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Plantronics BackBeat PRO Wireless Headphones USD $141.88 / AUD $185 Delivered from Amazon

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Saw a big price drop on this item. USD $129.95 (save $120.04) + $11.93 postage to Australia = ~AUD $185 delivered. Cheapest so far according to Camel x3. Cheapest on staticICE is $240+ and also a grey import.

Here's the summary:

  • NOISE-CANCELING HEADPHONES: Block out background noise while working, relaxing, and traveling with on-demand active noise canceling technology.
  • MULTIPLE DEVICE SYNC TECHNOLOGY: Listen to a movie on your tablet and quickly answer the call on your smartphone; these headphones are compatible with all smart devices including iPhone, iPad, and Droid devices.
  • HIGH QUALITY AUDIO: Rich and lifelike audio delivering rich bass, crisp high, and natural midtones through extremely comfortable headphones.
  • LONG LASTING BATTERY LIFE: The Plantronics technology offers up to 24 hours of listening while providing 330 feet of Bluetooth range.
  • COMFORT: Perfect travel and in-flight headphones include pillow soft earcups to provide lasting comfort while canceling and isolating background noise.
Price History at C CamelCamelCamel.

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closed Comments

  • +3

    Great price. NC not as good as Bose (but really, is any NC as good as Bose?). But fully featured, excellent BT range, and the only reason I sold mine was because it was a bit tight for me noggin. Also a bit hefty weight wise but wasn't an issue for me.

    • for me, too loose i want more grips - probably because i have small-ish head. bit heavy when you hold but not heavy when you wear. battery last forever

    • To be fair, the NC on Bose is only on the Wired headphones. This is wireless / BT..

  • +1

    Prolly the best bluetooth headphones on the market, love my pair. I got a small split in the earpiece part, I emailed them, 3 days later a brand new headset was in my letterbox.

    Great customer service and awesome pair of phones, great price here too!

      • +2

        Obvious thing is no noise canceling on the Bose. Not sure if the Bose will have multi device connection, but if you want to compare features this plantronics should blow it out of the water quite easily.

        • Yep, noticed no NC on Bose. But what about the sound quality?

          And the weight diff from the spec is quite diff, Bose only 150g while Plantronics is 350g.

    • They are very good indeed and are an absolute bargain at this price, but the best on the market? C'mon. Perhaps, if you've only compared them with Bose.

    • -1

      the best bluetooth headphones on the market

      The apparent lack of Bluetooth APTX makes that hard to believe for me …

      • +2

        They have APTX. My phone tells me every time I turn them on :-)

        • Oh cool, couldn't see it on the Amazon description.

        • @Diji1: what is this?

      • Sorry, I should have been a bit clearer, for the price these are the best I've listening to. I'm sure there are better phones out there in the $400+ range, but for $200, I haven't tested anything that sounded better within ~$100.

  • +1

    I can also backup these comments - had mine for a couple of years - very good cans with great features and amazing battery life + BT range. Great price!

  • +1

    Bought some while on the hunt for a pair for travelling. Best headphones I've owned by far, prefer them to my QC25 as once you go wireless you don't go back.

  • the only thing can improve probably lighter and better modern design and colours. black is soooo very boring

    • What colour you want, white or pink?

      • Rose gold (tm)

      • anything but black. black = death = sorrow

  • can someone comment on sound quality? music vs movies vs gaming vs mic quality?

  • better sound quality than meelectronics air matrix2?

    • I don't think the air matrix 2 have active noise cancellation. Still maybe a good option tho!

      • i have the air matrix 2, just looking if this is an upgrade or not.

        • No idea about whether it would be an upgrade, though I imagine that these would be if you were intending to use them in an noisy environment. Very very rare to get a recognised name brand of headphones with active noise cancellation and bluetooth at this price point.

  • +2

    Thanks OP. Just bought three sets! One for the lady, and one for a friend, and one for meeeeeee!

  • Just want something for comfortable long phone calls, is this the way to go? Or are these primarily for music?

    • These will be more then fine for phone calls as Plantronics have been making phone headsets for call centres long before music via bluetooth was a thing. However, it may be an overkill just for that, and you might be able to find something cheaper and lighter.

      • Any recommendations for headsets?

        • There's literally hundreds of products that will do the job.
          I currently use a Sony SBH80 (paid $100+ on eBay last year; it's also great for music) in-ear headphones at home, and for work I use a Jabra Stealth mono earpiece that I got for a great price (under $50) over a year ago. I can recommend both but they're not the only choices around by any means.

  • Am i missing something? Shipping is showing 13.27 USD = 17.86 aud rather than 11.93 USD?
    Or did Amazon smeakily increase the shipping costs just then?

    • I got the same thing.. Mine is a total of $192.81

      • So, this is what my cart looked like:

        Order Summary
        Item(s) Subtotal: $129.95
        Shipping & Handling: $13.27
        Total before tax: $143.22
        Estimated tax to be collected: $0.00
        Grand Total: $143.22

        If I convert the USD to AUD in the Googles, it comes to "184.32 Australian Dollar"

        Converting using Amazon's built-in money exchange-o-matic comes to $192 AUD, so I'm paying in USD.

        I figure I'm paying a 3% international transfer fee regardless of the two, so I'll use USD. I will see what rate the bank uses.

        This will be an interesting experiment.

        • +1

          Pay in usd using 28 degree credit card might be better

        • @eisniwre:

          Already purchased with my regular card - but it seems like a pretty great deal! I like the price protection.

          I'll have to look into it - I assume the 28 Degree card's been discussed to death in the OZB Forums?

          Couldn't find (at a glance) what conversion rate they used…

        • New Info!

          My bank charged me 184.56 Australian for the 143.22 USD amount that the headphones cost.
          They also charged me a $5.54 conversion fee

          I couldn't find anything else in my online statement.

          Also the headphones were expected to be delivered on the 9th of May according to the Amazon email, but they arrived today, 28th of April. I got them 9 days after ordering them. Kudos to Amazon!

          As far as the headphones go, the Active Noise Cancelling does a good job on background hums - like traffic and office air conditioning. I can still hear people's voices, but it's unclear what they're saying. It doesn't make everything around you silent, but it definitely does something.

          They're reasonably comfy for me, though a workmate found them uncomfortable - I guess it depends on your head (sorry, that doesn't really help anyone).

          My ears didn't get too sweaty or hot, and I've been wearing them for most of the day.

          You can use them to make calls - e.g. Skype, or on your phone.

          Can be connected to multiple devices at once - So, I'm listening to music on the computer, but when a phone call comes through on my phone, it'll punch it through. Pretty good.

          Sound quality is fine - many, many, many times better than my old bluetooth Meelectronics AF52. Bass can be bloated if you've got some music that's really rumbling that bottom end, and the headphones seem bass prominent in general. A little detail is lost right in that bottom end because it's too busy being big and loud. Switching on Active Noise Cancelling changes the sound signature somewhat - I'm undecided as yet if I like it more, or less. Soundstage seems fine.

          However, I feel the sound quality is not any near as good as some corded headphones that I own that I got for under $80. I guess that's the sacrifice (for some reason - does anyone know why? Is it cost?)

          Best feature is definitely the auto-off / auto-on when you take them off of your head, and the very long battery life and bluetooth range.

          If you're after just sound quality, $190 Australian should be put towards some nice corded headphones.

          For me, the fact that there's some noise cancelling, wireless and the on/off feature and the fact that they're a headset for your PC/Phone make these a really great headphone to use in the office, which is what they're for.

          Came with a 3.5mm cord to use with iPhone (not fully Android compatible cable, but that's nothing new in the headphone world, right guys?) and a USB micro-cord to charge with / connect to computer for firmware updates. Also came with a fancy soft-on-the-inside bag.

          Pretty happy with it, I have to say. We'll see how it survives life.

  • +2

    Bought these a while ago and has two defective units in a row. The left earcup makes a buzzing noise when ANC was on in between songs and when it was silent. A number of people had the same problem too.

    • has your issue been resolved? thanks for posting your comment

      • +1

        No it hasn't so I went with a refund instead. It's a shame that I couldn't get a working one because it's such good value and has a bunch of features.

        The next tier up which I've been considering is the sennheiser momentum wireless and definitive technology symphony 1 but they're more than double the price.

        • +1

          You may want to add B&O H7, Sony MDR-1ABT and the new Sony h.ear on Wireless NC (aka mMDR-100ABN) to your list.

          The Sony's, in particular, are the only wireless headphones in the world that support hi-res audio (with a compatible Xperia phone or Walkman DAP). Somebody on head-fi preferred the h.ear on to the Momentum 2.0 and thought it sounded similar to the Symphony One. And that was without hi-res, which I would expect would sound much better.

          I use the MDR-1ABT with a Sony Z5C and the acoustic hi-res material (including DSD) sounds incredible.

        • @elektron: The B&O H7 does not have ANC unfortunately and while the H8 does, it is on-ear.

          Sony MDR-1ABT - I tried the MDR10 at JB and wasn't impressed. I didn't think think the MDR1 would be that much better. I might get it if it comes down in price though.

          The Sony h.ear on Wireless NC look pretty neat and ticks all the boxes but I can't find any impressions of them yet.

    • How long did they responding your issue?
      Do we need to send back the defective one?
      Can imagine it will be a long process

  • +1

    What's the weight of these headphones?

    • -3

      3kg

    • +1

      The BackBeat Pro combines Plantronics' Bluetooth stereo smarts with noise cancellation, twin device pairing and a fairly massive battery life to create a compelling headphone offering. Weighing in at 340 grams, the headphones are heavy on the scales, but feel significantly lighter on the head.

      • That's a bit heavy for a bluetooth headphones. I've got another brand weight about 245g and I still find it a bit heavy.

        I might buy this instead and no need to worry about the weight issue.
        https://www.sony.com.au/product/mdr-ex750bt/sku/mdrex750btbm…

        A$299 or wait for their half price sale.

        Or buy it from Amazon for US$198 + shipping
        http://www.amazon.com/Sony-Wireless-Headphone-Yellow-MDREX75…

        • +3

          The Sony headphones you have provided links for are completely different to these, so of course they will be lighter.
          They don't have active noise cancellation and they are "in the ear" ear buds.
          Please try and compare apples with apples!

  • thar is good

  • OK two features of this can that likely you never see before:
    * auto pause and resume when you take out and return to your head!
    * pass through mic button so you can hear your surroundings without taking out the headphone off your head

      • pass through mic button so you can hear your surroundings without taking out the headphone off your head

      So it has noise cancelling as well as noise enhancing?

      • spot on. amazing, right? first can with this feature i think.

    • +1

      I have seen these two features on parrot zik. Pretty useful features both.

  • Found the answer, disregard.

  • +1

    This deal is ok, but how much are the usually? a quick search online found these from Australia for $234.44 including postage - http://www.mobilezap.com.au/58902-plantronics-backbeat-pro-w…

    Just saying, you could probably score them from an Australian store for a similar price. Good luck claiming a warranty from a store in USA.

    • returns or replacements from Amazon is actually really easy if Amazon ships to your country.

      Officeworks sells this headphone for $348 for comparison
      http://www.officeworks.com.au/shop/officeworks/p/plantronics…

    • -2

      hi, do you think officework will price match this?

      Cheers

      • No.

        • damn! it'll be good if they can price match this.

          Thanks!

    • Says out of stock?

      (The ones from mobilezap)

  • +1

    please, use http://smile.amazon.com/ if possible.

    • +1

      Thanks for this, just signed up and ordered a pair.

  • My shipping costs were higher too. Bought them anyway. The main reason I bought them is that they support the aptx low-latency codec (and I'm really hoping I got that right). That means that if you use a compatible transmission device, latency is down to 30-40msec. That's important if you're using the headphones when watching tv. At that latency level there shouldn't be any lip-sync issues. I'm also hoping that if television speakers are on, I don't get that annoying echo effect. This is all because I have a hearing loss and I want to watch along with other members of the family and actually understand the dialogue.

    • Hi AlbyDuck,

      Could you tell me why do you think it works for the TV. I would like to connect this headphone to my Samsung UHD TV, however I could not find in their specs mentioned about TV connection. The reason I am concern because I intended to buy a bluetooth headphone from Phillips and when I read their FAQ, it claimed that its headphone is not connected to TV or it can cause the lip sync problem.
      Regards

      Pearl2015

      • Hi pearl2015,

        Google Avantree Saturn Pro. That's what I'm using. You plug it into a headphone jack or audio out on your tv using an adapter (supplied) and pair it with your Bluetooth headphones. It works ok with the headphones I've got now, but there is a slight delay (latency) in the sound which can be disconcerting when the speakers are also on.

        The Saturn Pro supports the aptx low-latency codec which is also supported (I believe) by the BackBeat PRO headphones. This should mean that you won't notice any delay in the sound. I'll find out for sure when I get my headphones!

        Maybe some newer tvs support Bluetooth natively. Mine doesn't. I need a separate transmission device (the Saturn Pro).

        • Thanks AlbyDuck. You confirm my research after asking you about this lip sync/latency issue when watching video on TV. I found out the MEE product offering similar functions to Avantree, however more expensive. MEE got Toslink connection as well although I am not sure whether it will improve the sound dellay
          When you got headphone please tell the results. I planed to watch Netfilx or Stan.
          Cheers

        • +1

          @pearl2015: Hi pearl2015. I got mine yesterday and I'm happy with them. They pair with my low-latency Bluetooth transmitter and there is no lip-sync issue. Isolation is pretty good. If the TV's speakers are on reasonably loudly you are aware of them, mainly because there's some echo in the room. Even so, a good solution for me. Sound quality is very good to my ears and I find them pretty comfortable even though my ears are a little big for them. They stick out from the head a bit, so you will be noticed in public- if that bothers you. If you have any questions let me know.

        • @AlbyDuck:

          I got mine last week and I too am very happy with them. They're quite large but I find them very comfortable. My ears are ever so slightly larger than the inside of the cushions but they are still very comfortable and isolation is good. The noise cancelling is very good for things like train noise, not great for conversation and the like but this is the case for all NC. I find the audio quality to be exceptional and the bluetooth pairing is trouble free and reliable, with the vocal note about the battery charge remaining when turning on a handy touch. It's nice to have a bluetooth device where you can move a fair distance from the device you are streaming from without issue. Overall I'm super happy with them, especially for the price.

  • +1

    I'm confused about the general consensus about the sound from these headphones - good or bad?

    The Wirecutter reviewed this headphone in its "Noise Cancelling" article, where they thought the noise cancelling wasn't great, and the sound quality wasn't that great either.

    These headphones never made it to the "Over ear wireless headphone" article either, the winners of which were the Jabra Move headphones, which are available for under $100 every now and then. The Plantronics cost more than double.

    I don't care about noise cancelling (though it would be a nice bonus) but I do care about sound quality over bluetooth - has anyone heard both of these headphones to be able to give me a comparison? The divergence of opinion about sound quality is doing my head in, and I can't find an article that includes a direct shootout between the Plantronics BackBeat Pro and Jabra Move.

    I currently have the MeElectronics AF52, and am disappointed by the sound quality but happy with the battery life of it.

    Looking to upgrade.

    Anyone have an opinion about these?

    • +3

      Jabra Move are OK for the price but they wouldn't be an upgrade from your AF52.

      If you want an upgrade, the Backbeat Pros are great value at this price. Otherwise, consider the following options in no particular order - all of these are at least 2-3 times the price of the Plantronics:

      • Sennheiser Momentum 2.0 Wireless AEBT
      • Definitive Technology Symphony One
      • Bang & Olufsen H7 or H8
      • Sony MDR-1ABT or the newly released MDR-100ABN (aka H.ear On Wireless NC)
      • Philips M2BT

      The two Sony's above are the only ones that support high resolution audio over bluetooth with an LDAC compatible source (Xperia Z3+ or higher, or a recent Walkman DAP).

      • Thanks for the reply!

        Yeah, I think it's a bit crazy that I have to double the price to go better than the Backbeat Pros. However, I'm surprised about what you said about the Jabras not being an upgrade over the AF52s - the AF52s haven't reviewed very well, and I find them really, really muddy. People seem to love the Jabras. Anyway, I wished I had gotten the AF62s at the time instead, which are apparently a fair amount better.

        Oh well. I think I might grab the deal.

        • Sorry, I got confused by the MeElectronics model numbers - you're right the AF62 is the flagship (not the AF52) and is actually pretty good. So yes, it would be more of an upgrade for you.

        • @elektron: I have the af62, but I ordered this as well since it rates higher in sound quality and has noise cancelling. So we'll see which is better. Might have to sell my af62 if the plantronics is better overall!

        • @gembel: My guess is that the Plantronics will be better overall in SQ but the feature set is probably the most comprehensive on the market - e.g. pausing the track when you take them off, pressing a button to hear the outside world etc.

        • @gembel: PM me if you end up selling the AF62s :) Can't quite justify the cost of a new pair given I don't have a great need, but 2nd hand. Perhaps.

  • Just wondering. I was looking for a good bt headphone with a good microphone as well, but looks like thats a holy grail? Or you buy a headset single earpiece or one of these special gaming headphones which are mostly wired. Best I could find which actively promotes having a good microphone were the new LG BT headphones (HBS-910) (http://www.lg.com/us/bluetooth-headsets-headphones/lg-HBS-91…) but these LG ones are not really available in Australia. Any hints if this is a good microphone as well?

    • +3

      Its hard to say which ones are better because the LGBT headphones are all about equality

      • I see what you did there :-)

  • Does anyone know if these will work on a PS4? From what I found searching online I don't think they do. The newer + version says it does but they cost a fair bit more. Thanks guys.

  • Price has moved up to 139 now

  • I got mine yesterday and I really like them. There's one thing I don't quite get. You can pair two devices at the one time but I can't find any way of switching between those two devices. It seems to be used for answering a phone call when you're listening to music on another device. Anyone know if there's a way of switching between devices whenever you want?

    • I think you have to manually stop, and start again on the other device

      The Support Site says that you can't interrupt one stream with another, however:
      http://www.plantronics.com/au/support/kb/detail.jsp?vfurl=/a…

      I've only been using it to receive calls from my phone whilst connected to my PC for audio.

      I'll explore a little more and see if I can find a good way.

      • I finally found something. From https://www.whistleout.com.au/MobilePhones/Reviews/BackBeat-…

        To switch between paired devices, pause playback using either the headset or the device itself and just start the next device playing anything that uses sound. If you run both devices at once it’ll only give you the sound of the first one that started playing, but pausing to switch between two makes for easy train journeys if you’re a tablet-user, or is great if you have it synced to your computer at work but like to listen to tunes from your phone on the way in.

        Personally, I would have preferred a simple toggle on the phone. Anyway… this is my new favourite thing.

        • This isn't working as expected for me on a computer/phone basis:

          • Turn on headphones, Computer connected as "Phone 2", Nexus 5 as "Phone 1".
          • Play sound on computer, comes through on headphones.
          • Pause computer, play on Phone. Phone sound comes through headphones.
          • Pause on Phone, play on computer. No audio comes through to headphones on computer. Phone audio will play if headphone's "play" button pressed.

          So, basically, I can change sources once.

          What's your experience? I'm on OS X 10.11.4 for reference

        • @Droz: I've got an htc one m7 as 'phone 1' and a bluetooth transmitter (Saturn Pro) as 'phone 2'. I can't pause the transmitter. Testing your scenario is a problem because I can only turn it on or off, so when I come to unpausing the audio from the phone the phone is the only device paired. With that said, the switching mostly works as expected. If I leave the phone playing in the 'background' audio comes on when I turn the transmitter off. And vice versa. I've done the sequence multiple times. The issue with me comes when I turn on the transmitter. The audio output from the phone starts stuttering badly, presumably as the transmitter is pairing. It corrects itself when I pause then unpause the music. My sister-in-law is visiting and she's got a Mac notebook. I'll see if I can prise it off her some time to test.

          Ok, some time later… instead of turning off the transmitter I just tried turning off the tv. So at this point there's no audio going through the transmitter. The transmitter did not relinquish the headphones.

          So, is pausing audio on a smartphone different from just turning off some sound source? Does the phone 'tell' the device to which it is connected that audio is paused? That might explain things? I don't really know this stuff!

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