We are all at CNET stuck at home during the Corona virus outbreak – and if you are not yet there is a good chance that you will soon be mandatory Orders stay at home continue to spread across the nation and the globe. Whether you work from home or just keep in touch with friends, an important part of your tech toolkit will be yours headphone. And if you are able to update to new ones, this is the list for you.
What makes good work-at-home headphones? You always want Comfort and Sound qualityOf course, but you really want to focus on what constitutes good communication Headset when Make calls (including all types of video chats). For many people, this means the ability to hear your own voice in the room rather than the strange feeling of “earplugs” the most In-ear or earphone headphones provide. If this is important to you, you want to make sure that your headphones have either a sidetone or a transparency function. After all, good battery life is a must, as is the ability to easily switch between two devices (also known as multidevice pairing).
You may be looking for headphones or headsets designed for use with unified communications applications and certified for Skype for Business, optimized for Microsoft Lync, and suitable for Avaya, Cisco, and Skype softphones. I’ve included some UC headphones in this list of the best headphones for work, but most of them are mainstream consumer headphones that work well on the go.
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Bose’s new Noise Canceling 700 headphones meet …
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The Bose Noise Canceling Headphones 700, the long-awaited successor to its QuietComfort 35 II models, is not a quantum leap forward, but these Bose headphones offer slightly better sound, call and noise suppression quality. Unfortunately, buying this wireless headphone option costs $ 400, but they’re a powerful all-round audio performer with a battery life of up to 20 hours.
Read our Bose Noise Canceling Headphones 700 review.
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Even if the music or audio doesn’t sound as magical as you would hope for a $ 249 model, the AirPods Pro is still a good, truly wireless headphone. This is mainly due to their profitable design (are earphones just as much a status symbol as Apple Airpods?) And the wireless fit. You will also enjoy the improved bass performance (which improves audio quality), effective noise cancellation and excellent call quality (you can hear your voice just enough when these buds are snuggled into your ear canal) of these popular earphones. Apple users find that they can easily switch between their iCloud devices. This is the key to real wireless headphones.
Read our Apple AirPods Pro review.
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When Jabra first announced its new one Elite 85h Over-the-ear headphones were advertised as how they would be equipped with a constantly active (hands-free) voice assistant control with Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant. Unfortunately, this feature didn’t make it into the end product – apparently it affected battery life too much, and battery life is critical – but the Elite 85h are still excellent noise canceling headphones that are very comfortable to wear and have a strong sound quality and are ideal for making calls. They started at $ 300, but dropped to about $ 230, with “renewed” versions being as cheap as $ 150.
Read our Jabra Elite 85h test.
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The Buds Plus from Samsung look essentially the same as the original Galaxy Buds, but have an 11-hour battery life for music playback (out of 6). There are two drivers in each bud for better sound and an additional microphone to facilitate external playback. They are comfortable to wear and have a feature that allows you to hear your voice in the earphones while you are on the phone (this is a setting in the app under “Advanced” – these are indeed advanced headphones!).
In the past, these headphones were aimed more at Android users (and in particular at owners of Samsung Galaxy smartphones). Now there is an iOS app that allows Apple users to use most of the features like Android users.
The sound impressed me. These in-ear headphones are detailed and soft, with deep, well-defined bass. The sound is richer and more spacious than that of the original Galaxy Buds.
Read our Samsung Galaxy Buds Plus review.
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The Elite 75t from Jabra, which features an improved, more compact design and better battery life, is not quite comparable to the AirPods Pro for calls in louder environments, but is ideal for interiors with a sidetone function that lets you hear your voice in Internet can hear buds. It also sounds good for listening to music and has been awarded the CNET Editors’ Choice Award.
These headphones are also available in a slightly more robust version, the Jabra Elite Active 75t, for an additional $ 20. We recommend these not only for work at home, but also as workout headphones.
Read our Jabra Elite 75t review.
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The second-generation Momentum True Wireless 2 isn’t cheap at $ 300, but better than the originals all round. It has a slightly smaller, more comfortable design, active noise cancellation that rivals that of the AirPod Pro, and improved battery life (up to seven hours over the four hours of the original and better noise cancellation on calls. And if you don’t use it in black will be followed by a white version later this year, but most importantly, the Momentum True Wireless 2 has the same excellent sound – at least for real wireless earbuds – and offers the AirPods Pro a significantly superior sound quality arguably the best wireless earbuds on the market today, earning them a CNET Editors’ Choice Award.
These use Bluetooth 5.1 with support for the AAC and AptX codecs (for devices with AptX such as Samsung Galaxy smartphones).
Read our review of Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 2.
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For premium noise canceling headphones, Bose and Sony have been the dominant players in recent years. But now Sennheiser has appeared with his new one Momentum 3 wireless and it deserves some attention, especially from people who are fans of the momentum line. It is now available for $ 400 – the same price as the Bose Noise Canceling Headphones 700.
It not only offers improved noise reduction functions and excellent sound and audio, but also works very well as a Bluetooth headset for making calls. The noise cancellation and comfort level may not quite match the noise cancellation and comfort of the Sony WH-1000XM3, but the earcups are covered with sheep leather and I had no problems rocking them for a two-hour listening session. The battery life is up to 17 hours with noise cancellation activated, which is rather lower for full-size noise canceling headphones.
Read our Sennheiser Momentum 3 first.
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The SoundLiberty 79 list from TaoTronics costs $ 60, but is sold for around $ 50. I don’t like their look – the little chrome accent is not my cup of tea – but they fit my ears well and sound decent for the money, with just enough definition and plenty of bass. All that really sets them apart is how they act as a headset for making calls. This wireless earbud option gets five stars in this department with excellent noise reduction (people had no problem hearing me on the noisy streets of New York). The company’s “Smart AI Noise Reduction” technology really works and there is a slight background noise so you can hear your voice in the bud as you speak.
They are completely waterproof (IPX7 certified) and you can achieve up to eight hours of battery life at moderate volume. The charging case, which delivers an additional 32 hours of juice on the go, feels a little cheap, but is compact and has a USB-C charge.
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Originally $ 350, Microsoft’s Surface Headphones, which have active noise cancellation and don’t surprisingly work well with Windows computers, have dropped in price (currently $ 200 at Best Buy). I thought they might have sounded a little better for $ 350, but they’re well designed, comfortable, sound good, and work on the phone with the ability to switch between a computer and smartphone.
I wouldn’t be surprised if a second generation model comes onto the market this year, but at $ 200 they’re certainly more enticing.
Read our Microsoft Surface Headphones review.
Jabra
Jabras Evolve 65e UC ($ 200) is a model around the neck that offers a comfortable and secure fit (you get three sizes of stabilizing fins and three sizes of earplugs). This version is Skype for Business and UC certified. With the included USB Bluetooth adapter, you can simultaneously connect to your PC (Windows or Mac) with your smartphone.
While this headphone is good for listening to music (it is a little shy in the bass), it is great as a headset for making phone calls with good noise reduction (it does a good job of reducing wind noise). The built-in inline microphone sits close to your mouth so people can easily hear you. The battery life is 13 hours.
Note that this is the business version of the Elite 65e. Jabra is also taking the step up Evolve 75e UC, which costs around $ 50 more and has active noise cancellation. However, I didn’t find the noise cancellation great, so it’s probably best to save the money and get the 65e UC.
Amazon
With the Plantronics Voyager Focus UC you can switch between a Bluetooth connection (on a smartphone or tablet) and a computer. These are lightweight, comfortable on-ear headphones with excellent noise reduction and a retractable boom microphone so people can easily hear your voice (you can hear your voice in headphones).
The non-business version of it is called BackBeat Sense ($ 130) that sells for as little as $ 50 in a renewed version.
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Apple owns Beats, and one of the advantages of this relationship is that much of the technology that went into the AirPods also went into Beats real wireless headphones, the Powerbeats Pro. Like the AirPods, these real wireless earbuds with ear hooks are great for calls. Their noise-isolating design keeps out more ambient noise, so you can hear callers (as well as music and audio) better. They also have a bit of sidetone so you can hear a voice in the buds while on the phone and Apple users can easily switch between their iCloud devices.
Read our Beats Powerbeats Pro test.
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While Logitech calls its Zone WIreless a headset, it is actually an active on-ear headphone with noise cancellation and built-in boom microphone. What makes it unique is that you can set it up on a wireless Qi charging pad to charge the battery, which is designed for up to 15 hours of talk time or listening to music. The headset is also charged via micro USB.
I found it a comfortable fit, especially for on-ear headphones, and it’s great for phone calls with a sidetone feature that lets you hear your voice in the headset so you don’t speak too loud when you are talking. The only downside is that the headset sounds fine for listening to music and audio, not great. If communication at work is a priority, this is a good choice for a headset. While it’s not really meant as a mobile headphone, you can walk around with it easily, and thanks to the multi-device pairing feature, you can easily switch between your phone and a computer.
Read our Logitech Zone Wireless first.
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When first launched, the Plantronics Voyager 6200 UC cost $ 300. It only costs $ 200, which is still quite expensive, but it offers voice calling performance for businesses with the ability to switch between your smartphone and computer.