Plantronics Audio 480 headset review

Looking for a compact VoIP headset?

15 July 2008 16:00 GMT / By Stephen Patrick

Plantronics design a wide range of headphones and this latest set is designed with Skype, video conferencing and general computer use in mind. There are two parts to these headphones, there is the in-ear aspect, and then there is the microphone arm for use with Skype.

There are two inputs – one intended for your headphone socket, the other for the microphone jack – and a small volume control, the Audio 480 has the standard connections.

Small and compact best describes the look as the earpieces are incredibly small and the cable used is slim and incredibly light. The look feels a little over-designed and feels as though it has been designed for the youth market instead of a busy office. There are a wide range of ear buds supplied so you can exclude external noise.

Being in-ear headphones we were expecting they’d be able to handle music with a degree of success. Sadly, we found they lacked bass and real depth when it came to music.

Much better was the sound quality when using them with our test notebook. Once you’ve selected them from the Control Panel, they cut out a great deal of background clutter, so you hear who you’re having a conversation with a lot clearer, without tinny-ness we’ve come to associate with VoIP.

The noise-cancelling microphone has the same overly-designed look as the headphones. There is no denying it works exceedingly well, though. It does a great job of cutting out background noise and because it’s so small, is rather unobtrusive.

Verdict

Plantronics Audio 480 headset is great for office tasks but sadly, it’s not as versatile when it comes to games and music.

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Review Recap

Made by: Plantronics
Price as reviewed: £50
The good: Great boom-mic, compact design
The bad: Lacks depth for music, thin cable
Quick verdict: Great for VoIP but lack the versatility for listening to music and for use playing games
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