Plantronics Discovery 665 Bluetooth headset review

Look no hands, but is it any good?

8 June 2007 11:00 GMT / By Stuart Miles

Plantronics has released its latest headset; the Discovery 665 with a host of features that promise better audio and talk clarity whether you're in the office, the car or walking down the high street, but does it work? We get chatting on the phone to find out.

Small and light the first thing you will notice when you get the Discovery 665 out of the box is that there are plenty of accessories to go with it.

There's the docking station, a number of different earbuds, an ear stabiliser hanger thing, the standard AC adapter, a car charger and even a USB charger. There is even an additional option of getting a charger that will allow to charge the headset off a standard AAA battery.

It's like Plantronics don't want you under any circumstances to say you've run out of juice, which is strange as the 665 promises 3.5 hours of talk time and 80 hours standby.

Once charged via one of the many ways above, pairing is as simple as pressing a single button and then typing in the passkey on your mobile phone (that's also got Bluetooth turned on of course).

With just a volume and answer/hang up button, buttons on the headset have been kept to a minimum and complete with its minimalist design, it's very light on weight. There is a metal ear hanger for those who want it, but we had no problem keeping the device in place with the rubber ear bud.

The most important thing with a headset is the sound and here the Plantronics Discovery comes up top trumps.

Plantronics say it's to do with something they've created called AudioIQ, the industry’s first DSP (digital signal processing) sound technology that claims to automatically optimise audio levels on both sides of every call — improving sound clarity for both callers and listeners.

How it supposedly works is that for incoming calls, AudioIQ automatically adapts to background noise levels — from a quiet taxi to a noisy city street — and intelligently improves the receive quality, clarity and volume level.

For outgoing calls, AudioIQ reduces the background
noise for listeners up to 7-8 decibels, or by approximately 50%, it also minimises interference from speech distortions to maintain exceptionally clear voice intelligibility.

Either way, the reception was incredibly clear both talking to and listening to calls, in fact some of the people we spoke to thought we had been on a regular handset after we asked them what they thought of the call - a good sign indeed.

Verdict

It might not be as sexy looking as the Jabra J10 complete with its stand and brushed metal design, however the numerous charging options - we especially like the USB one for travelling - and the quality of calls both to and from the unit make this a great little number.

Top marks.

Score

Review Recap

Made by: Plantronics
Price as reviewed: £69.99
The good: Audio quality, charging options
The bad: Design is basic, charging station looks cheap
Quick verdict: It might not be as sexy as the Jabra J10, but it is feature packed
Score
Winner