Review: The Plantronics Voyager 855 Stereo Bluetooth Headset

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For the last eight months, if you had asked me to name the one item I absolutely had to review, the answer would have been simple.  The Plantronics Voyager 855.  I mean, I read the website, I saw the press release.  This is the one I have been waiting for.  It feature:

• a mono headset for phone calls
• a detachable stereo headset for music
• a flexible cord connecting the two
• Bluetooth

No more swapping between a wired headphones and Bluetooth headset.  No more missing calls because my music is too loud.  And best of all, no more stiff plastic band wrapped around my head.  This looked to be pretty much everything I have been waiting for.   But will it live up to the hype I have created in my own mind’s eye?  Let’s take a closer look and find out.

Style and Comfort: I have always been a fan of Plantronics’ headset stylings.  They remind me of a rugby shirt or Polo shirt.  They are extremely attractive, without being obnoxiously fashion conscious like some popular headsets.  They just look nice. 

The headset itself is sleek and black.  The earpiece is angled nicely so that it will stay in your ear without the need of an additional over the ear loop (however, several loops are included if you prefer to use them.)  I found that it rested comfortably against my cheek, without becoming obtrusive.  The boom mic slides out from the front of the headset.

In order to listen to stereo music, you will need the stereo adaptor (don’t worry, it is included.)  Now, this is the part I have been waiting for.  The stereo adaptor has an over-the-ear loop on one end, which will slide into the appropriate slot on the headset.  Unfortunately, this does mean that you can no longer use the headset without the earloop if you want to listen to stereo music.  I prefer the earloop, so this was not a problem for me.  However, some people may feel differently.

Connected to the earloop via a nylon cord is the stereo earpiece itself.  Just place this in your other ear and get ready to “jamm” to your tunes.  This is the first stereo headset I have used which did not connect the two earpieces with a hard plastic band.  I absolutely loved the flexibility that the nylon cord provided.  It was so unobtrusive that I almost forgot the two ends were connected. 

Pairing and Connection: The Voyager 855 utilizes Plantronics’ QuickPair technology.  Quick Pair simplifies the pairing process by automatically entering pairing mode for 10 minutes after you power on the headset for the first time.  This is a great little feature, which I really appreciated.  No more fumbling for the right button combination to push and hold for pairing.

Once paired, I found the connection to be good, if not a bit inconsistent.  For the most part, it had a solid connection with fantastic range.  At times, I could wander what seemed like much more than the standard 30 feet from my device, and still hear the music loud and clear. 

On the other hand, I noticed frequent occurrences of the connection skipping or cutting out for no obvious reason.  Sometimes if I turned my head a certain way then it also might  skip the connection.  This was frustrating, but I did not notice it often enough for it to be a real problem.

I even tried connecting the Voyager 855 to two devices at once, and I was fairly impressed with the results.  It did a great job of simultaneously stopping the music on one device while answering a call on the other device.   This did cause a bit of interference while listening, however, but not so much that I was deterred from multi-pairing again.

Controls: The controls on the Voyager 855 are pretty standard and extremely easy to use.  One of the most important facets of any Bluetooth headset is that the controls are easy to use without looking.  There is nothing worse than having to remove the headset to answer or drop a call. 

Plantronics did a great job in this department, with only four buttons, each of which are a different size and shape for easy distinction.

• On the face is the power connect button.  This is used to power the headset on and off, as ell as answer or end a call.
• The mute button is near the back of the top.  It has the obvious function of muting a call.
• The final button is the volume, and will adjust the volume up or down.

If your phone is equipped with Bluetooth A2DP, then the controls on this headset can also be used to control the music in your player.  I was glad to see that, unlike many other headsets I have used, the Voyager 855 did not try to cram as many controls into the headset as possible, or over complicate your use by assigning multiple functions to a single button.

 Stereo Sound Quality: I was most interested in this headset for the promise of stereo music, so let’s jump right in there.  I tested the Voyager 855 with both my Sprint Mogul and the Sony Walkman 828 (which I reviewed over at Gear Diary).  Stereo music came through loud and clear.  I was really quite impressed by how crisp the sound was listening to my music.  These were probably the best Bluetooth headphones I have ever used for listening to music.

I did have a concern that the connection between the mono headset and the stereo adaptor might get loose or weaken over time.  I’ve been using these headphones for several weeks now, and there has been no indication of any weakening in this connection.

The Train Test: Of course, it does not matter to me how well my headphones sound if I cannot hear them.  I call this the train test, because walking past the engine while I am boarding the train is about the loudest place in the world.  I have tested almost every pair of headphones and a good number of headsets using the train test.  If I can hear my music while walking past the engine, then the noise cancellation is simply outstanding.  The Voyager 855 was not outstanding in this area.  It offered pretty good noise cancellation, but the buds did not make a good enough seal within my ear to really isolate sounds and noise well.  So, while it adequately blocked normal sounds, such as traffic while walking down the street, it was defeated hands down when I entered a slightly noisy environment, let alone the train. 

The Wind Test: The third test is one I conduct on all headsets which I plan to use with my phone.  This tests the microphone and how well it filters ambient noise while I am talking.  The Voyager 855 features AudioIQ, which is described by Plantronics as:

advanced digital signal processing automatically adjusts sound levels so every word can be clearly heard on both ends of the call, regardless of the noise around you.

That all sounds great.  I like being able to be heard more clearly.  Problem was, when I called home, my wife could hear the wind very clearly, as well as the radio.  Just about everything except for my voice, even with the boom mic (shown above) extended.  I was sorely disappointed by the AudioIQ feature.  It did not work well at all for filtering background noise.  In fact, this headset allowed more background noise than many headsets I have used with no filter.

The Jumping Jack Test: This last test looks at how well the headset/headphones stay in place during normal use.  Too often, wires get tangled or yanked, or the headphones do not sit securely in my ears, causing them to shift or fall out.  I use jumping jacks as a standard because they are pretty normal moderate activity. 

I found the Voyager 855 did exceptionally well in this category.  Sure, the stereo bud might slip out of my ear every once in a while, but this did not seem to be any more than any other earbud style headphones I have used.  Plus, since the only wire is the nylon cord which wraps around the back of your neck, snags are almost entirely eliminated.

Battery Life: Plantronics advertises that you should be able to achieve up to six hours of listening time.  This seemed fairly accurate to me.  I probably got close to five hours, along with several hours of standby and few telephone call thrown in for good measure.

I was disappointed, however, by the charger.  At first blush, it appears to be a micro-USB charger, which is poised to become the new standard for charging smaller accessories.  I was pretty excited by this until I realized one critical point, this was not a micro-USB connection.  It is frustratingly close.  Instead, it is yet another proprietary Plantronics connection.  I really do not understand Plantronics’ insistence upon making me carry a special plug just for my headset rather than making a more universal connection, so I can share the charging cable with several devices or accessories.

Conclusion: I will admit that I had placed this headset on something of a pedestal leading up to my review.  I had been anticipating it for months, and really liked what I saw…even before I saw it.  And it came extremely close to living up to my expectations.  In fact, the design and quality of the headset really exceeded my expectations.  In the end, while it was one of the best Bluetooth headsets/headphones I have used for stereo music, it was among the worst I have used for phone calls.  Audio IQ simply did not work on this one at all.  So, check this out if you are looking for a good set of earbud style Bluetooth headphones.  But if you are looking for something to use for telephone calls…I am afraid you will have to keep looking.

What I Liked:

• soft nylon cord
• detachable stereo earbud
• fantastic stereo sound

What Needs Improvement:

• Audio IQ and noise filtering simply did not work
• noise isolation earbuds could have isolated noise better
• proprietary power connection

Vital Stats:

Name: Plantronics Voyager 855 Bluetooth Headset

Where To Buy: Plantronics

Price: $149.95

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