Headsets from Sennheiser, Plantronics ( now Poly ) and Jabra which purport to manage to bridge the gap, between consumer fun products and serious business headsets.
Listen to music, get on UC, Teams, Skype and then rock on to some Madness.
The Sennheiser SC165 is a lower cost ( one could say entry level ) hybrid headset. To most intents and purposes it looks and feels just like a normal office headset. However, the headset cable ( which terminates in a USB ) also can detach to a 3.5mm jack plug which allows direct connection to most devices. ( owners of recent models of iphones may have to purchase a lightning to 3.5mm adaptor but from what we hear Mac users get used to adaptors ). This lightweight headset gives very good sound though when out and about there is quite some background noise as the ear cushions provide little sound impedance. Whilst out, and pretending not to be wearing your office headset the boom folds away quite neatly into the headband and is quite unobtrusive.
The MB 660 – also from Sennheiser comes to the hybrid party from the other direction – rather than being a HiFi headset which looks like an office headset it is way more an office headset which looks like a HiFi headset. That is not to detract though from its quality : the MB 660 comes in fully Microsoft Teams and Unified Communications versions and is compatible with many platforms. This fully featured headset though is Bluetooth by design ( though it can be connected via 3.5mm cable ) and delivers high quality HiFi. Further great features include a touch sensitive control panel on one earcup, noise cancellation, NFC and an unrivalled feeling of comfort when wearing them. An additional feature is the facility to enable adaptive noise cancellation.
The Plantronics ( or Poly ) Voyager B4220 is almost a hybrid, but the boom is not as ‘hideable’ as in other versions. The Plantronics ( Poly ) Voyager model is compatible wih both Skype and Microsoft Teams and offers. It has large padded on ear cushions which provide a decent amount of background noise protection, though not as much as that delivered by either the in ear buds or the over ear MB660 options. As an office headset there certainly are one of the best in this ‘hybrid’ concept with Wideband Audio, SoundGuard protection and up to a 30m Bluetooth range. Moreover we love the busy light which shows when you are on a call.
The Jabra Evolve 65T are the minimalist take on the hybrid headset option. These are ‘in ear’ buds which connect easily to your phone or device via Bluetooth and give a full, rich sound experience when listening to music. They can connect to your PC/ Mac with the included Bluetooth Dongle ( it has been reported that without the dongle you may have issues connecting but we have not fully tested that ). As far as totally hybrid I feel that these may not be the best for replacing your office headset, the microphone pick up is not as full sounding as those with some sort of boom. However these are UC and SFB certified and are absolutely wonderful for enjoying music out of office.
