Plantronics Voyager 510-USB Bluetooth Headset System

The Plantronics Voyager 510-USB Bluetooth Headset System gives you the best of both worlds: a top-quality Bluetooth handsfree device for your Bluetooth-enabled mobile phone, and a Bluetooth USB adapter for use with VoIP-based applications on your notebook. At $199, it's not cheap, but mobile users who spend as much time Skyping as they do gabbing on their cells will be pleased with this multitasking headset.

 

To get started, attach one of the three included earbuds to the Voyager 510-USB. The lightweight unit fits snugly and sits comfortably in your ear. Unlike many competing Bluetooth headsets, the Voyager 510-USB is resistant to flopping around (even if you turn your head to one side quickly). We have one minor gripe: to power the unit on or off, you need to hold the sharp-edged power button down for three seconds.

 

In addition to the power button, the headset has volume controls and a call control button for answering or hanging up calls remotely, plus a built-in, adjustable boom mic. The Voyager 510-USB is presynched with the included USB Bluetooth adapter, so there's no need to pair the two devices. Windows detected and installed the whole system automatically. Synching the Voyager 510-USB with our Cingular 2125 phone was a snap.

 

We installed the PerSonoCall application and Skype on a test laptop. (The headset is also compatible with Internet calling services from AOL, MSN, and Yahoo.) Within minutes we were making crystal-clear calls. Thanks to Plantronics' multipoint technology, we could alternate between making calls on our notebook and our cell phone with the push of a button.

 

Sound quality was good for a Bluetooth headset; the Plantronics Voyager 510-USB is reliable enough to use on important business calls. We had no trouble hearing other callers, and they told us we sounded just fine, even when we were standing next to an air conditioner. That's because the Voyager 510-USB includes both a noise-canceling microphone and wind-reduction technology.

 

In addition to consumer-oriented Internet phone services like Skype, the Voyager 510-USB was designed to work with enterprise softphone software from Avaya, Cisco, and Nortel, offering call notification and remote call answering via the headset. This robust compatibility, along with included accessories like the desktop charger stand, justify the slightly high price. Plantronics promises a less expensive, consumer-friendly version soon, but for now you won't find a more versatile or better-sounding Bluetooth system for office and on-the-go use.