Plantronics Voyager Edge w/ Charging Case - White

Pros: NFC for easy pairing (to a Samsung Galaxy Note 3 in my case) Dedicated, tactile buttons for primary functions Talk Time (6 hours at full charge, I get all day talk time out of the device) Charging Case Device Profile; large enough to be noticed, small enough to be stylish Plantronics Hub App provides a significant level of feature customization Integrates well with Android Google Voice commands and features Cons: Wind Noise Resistance was poor (fixed with firmware update) Charging Case too bulky for pockets Indifferent: Fitment is good, not great The first bluetooth headset I owned was a Plantronics Voyager 510 back in 2006. As much as I loved its function, I could never get over the form factor, thus began my long love affair with Jawbone devices. I did try a few different Motorola and in-ear plantronics headsets along the way, but would ultimately crawl back to Aliph, throwing my cash at them for the latest and greatest DARPA marketed tech. I owned the previous generation ERA, and tried the New ERA (I really hate that they were too pompous to give it an original name), and was very underwhelmed; so much in fact that i just reverted back to my gen 1 ERA. Then the Voyager Edge came strolling in... For context, I work 100% from home, and am constantly on conference calls. I've taken con calls while working out at the gym, on the toilet, cooking dinner, driving to and fro with the windows down, at restaurants (noisy lunch fare), schools, daycares, and my regular home/work environment. I would say in general the headsets I own get put through the ringer, even more so since I'm not chained to my desk for the majority of the day. Here are some of my observations from living with this headset. NOISE CANCELLING: While I wouldn't necessarily recommend this practice, the headset does work well in noisy environments, for instance a gym environment. Customers were able to hear me just fine and it was able to noise cancel any local grunts and groans from neighboring patrons when I needed to talk. The physical mute button near the base of the boom mic was perfect for when I was doing my reps. Similarly, the noise cancelling works extremely well in the bathroom, and drops out echo to the receiving end of the call. I've done multiple calls on the can and have never had a complaint about echo. In restaurants, it can be a bit hit or miss depending on your neighbors, in general, I've noticed it function quite well, but sometimes a neighboring voice will eek in to the receiving end. I generally don't take calls in restaurants (or the gym), but in the few work emergencies where I made the compromise, the Edge performed above expectation. As prefaced above, it's driving to and fro with the windows down where the Edge starts to lose ground. With my previous Jawbone devices, if I had all of the windows down and the device on the side facing away from the closest window, then my caller could not hear any wind noise whatsoever. With the Edge, even having the windows cracked would produce noticeable wind noise. My other test is to walk to my mailbox (there's a wind tunnel effect on the path to the mailbox), which it also failed, although to its credit, the only headset that has passed the mailbox wind tunnel test was the Gen 1 ERA. After the most recent firmware update, the Edge seems to work a lot better wind noise in the car, but I have yet to redo its mailbox wind tunnel test. I'll update the review after a few weeks to see how it fares. BATTERY LIFE: I purchased the headset with the charging base, so I can't speak for how the battery fares without it. I attached the charging base to my key chain and have made it a habit to always dock the headset in the base when it's not in use. The headset will charge while powered on, and interestingly enough, you can continue to use the headset while it's charging as well. I've actually done this before; it certainly wasn't the most comfortable thing, but it worked. At full charge the headset will consistently state 6 hours of talk time, but I've gotten more out of the device in practice. ACCESSORIES: Comes with some standard accessories, Wall-Charger, Portable Charger, Micro-USB Cable, instructions, and a standard bag of ear pieces. I found the portable charging base to be extremely bulky and cumbersome. It fortunately works well for my life style since i tend not to carry my keys with me often (I have a door code, so i lock my keys in the car). I can't carry it with me if I'm wearing a suit or anything with lower profile pockets as it's much too bulky. The headset does have a fairly secure fit in the base itself, but I've had it fall out on a few occasions. Fortunately, I was able to identify it missing before it became someone else's property, but it would've been nice if Plantronics offered a secondary measure like a fitted elastic strap for extra security. FEATURES and FITMENT: This thing is loaded with features; I can't speak for iPhone, but the Android Plantronics Hub App is a fantastic application to help educate and execute some of the premium features the device has to offer. The standard list of Battery Meter, Caller ID, and A2DP for streaming music, are all there, but the feature I love the most are a result of the in-ear detection. The Edge uses its sensor(s) to detect when the headset is in your ear, and offers features like "Smart Call Transfer" will transfer a call from your handset to your headset when equipped (or vice-versa when not), and "Call Button Lock" to prevent arbitrary callback or call answer when the headset is not equipped. If you're like me and you keep the headset in the charge base until needed, you could enable "Auto Answer" which will answer the call immediately after the headset is equipped. I normally wouldn't clump fitment in with features, but one affects the other in this case. I have tried all of the different ear pieces, and while the fitment of the headset is fair, I can't say that it's superior to the fitment I had with either ERA. This can sometimes lead to some fatigue on the ear after long calls, but the worst case I've run into is when the fitment directly affects the Edge's ability to detect in-ear status. If the headset isn't secure in your ear, the headset will have trouble determining if it's still in your ear or not, and if you have the aforementioned "Smart Call Transfer" enabled, then the headset will play a game where it transfers your call back and forth between your handset and headset. It doesn't happen often, but it's difficult to tell when it starts as the device doesn't make a sound on disconnect, only on reconnect. There have been times where I had been talking for 20 or 30 seconds before I realized that my headset had transferred my call to my handset. Fitment is also relative to all of the tactile button features. Button placement is something I've always hated but tolerated on my Jawbone devices, but Plantronics really does a fantastic job executing a multitude of buttons while maintaining a pleasing design aesthetic. Power is a sliding switch with a row of tactile ridges; the button has a crisp *click* and a voice alert to let you know when the device is power on or down. The volume is a rocker button with a raised bump on the "volume up" side of the rocker. I'm able to raise and lower volume without significant headset movement; have found the buttons easy to find and identify, and they provide both excellent tactile and voice feedback when pressed. The mute button is probably the most priceless button on the headset for anyone who does frequent conference calls. I have had my fair share of conference call mishaps on account of a faulty mute button, so the execution of the mute function is great on several fronts. The button is dedicated and in a place that is impossible to confuse with other buttons (at the base of the boo mic), it's independent of the soft mute on your phone, the PLT Hub App allows you to configure a mute warning interval to let you know that your mute is still on and functioning. The only thing i would maybe like to see is the option to have the mute button synchronize with the soft mute button on your phone. Personally, i like having the mute buttons independent of each other (you can never have too many fail safes), but for convenience, i could see this as an annoyance for some. The Primary button (square face of headset) works as expected, nothing much to say here. PRICING: I haven't paid retail for a headset since the Voyager 510, I had always taken advantage of some Federal Govt deal, or business discount. I bought this headset very soon after it was released at full retail. Now I can get it half off through my employer's EPP program with AT&T (Jawbone doesn't qualify), I honestly felt it was still worth it, even at the full retail price, and am even considering purchasing a second one for my wife or as a gift for my dad. CLOSING: Not much more to say, this is the best in-ear form factor headset on the market. As far as style is concerned, I prefer the Jawbone's look, however, there is something to be said about having people notice that you're wearing a headset. I've had far less "confused stare" occurrences on account of people noticing something in my ear. With headsets becoming common place now, I've also received lots of compliments and inquiries regarding the headset as well. I purchased the Arctic White, if I could go back, i probably would've purchased it in black; the white comes off a bit yuppie, like I should be wearing a matching white suit, own a macbook, and have a white sports car parked out front. Basically I need to be Don Johnson.