The lowdown
One of Plantronics' latest offerings to the Bluetooth headset market is the Voyager 510-USB which we recently told you about. Although I was unable to get my hands on the specific USB version, I did get the chance to test out the basic Plantronics Voyager 510 headset which gave me a good enough impression of the same hardware and made it pretty clear why a USB version was a sensible idea too.
The Voyager 510 offers a reasonably generous range of feature including a noise cancelling boom-mic, adjustable ear pieces, 6 hours talk time and a 10m range. It also uses multipoint technology to manage calls from multiple sources.
What's good?
Basic operation of the headset is really straightforward. Once you know what each of the 4 buttons does, there isn't really much more to worry about. Sound quality is also good; it's better than some older mobile phone speakers, if perhaps not quite matching up to more modern handset technologies, but you won't be disappointed.
While the review unit showed a couple of examples of a less than perfect built quality (there is some fraying around the edge of the mic cover and the power button is a little off-centre), it does have solid overall feel to it - you won't be too worried about chucking this headset in your pocket with your keys. It is also pretty comfy, easily adjustable to fit either ear and the boom-mic design means that most of it bulk can be kept hidden behind said ear - especially subtle if you have long hair.
What's bad?
One of the 510's advertised features is its ability to seamlessly switch between multiple Bluetooth devices, specifically including VoIP, and so I set out with my Bluetooth dongle to explore this possibility. In the end it took me a couple of hours to make this work - not due to any fault of Plantronics, nor especially the Bluetooth dongle's manufacturer, but because it seems that a recent Windows XP update has created a licensing issue when using older Bluetooth adaptors. Eventually I succeeded in making it work simultaneously with Skype and an ordinary mobile phone, although I was unable to make the unit's buttons control Skype at all.
It is therefore pretty clear now why Plantronics decided to release the USB version, which will make setting up a hell of a lot easier and will allow the buttons to control the likes of Skype.
Once it was all set up though, I have to say that I was impressed; the Voyager 510 handles calls coming in from multiple sources incredibly well but this does also have a knock on effect in that it does take a few seconds to connect to a call each time. This means you'll often end talking to thin air for a moment or two while everything starts up.
Do you need it?
The Plantronics Voyager 510 costs around £40, which puts it alongside a whole host of other similarly priced rivals from the likes of Jabra, Nokia, Sony Ericsson and Motorola. What you get for your outlay is, most importantly, a decent hard working gadget and one with a little more versatility than most. If you do want to capitalise on its multiple device handling capabilities, it might be worth hanging on for the 510-USB version. That said, if you are already pretty comfortable with your computer's Bluetooth abilities then you'll have an easier time of it if not quite being able to capitalise on the device's full potential when using VoIP. But, even if you never get round to using this feature, you won't be disappointed with the Voyager 510's overall performance.
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| Useful Links: |
Zoodex
, www.plantronics.co.co.uk |
| Features: |
WindSmart Noise-cancelling microphone
6 hours talk time, 100 hours standby
Weight: 17g
Bluetooth 1.2
Range: 10m
Multipoint technology
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| Verdict: | 
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