Very short Plantronics 925 review

[kwsmithphoto]

I bought one at Best Buy for $119. Took a quick look at the manual to see how to pair it and use the basic functions, and also to make sure it had enough charge in it to use right out the box, which is a pretty cool feature.

So I'm sitting in the parking lot, paired it to my Curve (no problem there) and tried it out. Having tried a number of Bluetooth headsets that are useless I figured this time I'll check it out before I go home so I don't have to drive back to the store to return it.

First of all, none of the silicone ear bud things fit my ear very well, which is surprising since their older ones did. But I got a reasonably good fit and called a friend of mine who's a seasoned audio engineer, currently doing quality control on Blu-Ray DVD's. The conversation went something like this:

me: Hey Mike, I bought a new headset, how does it sound?

Mike: It sounds like you're in a wind tunnel. (the car was parked and the engine and cabin fan were turned off)

me: Really?? It's Plantronic's latest and greatest, the 925, cost me $120.

Mike: What?

me: It's Plantronic's latest and greatest, cost me...

Mike: What? It sounds lik...

me: What?

Mike: Guberbadoodlegrungynoisefizz (not a direct quote)

me: What?

Mike: It sounds like **** whatever it............hear you..........hello?

me: I'll call you back. (no reply, he hung up)

So I double checked the battery level again and it was fine, so I called a friend who mixes the sound for major Hollywood blockbuster movies.

me: Hey Bo, I just bought a new headset, how does it sound?

Bo: What? Who is this?

me: It's Kevin, can you hear me?

Bo: (silence)

me: It's Kevin, can you hear me now?

Bo: Oh, Hi Kevin, uh kind of ya, but I....grrrrffffftttt...busy now so...czbfttttg...beer tonight?

me: What?

Bo: What?

me: I'll call you back.

Bo: What?

Those conversations took place in a parked, non-running car with the windows down in a relatively quiet environment. Two friends with finely tuned hearing couldn't hear me worth a dam and the dropouts were ridiculous. So I walked back in and returned it. The floor sales gal who helped me saw me in the return line and came over to ask why I'm returning it. "Because nobody can hear me, the audio drops out, and it doesn't fit very well."

Oh well. FWIW I've tried a number of BT earbuds including the Jawbone and BlueAnt and they aren't any better. The only thing that really works is a proper cardioid (directional) microphone, with a foam tip for wind, on a boom in front of your mouth. All that DSP and multi-microphone nonsense is no match for the basic, simple physics of audio technology that's worked just fine for half a century.

And there's only one company that makes a decent one with Bluetooth, VXI's BlueParrot 250. Not available in stores, and currently back-ordered due to high demand.

[jdwx]

Sounds like I could have written that...

I'd agree totally with your opinion on all counts. Particularly the cardioid mic part.

I have yet to find a BT headset that I think is all that...

[kwsmithphoto]

It's not just the BlueTooth part, wired headsets like the one that came in the box is unusable in my world.

The primary problem is the omnidirectional microphone, which picks up environmental noise that's often as loud or louder than the person's voice. Some people are very good at honing in on the voice without being overly distracted by the background noise.

Unfortunately I, and most of the people I talk to, aren't very good at doing that. If someone calls me from an omni mic headset and they aren't in a very quiet place I simply can't talk to them. And every time I've tried to use one myself...well the conversation is a lot like the one I mentioned.

Bluetooth just adds another layer of suck to that because it has to further process your voice to get it to the phone efficiently.

[naturefreak85]

That's actually kind of strange since I have that headset and have never had an issue with such. I even bought it for the rest of my family, and we all use it, no one has any issue with "wind tunnels" I use it when even walking in the wind and people claim they can hear me perfectly fine.

[r3g]

Are you sure its the BT and not your phone? I just find it odd that your buying all these expensive headsets and they all work like crap.

[kwsmithphoto]

Originally Posted by r3g

Are you sure its the BT and not your phone? I just find it odd that your buying all these expensive headsets and they all work like crap.

In the last year I've tried 5 headsets on 2 phones, a Curve and the Razr V3 it replaced. The dropouts I reported were likely the result of a faulty product but the sound issues were all too familiar. I still have a Plantronics 640 which was one of the best you could buy a couple years back but it's virtually unusable for me.

Again, it really depends on the type of environments you're in and the people that you're talking to. For example, if I'm on the 640 at my quiet home office and call my fiancee, she can hear me just fine unless I'm making a LOT of noise. But if make a call to any of my many sound engineer and musician friends, I have to stop typing on my computer and not move in my chair just to be heard well. And if I use it in the car at highway speeds, nobody can hear me at all, even with the fan off and the windows up because my car is fairly loud (it's modified).

I've tested the newer, noise cancelly models in similar environments with essentially the same results, though there is some benefit but not nearly enough. Again, it primarily depends on who I'm talking to and what they're hearing is like. People like me who work with sound have brains that are easily distracted by background noise. "Normal" people's brains just filter it out.

My sister is dating a trucker. Ya, skip the jokes, I've heard 'em all. Truck cabs are LOUD and it's very unsafe to drive one while holding a phone to your ear. VXI makes this product specifically for truckers: Products - VXI Parrott CP110 Headset

They are/were the gold standard for the industry, which relies on cell phones to function (kinda hard to use email while you're hauling 50 tons). The favorite Bluetooth model is the B150 which my sister's boyfriend has, and I while I haven't used one myself, I've talked to the guy while he's on the road with the windows down in a roaring cab and he might as well have been parked for all I could tell. It's been superseded by the B250 (the 150 is out of production) which I currently have on order...but there's a serious back order issue and I don't know when I'll get it.

The only reason I didn't get one sooner is (and tried the 925) is that I don't want to look like I'm launching the space shuttle from behind the wheel! But the regular stuff that works fine for most people just doesn't work in my world so I don't have a choice. Bummer for me but that's life!

[Wicho]

I share your frustration in looking for the perfect headset. For now, the best I have found is the Jawbone2, but that's me.

I posted in another thread that my favorite headset, although wired, is the Shure QuietSpot with boom. To me it's just amazing.

I know all the rage is bluetooth, and it does have it's place - I'm not arguing that. I just find it very easy to plug in my headset to the phone when I get in the car and take off. That way, it's ready to go while I'm driving.

With that said, I did just yesterday order the bluetooth headset for a Plantronics Calisto. I've been wanting to try it since it has noise cancellation and a boom. Should arrive next week - we'll see how well it works.

[jdwx]

Never heard of them, but they're around and sound pretty cool....

Discontinued 150
BLUEPARROTT BLUETOOTH ROADWARRIOR - eBay (item 230263143787 end time Jun-24-08 17:34:12 PDT)


And the B250
BLUE PARROTT B250 WIRELESS HEADSET SYSTEM BLUEPARROTT - eBay (item 110263671703 end time Jun-26-08 17:48:04 PDT)

[kwsmithphoto]

I posted in another thread that my favorite headset, although wired, is the Shure QuietSpot with boom. To me it's just amazing.

Yep, I have one of those two and love it. Unfortunately it doesn't work with an 8330. Or at least not anymore; I got a 3-conducter mini 2.5mm to 3-conductor 1/8" adapter and it worked GREAT for a few days (yay!).

But then according to callers, my voice volume would go up and down and sometimes cut out for no apparent reason. Tried a different brand of adapter and had the same problem.

My guess is that trying to use a mono headset in a stereo jack was screwing with the electronics in the phone. The headset's OK, I tried it on another phone, my Curve just decided to reject it... It didn't work with the USB adapter on my Razr either - well it worked, but my voice level was so low that people had a hard time hearing me. Same problem with my cordless phones at home. My guess is the mic has an impedance that's very different from most other headsets so that some devices don't get enough gain (volume) from it. So it sits in a drawer now, waiting for another purpose some day.

Look forward to hearing your thoughts on the Calisto, and glad the Jawbone 2 is working out for you.

[kwsmithphoto]

Never heard of them, but they're around and sound pretty cool....

Ya, they don't market to consumers for some reason, they're mostly just business to business. Their retail outlets are primarily truck stops!

Oh man...I checked eBay a couple days ago for a B250 and that one wasn't there. Would have saved me a bundle and gotten here quicker!

[Wicho]

Originally Posted by kwsmithphoto

Yep, I have one of those two and love it. Unfortunately it doesn't work with an 8330. Or at least not anymore;

That's a bummer. Mine's been working well with no problems - I have an 8310 though. Hopefully it will keep working. One thing about the QuietSpot is that you have to have the microphone aimed properly - if it's aimed wrong even by not much your voice will be very faint to callers.

I'll let you know how the Calisto headset works after it arrives - I have high hopes for it. I've been using the old 2.4Ghz version with my office phone for over two years and the sound is great, so hopefully the good sound carried over to this one as well.

[kwsmithphoto]

It is a bummer, thanks for your sympathy. I'm guessing you're using the same type of adapter? Who makes it?

I know about microphone positioning, I was a professional audio engineer for 20 years, and ya the Shure is sensitive because it's so directional. But I'm convinced it has an impedance issue that most phones can't deal with. And we already know that the GSM Curves are similar on the outside but very much different on the inside than the new CDMA ones, which probably explains why it ain't working with mine anymore. <sniff>

We already know that the GSM curves have louder speakerphones and ringtones, so there's definitely a difference in the way they handle audio.

Anyway, I'll start a new thread when my blueparrot comes in, after I've given it a thorough shakedown. Hopefully they'll fill my order soon since they just got a new batch but already have a huge backlog of orders to fill. California has a hands-off law coming up in a week and if I get another moving violation between now and November, my license is suspended for a year!

[Wicho]

I have one of the 3.5 ->2.5mm adapters made by BlackBerry. Bought it right here on Crackberry.

The Plantronics Calisto headset arrives tomorrow - can't wait to try it out. I also bought a BlueParrot B250 that arrived yesterday - it's charging right now, so I'll get to try it out tomorrow as well since I didn't get it charging until a few hours ago. We'll see how it works.

Originally Posted by kwsmithphoto

It is a bummer, thanks for your sympathy. I'm guessing you're using the same type of adapter? Who makes it?...

...Anyway, I'll start a new thread when my blueparrot comes in, after I've given it a thorough shakedown. Hopefully they'll fill my order soon since they just got a new batch but already have a huge backlog of orders to fill. California has a hands-off law coming up in a week and if I get another moving violation between now and November, my license is suspended for a year!

[jdwx]

Curious to hear about the blue parrot. If it lasts a long time, is comfy, sounds good, I sure dont mind wearing a headset... umm.. in the house haha...

[drewryan]

sorry to hear your bad luck with the headsets. i work in a wireless store and sell lots and lots of BTHS. We have had the 925 for about 2 months now and have sold about 90 of them with only 1 return. i use it and one of my other managers uses it as well. Both of us have had great luck with it, simple design, no moving parts to break off. Also a very sleak and comfortable design. if you are looking for a new headset, try it for yourself, what doesn't work for one person doesn't necessarily mean its bad.
Good Luck...