paired to a bb8330. for what either one of these are going for on ebay they are definitely worth it.. 20 for the jabra 30 for the plantronics. BTW you dont jam the earpiece in your ear, you let the ring set in your earfold to secure it in place. I have small ears and use the large earpiece to hold the 925 in place.
update: I rate the sound quality of the jabra as better than the plantronics.. the plantronics sound is a bit hollow compaired to the jabra bt8040 and bt4010. also both the plantronics and the jabra require you to go into the bluetooth properties and turn echo control on (not auto) if not you will hear your own voice coming thru the headset when speaking. the jabras completely eliminate this from happening. the plantronics suppresses the voice echo but does not completely eliminate the echo. both jabra and plantronics devices have excellent incoming sound. Note I have these paired to a BB8330 curve. Your milage may vary depending on road conditions and driving habits.
footnote: I forgot to mention I had to pair the plantronics 925 to my blackberry 4x before it stayed paired. ( I would turn it off and when I turned it back on the curve couldnt find it. I had to keep deleting it from my bt devices and re-pair (no pun). After 2 days the 925 stayed paired to the curve.. dont know which device was the culprit but it works now

[DCAce]

I have the 925 and mostly love it. But I've had a weird problem...I'm on my third replacement from Plantronics as a result. It works brilliantly for several months, then without warning, the microphone just goes dead. Call Plantronics, get replacement (they're great about that as long as you're under warranty), and the cycle repeats. Each time, the functioning time has grown shorter.

Has anyone else had this problem??

The 925 is my sixth Plantronics headset (the others still work, I just like new toys!), and it's the first time I've had any problems.

I'm thinking that if it fails again, I'll go for the new model, since it seems to have a redesigned mic, and hope for the best. If not, I'll probably go for the Jawbone Prime.