The Plantronics Voyager PRO pitches itself to the top of the Bluetooth headset spectrum, offering up advanced technologies to make sure that voice communication remains strong, cutting out background noise.

Our quick take

The Plantronics Voyager PRO combines excellent audio quality with comfort, making it an ideal headset for those wanting to stay connected to take those important calls. It isn't a design that will appeal to, or be practical, for all users, but we found it to be consistently good in performance in a number of situations.

 

Plantronics Voyager PRO Bluetooth headset - 4.5 / 5

The Voyager PRO takes the less conventional approach of being an over-the-ear type headset paired with a boom mic. This has several advantages over the more common in-ear headset, as the majority of the weight of the device (17.5g) can be carried by the outer ear, rather than relying on friction along. Yes, many headset offer a support loop, but they don't offer the comfort that the Voyager PRO does.

It's a headset that is comfortable to wear for prolonged periods of time thanks to its balanced design. It isn't the smallest headset by any stretch of the imagination and it isn't designed to be either. But it is flexible, with the earpiece and boom assembly rotating to allow left- or right-ear wearing depending on your preference.

It won't suit everyone of course. If you want to wear glasses then you'll find that the arm of your glasses will rest on the top of the headset where it passes over your ear. For the occasional driver wearing sunglasses this might not be a problem, but you probably don't want your designer spectacles to be wonky as you walk around the place.

The boom itself is of reasonable length, reaching down the line of the face to mid-way along the jawbone so it doesn't get in the way of your mouth and doesn't actually touch your face, so isn't irritating like some contact models can be.

The earpiece comes with a selection of rubber tips to get a good fit as well as a selection of foam covers if you need them. We opted for both to get a comfortable fit. The nice thing about not having to fully insert the earpiece into your ear canal to hold the headset in place is that it doesn't necessarily cause the noise isolation that other models might do.

This is a double-edged sword. We found that gently inserted it was ideal for driving, meaning we could still listen to the radio without that strange "one ear blocked" distortion, or carry on a conversation naturally. The downside is that you'll need the volume slightly higher. But you do at least get the option of how tightly you want it stuffed into your ear, so whatever best meets your needs and preferences.

The Voyager PRO has several buttons on the body, including a power button around the back, volume on the top and a multi-function calling button on the outside. These are easy to find when in use to make adjustments or accept calls. A Micro-USB connection lets you charge the internal battery, which gives you 6 hours of talk time and 5 days of standby time, from a full charge of 1.5 hours.

Once paired with a mobile phone (you can pair it and use it with two phones at a time) using the headset is easy. The call button will let you accept, reject and use voice dialling (if the handset supports it) as well the usual redial and transferring of calls back to the handset.

Callers reported that we were very clear and that they didn't know we were using a headset, which is impressive stuff. The Voyager PRO includes noise-cancellation technology which Plantronics calls audioIQ2. This effectively uses two microphones on the boom to identify and remove background noise and ensure voice clarity.

It works too as it cuts out a range of background environmental noise to ensure that the caller can still hear what you are saying. We also found that incoming callers came through loud and clear, making voice conversation a natural process which is exactly what you want from a headset.

You also get accessories in the box, including a USB car charger, so you'll be able to charge your headset in the car, or use the same adapter with any USB cable to charge other devices.

To recap

The Plantronics Voyager PRO combines excellent audio quality with comfort, making it an ideal headset for those wanting to stay connected to take those important calls