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We’ve combined wireless and USB headsets into this one guide and have new picks for wired headsets.
Office headsets meet a very specific need: You want to take or make calls from your computer, and you want to hear and be heard over the distracting noise that surrounds you (whether that noise comes from a busy office full of coworkers or a home office full of kids and pets). Wireless headsets can connect to your phone and allow you to talk even when you’re dozens of feet away from your desk. Less expensive wired headsets eliminate battery-life concerns and stress over potential Bluetooth issues. After testing 15 headsets for over four months, we think the Jabra Evolve2 65 is the best wireless headset and the Jabra Evolve2 30 is the best wired headset. Both offer the sound quality, comfort, and noise cancelling that professionals who spend all day on the phone want.
With a battery that lasts for days, great microphone quality, and large, comfortably padded ear cups, this headset has all the features we look for in a wireless headset.
*At the time of publishing, the price was $240.
The Jabra Evolve2 65 is easy to connect wirelessly to a computer or phone, and it offers the best range and longest battery life (37 hours) of the headsets we tested, thanks to its Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity. This headset will make you sound great, too: In our blind tests, panelists praised the Evolve2 65 for vocal clarity. When this headset was compared against the other models, one expert ranked the overall sound from the microphone as the best, and the other experts ranked it as the second best overall. The memory-foam ear cushions create a soft seal around the ears that passively blocks background noise and makes the headset pleasant to wear for hours-long stints. However, the Evolve2 65 doesn’t offer active noise cancellation (ANC), which can help reduce low-frequency noises, like the drone of an air conditioner and the whir of a paper shredder (for that, consider the Jabra Evolve 75 instead).
In addition to active noise cancellation (ANC), this headset has the best microphone of any wireless option we’ve tested. But it has less than half the battery life of our top pick and costs a bit more.
*At the time of publishing, the price was $217.
If you prefer a headset with active noise cancellation to drown out as much background noise as possible, the Jabra Evolve 75 is the one to get. For the second time in three years, panelists ranked it the highest for voice quality, calling it “extremely clear” and the best of the lot “without exception.” The ANC technology comes with a higher price, however. And although the Evolve 75 is comfortable to wear for hours, its 17-hour battery life means you’ll be charging it twice as often as the Evolve2 65.
If you’re at a computer all day and don’t need to use a headset with your phone, the Jabra Evolve2 30 offers a similar microphone quality to that of our wireless picks—for less than half the price.
*At the time of publishing, the price was $100.
Of all the wired headsets we’ve tested, the Jabra Evolve2 30 offers the best mix of great audio quality (both input and output) and lightweight comfort. Compared with less expensive options, the Evolve2 30 did a better job in our tests of suppressing background noise while still capturing clear, warm vocals. The controls on the right ear cup are on the small side, but it’s not hard to get used to them.
The Logitech Zone Wired has handy in-line volume and call controls on its sturdy cord, and it’s great at noise cancellation. But this one weighs more than our other corded headset picks.
*At the time of publishing, the price was $93.
If the Jabra Evolve2 30 is sold out, or you prefer in-line volume and call controls to on-ear buttons, look to the similarly priced Logitech Zone Wired. Both headsets provide similar microphone quality and noise cancellation (though we prefer the slightly warmer and less-compressed audio produced by the Evolve2 30 and the Evolve2 40). The in-line controls on the high-quality braided cord are the Zone Wired headset’s best feature; they make it easier than the Evolve2 30 to adjust the volume, mute or unmute, and answer or reject calls. You can also mute or unmute by moving the microphone boom. We found the headset and its thickly padded ear cups comfortable to wear. But the Evolve2 30 is also the heaviest of our corded headset picks.
This is the best-sounding wired headset we’ve tested, with large, comfortable ear pads.
*At the time of publishing, the price was $131.
The vocal recordings we made with the Jabra Evolve2 40 were the best of the bunch: clear and natural-sounding, even when there was loud background noise. Its headband padding is thicker than both the Jabra Evolve2 30’s and the Logitech Zone Wired’s. And the foam ear pads are larger; these make the Evolve 40 a bit heavier than the Evolve2 30 (though lighter than the Logitech Zone Wired), yet they’re still comfortable. In addition to using the on-ear buttons, you can mute or unmute the headset by lowering or raising the mic boom. Although the Evolve2 40 costs a bit more than our other wired headset picks, it is still around $100 cheaper (at the time of writing) than the best-sounding wireless headset.
The BlueParrott M300-XT is the best Bluetooth headset for hands-free calling because of its excellent mics and battery life.
With a battery that lasts for days, great microphone quality, and large, comfortably padded ear cups, this headset has all the features we look for in a wireless headset.
*At the time of publishing, the price was $240.
In addition to active noise cancellation (ANC), this headset has the best microphone of any wireless option we’ve tested. But it has less than half the battery life of our top pick and costs a bit more.
*At the time of publishing, the price was $217.
If you’re at a computer all day and don’t need to use a headset with your phone, the Jabra Evolve2 30 offers a similar microphone quality to that of our wireless picks—for less than half the price.
*At the time of publishing, the price was $100.
The Logitech Zone Wired has handy in-line volume and call controls on its sturdy cord, and it’s great at noise cancellation. But this one weighs more than our other corded headset picks.
*At the time of publishing, the price was $93.
This is the best-sounding wired headset we’ve tested, with large, comfortable ear pads.
*At the time of publishing, the price was $131.
For more than a dozen years, Wirecutter staff writer Melanie Pinola has written about technology and home-office topics for sites such as Lifehacker, PCWorld, and Laptop Magazine. For more than five years, she’s tested and reviewed gear at Wirecutter, including home-office essentials such as webcams, USB microphones, and office chairs. She has sat through enough calls and video conferences to understand the importance of being able to easily find the mute button and not having the battery die when you’re in mid-sentence.
To help devise our criteria for evaluating office headsets, we consulted nine professionals from different industries who use headsets all day, every day, for meetings with their teams, customers, and potential clients. To help evaluate the mic quality of the headsets, we enlisted expert panelists, including Wirecutter senior staff writer Lauren Dragan (who has tested more than 1,000 headphones) and Grammy-winning music producer/audio engineer Charles A. Martinez.
Let’s get this out of the way: An office headset is a compromise. It won’t sound better than the best headphones, which are designed to deliver the highest-quality audio. And it won’t make you sound nearly as good as the best USB microphone can. If you talk on the phone or over video-conferencing software only occasionally, you don’t need these; pretty much any good pair of headphones with a microphone—or even your computer’s or phone’s built-in speakers and mic—should suffice. In this case, you don’t need to buy a dedicated office headset.
But if you frequently take calls for work on your computer or smartphone, a dedicated wireless or wired headset has one big advantage compared with other options: higher-quality audio, even when you wander away from your desk (our wired headset picks have cords that are over 5 feet long, and our wireless picks let you talk even several rooms away from your device). That’s because, unlike a laptop mic, a headset’s microphone typically sits at the end of a boom next to your mouth, where it can pick up your voice most clearly and suppress background noise going into the mic.
Headsets with boom mics significantly outperform earbuds and regular headphones with built-in mics in accurately capturing speech, as well. Every headset we tested, for example, did better in our speech-to-text dictation tests than our pick for best noise-cancelling headphones, the Bose 700. So if you’re currently using a set of regular mic-equipped earbuds or headphones for daily calls with colleagues or clients, upgrading to a headset can provide a tangible improvement in how well you’re heard and understood by people on the other end of the line. Just keep in mind that these headsets are designed for phone calls, not professional audio production. The vocal recordings from all of the headsets we tested sounded noticeably compressed (the range between the softest and loudest sounds is lessened, making the voice sound flatter) compared with what you get using an external microphone (which is what you should get if you need to record audio for podcasts or similarly polished recordings).
These headsets are helpful if you want to block out background noise—whether it’s the drone of an air conditioner or family or co-workers chatting nearby—so you can better hear your caller. (Note, however, that even the best noise-cancelling headphones can’t block out all noises.)
At around $250 and up for a wireless office headset, or $100 for a wired one, this accessory is less expensive than buying a pair of premium headphones and an external microphone, but it’s still a significant purchase. We think it’s worth it only if you spend a large portion of your workday on calls.
If our picks are not available, don’t rush out and get just any headset. Instead, we recommend waiting and trying to get by with your regular headphones or earbuds that have a built-in microphone.
For wireless headsets in particular, you should also be willing to put up with Bluetooth quirks that can sometimes be frustrating. For example, depending on your office environment and gear, you might expect some hiccups when it comes to connecting and disconnecting devices. Sometimes a headset might auto-resume music after a call was received … and sometimes it might not. And (we learned this the hard way) swapping between a headset and the speakers on your computer or phone can sometimes unmute you during video conferences without your noticing. Bluetooth apparently works in mysterious ways: In testing, all of the headsets were glitchy when their Bluetooth dongles were connected to a USB hub at the same time as an external hard drive; disconnecting the hard drive solved that problem. USB headsets don’t have these issues, but they leave you tethered to your computer, and most don’t connect to smartphones.
Nonetheless, if you want to hear and be heard more clearly during calls, you’re in the right place.
Our picks offer the best combination of excellent call quality, comfort, and—in the case of wireless headsets—battery life. If they’re not available, don’t rush out and get just any headset. Instead, we recommend waiting and trying to get by with your regular headphones or earbuds that have a built-in microphone. (AirPods, for example, should be just fine for occasional mobile calls.) A wireless gaming headset could be another option, but these are tuned for immersive gaming audio (rather than voice communications) and are sometimes compatible only with PCs and gaming consoles. And they tend to be heavy and bulky, and feature bright, flashy colorways that would stand out too much in most office settings.
We started by looking at headsets released by major manufacturers since this guide was last updated, in 2019, and we read recommendations from sites including PCMag and ZDNet. The professionals we interviewed, as well as verified owner reviews on Amazon, helped us determine the main features people are looking for in a wireless headset for use in a home office or small office:
Those were the same features we considered for wired headsets (minus the battery life).
We also looked only at stereo headsets (those with two ear cups instead of one), since they can help block some outside noise even without active noise cancellation (ANC). Therefore we did not include Bluetooth earpieces, which sit in one ear and are designed to be more discreet, for people taking calls on the run. Most of the headsets we looked at also come with a microphone on a boom arm, to better capture your voice. And most have a headband, since many people find that style to be more comfortable than earbuds over long periods of time. We weren’t able to find many over-ear headsets (the kind with huge ear cups that rest on your skull, rather than on your ears), and those we did find, like the Jabra Evolve2 85, cost over $400.
Because connectivity is key, we decided to focus on Bluetooth wireless headsets rather than headsets that use DECT wireless technology. Although DECT (digital enhanced cordless telecommunications) has a wider range than Bluetooth, it can connect to only one other device—the base station that’s connected to a phone network, such as in a call center or a cordless phone system in your home. Bluetooth headsets, by contrast, can be paired with up to eight other devices (with two or three connected simultaneously).
After researching 20 wireless headsets, we decided to test seven: the Jabra Evolve2 65 (our current top pick), Evolve 75 (our current also-great pick), and Evolve2 85; the EPOS Adapt 360 (EPOS co-brands Sennheiser products), Adapt 560, and Adapt 660; and the Avantree AS90TA. Because wireless headsets are such a specialized product with unique engineering needs—combining microphones, speakers, and wireless connectivity in one package—there simply aren’t many good options to choose from. That puts them in stark contrast with Bluetooth headphones, a category for which we’ve considered more than 200 models, looking primarily for high-quality audio output.
Most wired office headsets have a USB connection, rather than a 3.5 mm jack. USB headsets use their own sound processing system, rather than relying on the computer’s sound card, which means they can add additional noise cancellation and other features that analog 3.5 mm jack headsets often can’t.
We researched 15 wired USB headsets and tested eight: the Jabra Evolve 40 (our previous top pick), Microsoft LifeChat LX-6000 (a previous budget pick), Logitech H390, Logitech H540, Epos Adapt 165T, Jabra Evolve2 30, Logitech Zone Wired, and Jabra Evolve2 40.
In our most recent round of testing, in late 2020 and early 2021, I tested wireless and wired headsets in separate batches. The methodology was the same for both groups: I tested each headset for at least one full workday (taking one- to two-hour breaks between stints). On the following days, I swapped between headsets for a side-by-side comparison. I spoke and listened during countless video-conferencing calls, called my family and friends, forced them to call me, and left an embarrassing number of voicemail messages to myself. I also recorded each headset in both a quiet environment and one where I had coffee-shop sounds playing in the background, using the Coffitivity app. In total, I tested these 15 models over the course of four months.
Here’s how we evaluated the most important headset features:
For wireless headsets, two other criteria were important:
Over the years, we’ve tested several dozen headset models from major manufacturers, including Jabra, Microsoft, EPOS, Poly, Sennheiser, and Logitech. Wirecutter doesn’t do sponsored content—companies can’t pay us to have their products reviewed or featured in our guides. And we make our picks independent of any affiliate compensation or business arrangements. (For additional info, read more about how we work.)
So how did we end up with all these picks from Jabra? As we do for all of our guides, we made our picks here based on extensive research, comparisons, and testing. In our latest rounds of testing, we found once again that panelists overwhelmingly preferred the Jabra headsets’ microphone output. After wearing these headsets for days at a time, we also found them to be superior in comfort and build quality.
Jabra makes some of our favorite headphones as well (so much so that our headphones expert Lauren Dragan wrote an ode to the Jabra Elite 75t earbuds). And the company is known for investing heavily in audio technology and comfort, so it’s somewhat unsurprising that it leads the pack in these areas.
With a battery that lasts for days, great microphone quality, and large, comfortably padded ear cups, this headset has all the features we look for in a wireless headset.
*At the time of publishing, the price was $240.
The Jabra Evolve2 65 is the best wireless headset for professionals who make calls day in and day out yet don’t want to sacrifice voice quality for battery life—or vice versa. Of the headsets we tested, its 37-hour battery life was the longest, and its microphone quality was second only to that of the Jabra Evolve 75. Combine that with large, comfortable ear cups that help muffle background noise, and the Evolve2 65 offers the best mix of features of all the wireless headsets in its price category.
Pairing the Evolve2 65 with my computer, phone, and tablet was easy (but note that the included USB-A or USB-C dongle is necessary for computer pairing). I was able to seamlessly switch between paired devices, and when a call came in on my phone, the headset automatically muted the music on the computer while I answered the call. And it instantly resumed the audio from the computer when I hung up. I liked being able to answer a call and mute or unmute just by moving the boom arm.
This headset is a newly redesigned version of the Evolve 65 (a previous pick), and one of its most significant upgrades is Bluetooth 5.0, which accounts for its extremely long battery life. The BT 5.0 standard forces all audio connections to use Bluetooth Low Energy (BTLE), which makes headphones using it far more efficient than those that use previous versions of Bluetooth.
To be honest, I got tired trying to drain the headset’s battery in real-life scenarios. Taking multiple 60- to 90-minute calls every day, playing audiobooks nonstop, and just leaving it on, neglected, for days at a time didn’t manage to bump its battery life from high down to medium. If the headset ever does tell you the battery is low, you can charge it for 15 minutes to get eight hours of call time, or for 90 minutes to get a full charge, while still using the headset over USB. Basically, the battery should outlast even the longest workday packed with calls, and in a pinch you can use the headset wired. For convenience, there’s also an optional charging stand.
The Jabra Evolve2 65’s call quality is excellent compared with that of its peers. It captured my voice clearly, and the people I spoke to said I sounded clear on their end as well. One of our test panelists noted that the Evolve2 65 produced less static and fewer popping noises than the other headsets, and another panelist said they liked the overall sound of the mic the best. However, the microphone did pick up background noise from my whirring air conditioner, whereas the Jabra Evolve 75 and the older Evolve 65 didn’t. This could be a distraction to others if they’re listening closely, and it reinforces the point that this headset and others like it are suitable only for voice calls, rather than professional recordings.
The Evolve2 65’s oval ear cups swivel at a wider angle than those of the other headsets—a design meant to comfortably fit different head shapes. Although I prefer over-the-ear headphones (which completely surround your ears, rather than resting on top of them), the large, padded ear cups felt pleasant even after a long day of testing. They sat gently on my ears, and because of the headset’s light weight, I barely noticed the pressure of the headband, which is also well padded.
The shape and size of the ear cups help minimize background noise, but they don’t eliminate it completely. This headset muffled my noisy printer and rendered the hum of my laptop hard drive barely noticeable, but I could still hear the loud clickety-clack of my mechanical keyboard, even when listening to music.
If you want to hear even more of the sounds around you (to keep an ear out for kids getting into trouble, for example), or if you find headbands uncomfortable because of the pressure on your skull, the Evolve2 65 comes in a mono version, with just one ear cup. There’s also a version certified for Microsoft Teams, which adds special features for that collaboration tool. But we didn’t test those variants.
When you turn on the headset, a voice tells you whether the battery life is high, medium, or low—not how many hours are remaining, as other headsets do. So it’s unclear how soon you’ll need to recharge. Because of the Evolve2 65’s long battery life and fast charging time, however, we think this will rarely pose a problem—especially if you create a routine of charging the headset every few days. You can also download Jabra’s Sound+ app on your phone to see the battery-life percentage and perform other tasks, such as locating your headset or changing the equalizer settings.
Bluetooth 5.0 has four times the wireless range—about 800 feet indoors—of previous Bluetooth versions. But in our tests, we couldn’t get that far from our devices without losing connection. All of the headsets’ wireless signals were weakened by my home’s thick plaster walls and multiple Wi-Fi devices, and calls started to drop out even 20 feet from my phone, down a hallway and a staircase. Your connection may also be limited by phones or computers that aren’t equipped to handle Bluetooth 5.0. My Mac laptop was only able to connect to headsets using Bluetooth 4.1, because that’s what its Bluetooth chip supports. Your mileage may vary depending on your setup, but this range should still be good enough to allow you to take calls and pace nearby.
If you do venture beyond the range of your computer or phone and the headset disconnects, you might experience issues trying to reconnect. In my tests, sometimes the headset did it automatically, and other times I had to remove and reinsert the USB dongle or turn the headset on and off. Ultimately, to avoid potential hassle it’s best to determine the working range in your environment and stay within that.
On a more nitpicky note: The volume-control buttons (up, down, and mute) on the Evolve2 65 are tiny and placed on the edge of the right ear cup. Other headsets make these controls more prominent and offer more buttons for pausing or skipping tracks on the side of the ear cup. That said, it should be easy for most people to get used to the Evolve2 65’s controls.
Finally, the Evolve2 65’s all-black design—except for the red “on call” light that pops up when the mic boom is lowered and you’re unmuted—won’t turn any heads. In an office or home office environment, however, that’s just fine (and perhaps even desirable).
In addition to active noise cancellation (ANC), this headset has the best microphone of any wireless option we’ve tested. But it has less than half the battery life of our top pick and costs a bit more.
*At the time of publishing, the price was $217.
The Jabra Evolve 75 was our previous top pick, and it’s still a great wireless headset, especially for people who really want active noise cancellation (ANC). In addition to its excellent noise isolation, it was ranked the best for microphone quality by all of the panelists this year and in previous rounds of testing. The battery lasts for about two full workdays of talking and listening, which is plenty for many people. But it needs to be recharged more often than the Jabra Evolve2 65, which has a comparably huge weeklong battery life. And because of the lightweight, soft padding on the ear cups and the headband, this headset is comfortable to use all day.
As it was with the Evolve2 65, setting up the Evolve 75 was a breeze, and so was pairing it with my computer and mobile devices. In testing it had a similar wireless range as the Evolve2 65, even though it’s running the older-spec Bluetooth 4.2 (rated for up to 100 feet), and it performed just as well with seamlessly switching between devices.
The Evolve 75’s active noise cancellation (ANC) could be helpful if you tend to get distracted by the sounds of the world around you, as long as “eardrum suck” (pain from using active-noise-cancelling headphones) doesn’t affect you. ANC helps reduce low-frequency sounds like loud air conditioners or the droning noise in an airplane cabin. It won’t, however, block out high-pitched screams or the bright ring of a doorbell, which we think is a good thing. The headset also has a sound pass-through button, so you can better hear the noises around you when the situation demands it. The ANC technology, however, means the Evolve 75 costs a bit more than headsets without it.
The Evolve 75 stands out most for its voice clarity. In our voice-to-text dictation test, it had a 98.8% accuracy rating, compared with the Evolve2 65’s 97.0% rating (the same accuracy we got from the MacBook Pro’s built-in mic). For typical phone calls and video-conferencing calls, the Evolve 75 should make you sound clearer than your device’s built-in microphone, since the boom arm has a noise-cancelling uni-directional ECM microphone. That means the mic picks up the most sound coming into it from one direction, your mouth, rather than all the noises in the room.
Where this headset falls short compared with the Evolve2 65 is its battery life. It’s rated for 17 hours for music listening and 18 hours for talk time—half that of the Evolve2 65. And the Evolve 75 takes two hours to get a full charge; the Evolve2 65 can get a full charge in 90 minutes.
If you’re at a computer all day and don’t need to use a headset with your phone, the Jabra Evolve2 30 offers a similar microphone quality to that of our wireless picks—for less than half the price.
*At the time of publishing, the price was $100.
The Jabra Evolve2 30 is the best USB headset for people who take a lot of calls at their computer. It combines excellent mic quality with wear-all-day comfort, and the headphones sound great with both music and voice. This headset is an upgrade to our previous pick, the Jabra Evolve 40. And it is vastly better than all the cheaper wired headsets we tested because it does a better job of reducing background noise while still making you sound clear and natural.
Compared with the Jabra Evolve2 65, our wireless pick, the Evolve2 30 did a better job of cancelling background noise, with the tradeoff of making my voice sound a bit more compressed. Comfort-wise, both headsets are pretty much identical.
The Evolve2 30 was the second-best wired headset in our sound-quality evaluations, after the Evolve2 40, our wired upgrade pick. The two microphones in the Evolve2 30’s mic boom picked up crystal-clear audio without broadcasting ambient noise or loud coffee-shop sounds playing in the background. Less expensive wired headsets, such as the Logitech H540 or the Microsoft Lifechat LX-6000 (a former budget pick), couldn’t eliminate background noise and made my voice sound more muffled. With the Evolve2 30, music, conference calls, and podcasts all sounded good as well—not tinny or distorted like with the cheaper headsets we tested.
The Evolve2 30 headset was also the most comfortable of the wired models we tested, thanks to its lightweight construction and design. The wide, steel headband is easily adjustable, and the memory-foam ear pads are covered in soft, plush leatherette (not scratchy fabric or thinner foam, like the ear pads on many of the other headsets we tested). The ear cups also swivel, allowing for a better fit for people with different ear and head sizes and shapes.
We appreciated the large, easy-to-find button on the outside of the right ear cup that answers or rejects calls (or, for the Microsoft Teams version of the headset, opens a Microsoft Teams notification). An unobtrusive red light on the right ear cup lets others know when you’re on a call, and the headset’s USB connector lights up red to show when your microphone is muted. Both are small but helpful touches unique to Jabra’s wired headsets.
The Evolve2 30 is also available in a mono (one ear cup) design, and both the mono and stereo versions can be found with USB-A or USB-C cords.
When recording with loud background noise, the Evolve2 30 compressed my voice a bit more than we would’ve liked. However, this is an issue for all headsets (and microphones) that try to reduce background noise. And the Evolve2 30 still captured voice accurately without making us sound overprocessed, as cheaper headsets tend to do.
The buttons to mute/unmute, play/pause, and control volume are on the right ear cup, and they’re tiny, so they take some getting used to. They’re well spaced, however, and the mute button is at the front of the ear cup, separate from the volume and play buttons at the rear. So there’s less chance you’ll accidentally mute or unmute yourself when you mean to press the other buttons.
The Logitech Zone Wired has handy in-line volume and call controls on its sturdy cord, and it’s great at noise cancellation. But this one weighs more than our other corded headset picks.
*At the time of publishing, the price was $93.
If you’d prefer in-line controls over on-ear buttons because they’re easier to reach and see, the Logitech Zone Wired offers excellent audio quality and background-noise reduction, similar to the Evolve2 30. The Zone Wired is heavier, however, and a little less elegantly built. And in our testing, its microphone didn’t capture voices with quite the same rich, warm tone.
Like the Evolve2 30’s, the Zone Wired’s call quality is vastly better than that of cheaper headsets, thanks to the two microphones built into its boom. It captured our voice clearly and more loudly than the other wired and wireless headsets we tested—a boon for people who are soft-spoken. But those who have a louder natural speaking voice might need to adjust the input volume in their computer’s sound settings. The Zone Wired’s mics isolated vocals as well as or even slightly better than the Evolve2 30’s, so keyboard clicks in the background were more subtle. We preferred the recordings done on the Evolve2 30, however, because they sounded a bit more natural and accurate (less obviously smoothed) than those from the Zone Wired.
Incoming audio also sounded great on the Zone Wired—it was crisp and clear, unlike what we got from cheaper headsets, though some very fine details in audio recordings were harder to hear than with our other picks. For example, in the surround-sound recording that mimics a barber shop (video), we didn’t hear some of the faint footsteps or whispering that the Jabras captured. Still, we wouldn’t hesitate to use this headset both for calls and for listening to music or podcasts.
The Zone Wired is noticeably heavier than our other picks: It weighs 7.4 ounces, compared with the Evolve2 30’s 4.4 ounces and the Evolve2 40’s 6.6 ounces. A difference of 1 to 3 ounces might not sound like a lot, but it can make a difference if you want to wear the headset all day—3 ounces is the equivalent of 30 pennies or three AAA batteries. Also, the ear cups on the Zone Wired don’t swivel the way those on the Jabras do, and the headband doesn’t slide as smoothly when you’re adjusting the size. And the wires connecting the headband to the ear cups give the headset an odd, Frankenstein-ish look. That said, we found this headset comfortable to wear: The headband didn’t pinch, and the soft, padded ear cups are large and felt comfortable for over an hour at a time.
The in-line controls for the Zone Wired are simple to use, with clear markings for answering or rejecting calls, muting or unmuting, and playing or pausing. The rocker buttons on the side for controlling the volume are also easy to access, though they are a bit small. The controls are located on a thick braided cord that’s less prone to tangling than rubbery alternatives, and there’s a lapel clip to keep the controls close at hand. You can also mute or unmute yourself by raising or lowering the mic boom, a handy feature the Evolve2 30 doesn’t have but the Evolve2 40 does.
The headset has a USB-C connection but comes with a USB-A adapter.
This is the best-sounding wired headset we’ve tested, with large, comfortable ear pads.
*At the time of publishing, the price was $131.
In terms of microphone and speaker quality, the Jabra Evolve2 40 performed better than the other wired headsets we tested. And like the Logitech Zone Wired (yet unlike the cheaper Evolve2 30), the Evolve2 40 also offers the convenient ability to mute or unmute yourself with the mic boom. The larger ear cups and headband make the Evolve2 40 heavier than the Evolve2 30, but we found that it’s still comfortable to wear for hours at a time.
The Evolve2 40 has three microphones (compared with two in the Evolve2 30 and in the Zone Wired), which might explain the Evolve2 40’s slightly better performance. Our vocal recordings were crisp, clear, and warm—even when cancelling out loud background noise. The difference in audio quality among the three headsets might not be readily apparent to most people if they’re not actively looking for it. But we slightly preferred the way the Evolve2 40 rendered my voice, compared with the others. Incoming audio also sounds excellent, with both bass and treble notes shining through in songs.
This headset is much more substantial-feeling than the Evolve2 30 and the Zone Wired, with significantly thicker headband padding and larger ear cups. The ear cups on the Evolve2 30 are about the size of a lemon, whereas the Evolve2 40’s are closer in size to a beefsteak tomato. This makes the Evolve2 40 better at passive noise cancellation and potentially a more comfortable fit for people with larger-than-average ears. And unlike those of our other wired headset picks, the Evolve2 40’s ear pads can be replaced.
Even though it’s not as lightweight as the Evolve2 30, the Evolve2 40 is remarkably comfortable. One person who tried the headset actually preferred it to the others, perhaps because the larger ear cups rested on the edges of their ears, rather than closer to the center. Indeed, the Evolve2 40 ear cups are the largest among the on-ear headsets we’ve tested.
The controls on the Evolve2 40 are identical to the Evolve2 30’s, with small buttons on the edge of the right ear cup to control volume, playback, and muting, as well as a larger button on the ear cup to answer or end calls (or to open a Microsoft Teams notification, with the Teams-designed version of the headset). In addition, the Evolve2 40’s mic boom can be lowered to unmute or raised to mute yourself during calls, which we found to be very useful in practice.
As with the Evolve2 30, you can get the Evolve2 40 with a USB-A or USB-C connection, and there’s a mono version as well.
The Logitech H540 is about a third of the price of the Jabra Evolve2 30, and it was the best of the wired headsets we tested for under $50. However, we don’t recommend it unless you absolutely need a cheap headset and don’t already own any other alternatives, such as a pair of earbuds or headphones with a mic. The microphone conveys voices clearly but also captures a lot of room noise; it made us sound like we were in an air tunnel. There’s no indicator to show if you’re muted or not, and the cheap-looking, shiny plastic doesn’t seem like it will last long. On the plus side, the headset is more comfortable to wear than our previous budget wired headset pick, the Microsoft LifeChat LX-6000. But we still think it’s best to save up for a better-quality headset that will last for years.
The Jabra Evolve2 85 costs about $200 more (at this writing) than the Evolve2 65. For that premium, you get active noise cancellation and 10 built-in microphones (versus the Evolve2 65’s three mics and the Evolve 75’s four mics). This over-ear headset is very comfortable, but we found in our testing that the added mics didn’t boost voice quality enough to justify the price increase.
The Avantree AS90TA has an unusual detachable microphone boom, comes with a charging stand, and doesn’t require a USB dongle to connect to your computer. Avantree also says the headset can calibrate the audio according to your hearing profile, based on a hearing test you take in its app. However, the mic boom is flimsy, and this headset was the worst of all the models we tested at suppressing background noise.
We had problems with all three of the EPOS Adapt wireless headsets we tested. The Adapt 360 has a tight clamp, which is good for passive noise cancellation, but after half an hour it can feel like a vise on your head. We also heard some static when listening to music. Similarly, the Adapt 560’s audio quality was poor, rendering voices echoey and tinny during video calls. Our recordings on the Adapt 660 exhibited a robotic tin-can sound, which we believe is comb filtering (video), an effect produced when different mics pick up sound out of sync with one another. These issues might be fixable through firmware updates, but when we tested these models, EPOS’s update software was available only for Windows. We’ll consider retesting with the updated firmware in our next round of testing wireless headsets.
The Jabra Evolve 65 is about $40 less (at the time of writing) than the Evolve2 65. Apart from the name and the passive noise cancellation, that’s where the comparison stops. The Evolve 65 has an unpadded headband, smaller ear cups, a shorter battery life, and poorer voice quality than our picks.
The Plantronics Voyager 8200 UC is the most comfortable headset we tested. Although it is heavier than the other headsets, its large, over-ear ear cups felt incredibly soft. We also liked the headset’s volume and playback controls and the different levels of active noise cancellation. Unfortunately, the headset ranked dead last in microphone quality, probably because it doesn’t have a boom arm. Panelists said the vocals sounded “blobby,” “muddy,” and difficult to follow—basically “unusable.”
The Logitech Zone Wireless Headset has advanced features like Qi wireless charging and the ability to connect a computer, smartphone, and tablet simultaneously. If you use other Logitech wireless products, one USB-A receiver can connect up to six of them. However, it ranked at the bottom of the list for voice quality and suffered from random disconnects, which makes us fear using it for critical calls.
We tested the Plantronics Voyager 4220 against the Jabra Evolve 75 in early 2019 and found that the microphone quality was comparable, but the headset was a little less comfortable to wear. The speaker quality is also a little bit worse than that of the Evolve 75 and 65, particularly in the higher end—female vocals might sound a little distorted and grainy.
The Plantronics Voyager Focus UC was a previous top pick in this guide, largely because it was easier to use than the other models we tested, its headphones have active noise cancellation, and it includes a dock for charging. But in our 2018 tests, the Focus UC’s microphone performed remarkably poorly compared with those of our new picks, and the Bluetooth connection was a bit more finicky than we would have liked, especially when we tried to connect two devices to it at the same time.
In our testing, the VXi BlueParrott S450-XT lasted at least a full workday (as both our top pick and runner-up in the previous guide did). But it earned the lowest scores across the board in our tests of outgoing audio quality and was also the bulkiest and heaviest headset we tested.
The Jabra Evolve 40 was our previous wired headset pick, and it still has great microphone and speaker quality. However, the Evolve2 30 headset has noticeably better background noise cancellation. The Evolve 40’s in-line control is a golf-ball-sized round disk meant to sit on your desk. Although it’s easy to use, we preferred the Logitech Zone Wired’s smaller controller.
The Microsoft LifeChat LX-6000, our previous budget headset pick, has tiny ear cups and a tight headband, which made it uncomfortable to wear for even a 30-minute call. The microphone also glitched on occasion during our testing.
The Logitech H390, another budget option, has an even tighter clamp than the LifeChat LX-6000, and our vocal recordings were plagued with static and volume issues.
The EPOS Adapt 165T is a decent headset: It’s lightweight and comfortable to wear, and our voices came through clearly. However, background noise came through louder with this headset than with our picks. And the build quality felt a little less premium compared with that of the others, with the headset sometimes sliding around on our heads (depending on who was wearing it).
Melanie Pinola previously covered all things home office as a senior staff writer at Wirecutter. She has contributed to print and online publications such as The New York Times, Lifehacker, and PCWorld, specializing in tech, productivity, and lifestyle/family topics. She’s thrilled when those topics intersect—and when she gets to write about them in her PJs.
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