Best BT Headphones For Both Office And Private Use (2022)
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Statistics show that at least 16 percent of American workers will switch from professional offices to working at home at least two days per week due to COVID- 19.
Normal office headphones are good for phone calls but often not so good for music and noise canceling.
Is it possible to get both? It turns out that yes, that’s possible.
Several headphone manufacturers have a background in office products, and they have made more job-focused variants of their regular consumer headphones.
All in all, the Jabra Evolve2 85 are the ones who solve the task of merging work and private use in the best way and thus run away with the victory. They have good sound, excellent call quality, top battery life, and can be adapted in most areas.
This article will look at Bluetooth headphones that work excellent both in the office and in private.
READ MORE: Top 10 Best Bluetooth Headphones with Noise Cancelling (2022)
These are the headphones I have tested
| Image | Product | Features | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
Best Overall  |
| Check Price | |
Best Noise Cancelling Headphones  |
| Check Price | |
Good for the office – not as good otherwise  |
| Check Price | |
All over a decent headphone  |
| Check Price | |
A very good On-Ear Headset  |
| Check Price |
READ MORE: Are Apple Airpods Max Comfortable? (Solved!) Full review!
How the headphones are selected
My perspective this time has been to look at these headphones from the point of view of a regular home office worker.
The purpose has been to find headphones that work just as well in the home office as in private. For example, I have not considered the possibilities for the IT department to conduct centralized administration purchases of the headphones, as might be desired in large companies.
What I have tested is not the best office headphones, but the best headphones for both work and leisure, focusing on phone calls, music quality, and noise-canceling.
What characterizes these headphones
With these, you usually get a small USB stick that you can connect to your PC so that you have the opportunity to be connected to both a mobile and a PC / Mac at the same time.
This is more reliable than if both parts had been done with Bluetooth, as they also can.
Some are also “certified for Microsoft Teams”, which means that they should work with Teams immediately when you connect them. They also often have a dedicated Teams button on the headphones.
Even non-certified headphones will most likely work great, but with this brand, you get some extra assurances if Teams is your company’s preferred solution.
As usual, I have assessed both sound quality and active noise canceling but focused more on speech quality than usual.
I brought the headphones to several types of surroundings to experience an office and noisy environments outdoors.
I have also tested how well the headphones switch between devices, which is an element I know many people are concerned about.
For example, does the music playback on the phone stop every time you receive a notification on Slack on your PC? And what happens if your phone rings while you are sitting with your headphones on in a Zoom meeting on your PC? I have tried to find out such things.
Active noise canceling has been a criterion in the selection. The headphones must come with a USB dongle, and if they have a microphone boom, they must be retractable so that the headphones can also be used in your free time.
In addition to the selected models, I have also included the Sony WH-1000XM4 as a reference since it is my first choice for regular Bluetooth headphones at the moment.
1. Jabra Evolve2 85
Best overall
“Choose these if: you want good sound, good noise cancellation, and excellent speech quality.”
Reasons to buy
- Very good speech quality with the microphone folded out
- Engaging and rich sound
- Foldable, practical case
- Good active noise canceling
- Very good battery life
- Handles multiple connected devices well
- Can also be used for conversations with the microphone recessed
Things to think about
- Slightly more mushy call quality with the microphone recessed
- Not as good noise canceling as Sony and Apple
- Maybe not so elegant with the call-center-microphone when walking on the street
- Mute your video calls if the phone rings at the same time
- No Aptx support
Call Quality
The call quality with the microphone folded out is the best among the headphones I have tested, whether I’m indoors or outdoors.
The Jabra evoked an “oi!” from the other party when I was out on a busy road with cars driving past just a few meters away. The headphones reduce the surrounding noise compellingly, while our voice is well preserved.
Inside the office, the Jabra admittedly allows a little more ambient noise than some of the competitors do, but at the same time, it also makes the voice appear sharper.
The Evolve2 85 can also be used for conversations even with the microphone recessed, although the result is less convincing.
They do not reduce the surrounding noise as well, and the voice appears a bit muddier. But it is nice to have the opportunity.
If you have problems with people often disturbing you while talking on the phone, the Jabra has built-in busy lights automatically activated in a conversation. This works even if you are on the phone or in Google Meet or similar.
Fortunately, you can also choose to turn it off if you wish.
Sound Quality
The sound quality is solid. I don’t have the 85h on hand to compare directly, but the Evolve2 85 sounds almost identical from what I can hear.
This means a well-balanced and quite rich sound without any major disadvantages.
The treble is reasonably well-resolved without being spectacular in any way. This is a sound quality I would have been happy to walk around within everyday life.
Although, there is a small minus that the Aptx codec is not supported. This can present certain challenges with the synchronization of audio and video on Android devices.
Battery Life
The battery life is otherwise excellent, with 37 hours when listening to music and 24 hours in a call.
The Jabra charges with USB-C or in the included charging dock.
If I should point out a small disturbance, it may be that the microphone boom does not seem to be very solid. If you are using it carelessly, it might break.
Active Noise Cancelling
These headphones do have active noise canceling without completely matching the very best, such as Sony WH-1000XM4 and Apple Airpods Max.
Especially the lowest hum in a plane is clearer with the Jabra than with a couple of the others. But they are good at the office and for outdoor noise. So the result is still not bad.
If you are working in an open office, I think you will see the Jabra as an improvement from most other things if you don’t possess the Sony WH-1000XM4 or Apple Airpods Max already.
Design
In terms of design, the Evolve2 85 are probably not the most exciting headphones, but they manage the art of integrating a fold-out microphone in a way that makes them nicely usable both in the office/home office and out on the street.
Other features
Elite 85h has received criticism for poor PC compatibility, but Evolve2 solves this with the included dongle.
I also think they handle the switch between devices in a good way. Although, you have to find yourself being muted in video or voice calls when using the PC if the phone rings at the same time.
Final Verdict
All in all, I still think the Jabra Evolve2 are the ones who solve the task of merging work and private use in the best way and thus run away with the victory.
They have good sound, excellent call quality, top battery life, and can be adapted in most areas.
2. Cisco 730 Wireless
A Very Good On-Ear Headset
“Choose these if: you want a good pair of headphones that works for both work and leisure.”
Reasons to buy
- Reasonably good sound in Cinema mode
- Supports both AAC, Aptx and Aptx HD
- Excellent call quality, even in noisy environments
- Decent battery life
- Easy to control
- Good handling of several devices at the same time
Things to think about
- The on-ear shape provides nothing for free when it comes to noise reduction
- Sits a little loose on the head
- Mutes video calls while the phone is ringing
- Quite expensive
The first impression of the Cisco headphones was not the best. The sound didn’t feel quite right and with an on-ear shape that doesn’t exactly invite top-class noise-canceling.
However, these have grown on me during the test period, mainly because Cisco offers excellent call quality in a fairly discreet and compact format.
Call Quality
The 730 has no fold-out microphone, as the Jabra has, but rather a small extension on the earbuds that point down towards the mouth. The result is excellent.
The Ciscos reduce ambient noise better than the other, especially indoors. This makes it very comfortable for the other party to have a conversation with us.
It seems that the Jabra reproduces my voice a little sharper than what Cisco does, but the Ciscos are impressively good. With the microphone further away from the mouth, they are better than what Jabra can do without the microphone unfolded.
They behave reasonably similarly when it comes to switching between devices.
This means that they mostly do exactly as they should, but that your microphone is muted when in video calls on the PC if the phone rings simultaneously. Not a big minus, but still worth noting.
Sound Quality
As mentioned, the sound is not the best with the default settings, but the Cinema setting in the Cisco app both opens up the sound image considerably and sharpens the treble. When using this setting, I think the result is actually quite good.
The bass is firm, and the whole thing is both engaging and quite well-resolved and detailed. Being on-ear, this is actually working very well.
Battery Life
The battery life is okay, and I like that they state the remaining talk time in the number of hours when you turn them on.
You can expect to listen to music for 25 hours or talk to your best friend for 20 hours before the battery runs out.
These numbers will, of course, differ depending on what volume you are using, etc.
Active Noise Cancelling
A minus with being an on-ear headset is, of course, that they do not insulate against the outside world very well. They will both leak a lot of sounds, and the noise attenuation does not get any free, passive attenuation.
The active noise reduction here is not much behind the others in the test, perhaps with the exception of Sony, but the overall is still not as good since they do not enclose the ear.
Design
The fit is also a little loose, in my opinion, and falls off easily if you lean forward. They are otherwise light and comfortable to wear, and it’s good padding over your head.
Other features
A plus is that they support both AAC and Aptx / Aptx HD, the latter being the only ones in the test.
The pacifiers on the right earpiece work well, and a nice case is included. It’s also a nice feature that Cisco has added a small department to the USB dongle.
Final Verdict
All in all, I would say that this is a good pair of headphones for both work and leisure. But I can’t stop thinking about what they could do if they had the over-ear format.
3. Sennheiser EPOS Adapt 660 MS
Good for the office – a little less good otherwise
“Choose these if: you want light and comfortable headphones with good noise canceling and are only talking in quiet environments.”
Reasons to buy
- Solid sound quality: Balanced and well-resolved
- Supports both AAC and Aptx
- Good speech quality when it is quiet around you
- Relatively good noise reduction
- Foldable, case included
- Good battery life
- Perhaps the best handling of incoming calls if you are already in a video call on another device
- Low weight and high comfort
Things to think about
- Media noise on the phone is interrupted by any notification on the PC
- Slight attenuation of ambient noise – not comfortable for the other party
- Must be twisted to unscrew them
- Slightly low maximum volume when used with dongle
Sennheiser has placed its office and gaming products under the Danish sub-brand Epos, and the Adapt 660 is, in practice, the more office-oriented version of the Sennheiser PXC 550-II.
Call Quality
The speech quality is very good, but only as long as you are in quiet surroundings.
Sennheiser is not reducing the sounds around you well enough, and it isn’t easy to understand what I say when a lot is happening around.
This makes both noisy office premises and urban environments a problem for the Adapt 660. It is simply not a particularly good experience to sit at the other end.
The adapt kit is one of the few that retains the microphone sound in a video call while the phone rings.
They also have the best solution with the ringtone itself. It’s only a discreet “vibration” that does not drown out what you already listen to.
At the same time, these are also the only headphones that apparently prioritize media sound. This means that any notification from the PC will break in and pause the sound from, for example, Spotify or Youtube on the mobile.
That isn’t very pleasant, especially since the music does not start again afterward, as it does at Plantronics.
The solution will, of course, be to turn off the sound notifications, but that is not ideal either. The associated app has no option to change this, which is a shame.
Sound Quality
Like the PXC 550-II, the sound is great. Sennheiser delivers a balanced, well-resolved, airy, and nice sound that is solid throughout without being spectacular in any way.
Others probably deliver more engaging sound, but the Adapt 660 is a little more sober and correct in appearance.
Battery Life
The battery life is stated to last up to 30 hours which is excellent, but it feels old-fashioned to use micro-USB for charging.
Active Noise Cancelling
The noise reduction is claimed to have become “adaptive”, which means that they will eventually learn how to reduce the noise as best as possible.
And with that said, I think they do relatively well with noise canceling. I would put Epos set among the absolute best in this field, only beaten by Sony.
Design
Except for the Epos logo on the side and the fact that it comes with a USB dongle for connecting to the PC, there’s not much that separates this model from the PXC 550, including the fact that they have no on-button.
Instead, you twist them out to turn them on, which is a slightly strange solution without any clear benefits.
An advantage, however, is that the Adapt 660 are very light headphones, which can mostly be translated directly to high comfort.
They have soft pillows around the ears and more than enough padding over the head. This is very good.
They may squeeze a little in the beginning when using glasses, but this will be better as the headband loosens a little after using them for a while.
The including case is also the same as for the PXC 550-II and is compact and nice, but quite simple. I would maybe expect a more high-end case since the headphones cost as much as these do.
Final Verdict
In summary, there is a lot to like with the Epos Adapt 660, but they fail at the most important thing, namely to ensure unproblematic phone calls.
4. Plantronics (Poly) Voyager 8200 UC
All over a decent headphone
“Choose these if: you want cheaper priced headphones with decent sound quality and okay conversation quality.”
Reasons to buy
- Full-bodied and good sound
- Smart scroll wheel for volume adjustment
- Mutes a lot of ambient noise during conversations
- Supports Aptx
- Mostly good handling of several sources at the same time
Things to think about
- You must enter the app to activate HD voice
- Weak noise canceling
- Muffles in excess a lot when it is noisy around you, the voice becomes slightly mushy
- Only cloth bag, not case. Not collapsible
- Micro-USB for charging
- Mute your audio in video calls if it rings on your mobile
Call Quality
The call quality in the headphones from Plantronics (or Poly) immediately struck me as under any criticism.
Eventually, it turned out that they had worse conditions than the rest to work with.
Plantronics has chosen to deactivate wideband connections to mobile phones by default. This means that you get a much more compressed audio stream than the rest and reduces sound quality.
It got significantly better with wideband enabled (you can enable it in the PLT Hub app). Even in somewhat noisy environments, the Voyager headphones appear reasonably good, only a small notch behind the best, which I mean is Jabra.
They decrease quite a lot of the ambient noise, and it’s comfortable for the other party to listen to you.
But if it gets really noisy around you, the algorithm becomes so eager that even your voice can disappear a little.
The Plantronics headphones, like the Epos headphones, pause music on your phone if you get a Slack message or other notification on your PC, but at least they start the music again after a break.
If the break had been a little shorter, this would have been the optimal solution, but as it is now, it’s just so long that it becomes a little annoying.
As a notice, the microphone is also muted here when in video calls if the phone rings.
Sound Quality
The Voyager 8200 is, in practice, the more office-oriented version of the Plantronics Backbeat Pro 2, and that is noticeable.
They have a good sound quality that appears full-bodied, bass-heavy, and engaging, but at the same time quite open and airy. Lack of AAC support is admittedly a certain minus.
Battery Life
Battery life is 24 hours of music time and 20 hours in a call. This is somewhat behind the best but will be more than enough for a day at the office.
They use micro USB, which feels a bit old-fashioned, although it’s more understandable here than with Epos since these were launched a couple of years ago.
Active Noise Cancelling
The noise reduction, on the other hand, is not much to brag about.
Voyager is the headphones in this test that reduces the ambient sounds the least. I didn’t hear much difference between the noise-canceling activated or not.
They are probably better at attenuating typical office noise than they are on planes, but I would probably not buy these for the sake of noise canceling.
Since noise-canceling doesn’t work very well, the various noise reduction settings feel somewhat pointless.
Design
The Voyager 8200 can be turned inwards, but they can not be folded further together, so they are not as easy as some of the competitors to bring with you. For storage, they come with a cloth bag only and no hard case. That’s a pity.
Final Verdict
There’s not much wrong with the Plantronics Voyager 8200 UC, but they don’t excel positively in any particular direction.
The sound is good, the call quality is approved, but the noise reduction is quite weak and they may not win any design price either.
However, you will probably be happy to choose these.
5. Sony WH-1000XM4
Best noise-canceling headphones
“Choose these if: You want the most powerful noise canceling and headphones that work in all areas.”
Reasons to buy
- Market-leading noise cancelling
- Engaging, rich sound
- Low weight and high comfort
- Good battery life, fast charging
- Multipoint bluetooth
Things to think about
- Call quality could be better
- No Aptx support
In general terms, the Sony WH-1000XM4 is my favorite when focusing on sound quality and noise-canceling.
You can READ MORE about my thoughts of these headphones here: Top 10 Best Bluetooth Headphones with Noise Cancelling (2022)
But to combine the use at the office and private, the Sony headphones are dethroned.
The reason for this is all related to the call quality. The microphone quality is excellent, but the noise reduction fails in noisy environments. It’s quite annoying for the other party to listen to everything happening around you than what you are actually saying.
Final Verdict
The Sony WH-1000XM4 is very good in relation to the sound quality and noise-canceling, but if you want to actively use them in calls at the office, I would probably pick something else, like Jabra.
Espen
Espen is the Director of ProPairing and has written extensively about Bluetooth devices for years. He is a consumer product expert and has personally tested Bluetooth devices for the last decade.
