The Poly Voyager Focus 2 is unified communication enabled, on-ear, stereo headphone with a boom mic. It also has three digital ‘hybrid’ active noise cancelling levels for office or work from home use.
Bluetooth or USB works equally well with a Windows, Android, macOS, or iOS – computer, tablet or smartphone. There is even a PSTN phone connect option.
And as we expect from Poly, there are many in-built smarts and options. For example, auto call answering when you put them on, mute alert and even a boom mic that automatically swaps left and right stereo channels so you can wear it on either side.
I have come to expect a lot from Poly in terms of audio and build quality, and these certainly live up to that. They sound great, callers can hear me loud and clear, and they are keepers.
They are surprisingly light at 175g and, being on-ear, are comfortable and cool to wear.
The contradictory term is noise-cancelling. There is little passive noise isolation as you get with over-the-ear headphones or in-ear canal earphones but they are surprisingly effective. More on that later.
And it is a perfect accompaniment to any Poly Studio camera.
The Poly Voyager Focus 2 is BT 5.1 and allows two devices (multi-point, PC and smartphone) to swap between two BT hosts simultaneously. It remembers the last eight devices.
But there is an anomaly that you need to know. Using the PC’s BT, you won’t necessarily see the Poly Voyager Focus 2 in the Poly Lens App. That means you don’t have access to any features or firmware updates. To get around this, the Poly BT700 USB-A dongle (included) works flawlessly and provides far cleaner audio. It is OK to use BT for a multi-point smartphone connection.
BT supports hands-free headset mode and stereo music mode – the device will select the right one. The Codec is SBC.
Poly claims a 50m distance for the headset to a PC or if you use the Office Base up to 90m. We tested at 30 metres, and it was crystal clear with no dropouts.
If you use the micro-USB connection, is it seen as a stereo 2.0, 16-bit, 48kHz DVD quality headset. This is interesting as BT SBC is a lower resolution – the USB sound signature is slightly brighter.
Pretty damned good with enough bass, clear voice and treble to satisfy.
While the two frequency response graphs (BT top and USB bottom) are pretty good, the micro-USB connection gives a brighter, cleaner voice response and does not dip from 8-10kHz (which impacts sound directionality).
Regardless both connection types give a neutral sound signature meaning what you hear is close to the original. You can read more about sound and our test tracks – How to tell if you have good music (sound signature is the key
The app is comprehensive and offers several interesting features, including your choice of language for the voice prompts. Many are for Unified comms customisation.
Sidetone integrates your voice in the audio headset sound stream for more natural speaking. You can adjust this in the app.
Unfortunately it doe snot work on Android and iOS which is disappointing.
Press the red button or flip up the boom mic to mute. A mute reminder reminds you that the mic is off if you talk.
Poly Voyager Focus 2 uses Hybrid ANC microphones both inside and outside the ear cup to monitor what the user hears and the background noise. You can select low/high/off.
It is not as effective as Bose or Sony premium headphones that will mask a jet engine, but it is perfect for office use and overcomes clacky keyboard and office chatter.
Because this is not a traditional headset, music listening time is not relevant. Poly claims between 16-25 hours talk time and 24/40 hours ANC on/off.
The charge time is around 2 hours. I find the Charger cradle the best way to charge – and it acts as a stand as well.
It supports OK Google or Siri via touch controls. It also has the usual touch controls for volume, tracks etc.
Callers were impressed, probably because the Mic boom array has two voice mics, two ANC mics (one on each cup), and two internal mics. You can mute by pressing the red button or flipping the boom up.
We wore it for an 8-hour day during the test, and it was comfortable and cool. The stretch headband is fine using rubber instead of elastic.
I have been using them for a week now. Callers comment that my voice is clear and loud. I love the convenience of the charging stand, and despite the USB providing slightly better sound, I use the BT700 adapter for flexibility of movement.
The surprise is the excellent neutral sound signature that makes listening to music a pleasure. Add the auto switch to voice when a call comes in, and you can see why these are so pop[ular for call centres and WFH.
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