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Plantronics Voyager 510 Product Review

Plantronics Voyager 510 is simply the best Bluetooth headset on the market for this price range.

Pros: Comfortable on the ear, even after being used for a long time. Terrific built-in noise canceling microphone. Multipoint technology is very helpful.

Cons: Control buttons are tiny, but is something that can be learned to deal with.

Product Review

Package List:

The Plantronics Voyager 510 retail box comes with the following items:

• Headset main body
• AC power adapter
• Bag of ear-buds
• Supporting documents 

Physical Design:

Plantronics does a great job on the Voyager 510 physical outline. It provides an unmatched comfortable wearing experience.

• 0.7 Ounces, Super Light-Weight Design

The Plantronics voyager 510 is super light-weight at 0.7 ounces. It makes the headset suitable for long-time use. I can even wear it all day without creating any sore spots or any uncomfortable feelings on my ear.

• Flexible Ear Clip

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The rubber material of the ear clip is soft and smooth on the surface. It won’t create that metallic, sharp, and cold touch on the ear. The ear clip is also designed to be flexible so that it can fit perfectly on different sizes of ears. I have tried to use while walking, mild running, and head knocking about like crazy when listening to Bon Jovi. It always stays on my ear. 

• Includes Different Size Ear-buds to Snap into the Headset

The Ear-bud adds more security for holding the headset on the ear. Plantronics is considerate to include three different-sized ear-buds in the box: large, medium, and small for different people.

Pairing Ability:

Pairing Plantronics Voyager 510 is a breeze. Just hold the call control and the volume up button simultaneously; the headset will go into the pairing mode. I have successfully paired Plantronics Voyager 510 with many devices, such as my cell phone (Nokia 6260), my PDA (Dell Axim x510), and my Bluetooth USB dongle for my laptop. They can all be paired on the first try.

Control Interface:

There are four control buttons on the headset: call control, power/mute, volume up, and volume down. Having a call control button sitting on the microphone leg and away from the other three buttons is a plus. I never need to worry about pushing the wrong button when I answer a call. The other three buttons are small in size which makes it kind of difficult to operate them when the headset is on the ear. But, it is something I can learn to deal with. Besides, I usually pair the headset when it is off my ear, anyway. After pairing and putting it on the ear, I seldom need to push these buttons again.

Plantronics Voyager 510 uses the LED on the microphone leg to indicate the operation status. The red / blue LED is crisp and clear and can be easily seen in sunlight.

Voice Quality:

What makes the Plantronics Voyager 510 stand out is its excellent voice quality.  It offers two features which are seldomly seen on a Bluetooth headset within this price range.

• Noise Canceling Microphone:

The Plantronics Voyager 510 features a noise canceling microphone. In my 2-months of experience using this with a cell phone or online chatting, it can effectively block the background noise around me. I have called people with this headset near my very loud desktop computer (with fan noise), in my car (with engine noise), on the street (with car passing noise), and in my office (with air conditioning noise). When I checked with the person I was talking to, they always said that they could barely hear what was going on in the background.

• Wind-Smart Technology:

Plantronics also features Wind-Smart technology for outdoor use. It can reduce the noise created by the blowing wind to some degree. However, my experience has been that the headset will still pick up some wind noise. Besides, the listener on the other end can still tell that the caller is outside.

Multipoint Technology:

The Voyager 510 features the Plantronics exclusive multipoint technology which can let me pair the headset to my PC and my cell phone at the same time without having to go through the pairing process each time I want to use it with a new device. By doing so, I can listen to the music on my PC through the headset, and pick up an incoming cell phone call by pushing the call control button twice.

To do this properly, there is a procedure that users need to follow when using multipoint technology. The headset needs to be paired up with the cell phone first before the PC.

Talk time and Stand-by Time:

Plantronics Voyager 510 offers 6 hours of talk time and 4 days of stand-by time. It meets the current industry standards.

Using Voyager 510 with Skype:

I have tried to use several different Bluetooth headsets with my PC and PDA to make Skype calls. By far, the Plantronics Voyager 510 offers the most satisfactory experience of the bunch. Three major reasons for this are:

• The terrific noise canceling microphone offers a much better communication quality.
• The multipoint technology will allow me to switch from a Skype call to cell phone calls quickly and easily.
• Plantronics Voyager 510 is so comfortable on the ear that I can use it to make long Skype calls. 

Conclusion:

The Plantronics Voyager 510 offers comfortable and excellent voice quality. The built-in multipoint technology makes it possible to switch between PC and cell phone easily. It also provides a decent talk time (6 Hrs) and stand-by time (4 days). With the $60- (MSRP: $99) price-range on the market, it is a prefect choice for adding hands-free features into your daily communications.

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