First time poster so let me know if I’m missing any details.
Crooze is doing a 15% sale (site wide) that ends tomorrow 5 March at 3:30pm (Eastern Time).
Retail price of headset is $319 and this deal brings it down to $271.15.
They also offer $10 off if you subscribe but don’t know if this stacks with 15% as I didn’t purchase this (I already own a pair of the Shokz OpenComm 2 UC).
Note: They have the USB-A variant too. The link provided links to the USB-C variant.
I’m assuming for gaming you don’t require precise location of sound (like hearing where footsteps are).
If that’s the case, give on-ear headphones a try. I tried the Jabra Evolve 40 once (got it for work and it’s wired) and they’re lightweight and on-ear. Very comfortable to wear and I ended up using it more than my wireless gaming headset. It’s the lightweight, comfort, and how it doesn’t heat my ears up, all this just made the experience better.
But those were terrible for FPS games where I needed to know where enemies are (like Counter-Strike).
So give those on-ears a try. Just have to find ones that doesn’t clamp too hard. The Jabra Evolve 40 are wired but there are wireless versions as well as newer gen ones (Evolve2).
I have the version without the dongle. The button on the left sometimes vibrates and makes an annoying noise. On the non UC version the volume up and down doesn't work when using it for video calls on Windows.
The headset is decent overall, it is nice that my ears don't get as sweaty. The volume could be louder. If there's any major noise it is impossible to hear anything.
Maybe it's a defective unit, the one where the button on the left vibrates?
For the UC vs non-UC, the headset itself are both the same, the only difference is the dongle, so if you get the non-UC version, you don't get the dongle. You can still buy the dongle separately which will make it UC.
Without the dongle I guess the connection will be a standard bluetooth connection, and it shouldn't have issues with volume buttons. At least when I pair mine with my MacBook Air via bluetooth, I have no issues.
So currently mine is paired with MacBook Air via bluetooth, and paired to my Mac mini via the dongle provided. It connects to both at the same time.
The volume buttons work when playing music but have you tried on a video call?
Only tested on macOS and have no issues with adjusting volume using the buttons during a call (I'm using Teams macOS app).
I have the OC2. A few insights…
Worth noting -
- I would not bother with the dongle. Have one and don't use it. Works fine without it. Multipoint is a PITA so manually connecting if there's an issue is fine okay for me.
- the Epos Impact 1000 was on my list for it's equally amazing background noise cancellation. Opted for the Shokz for the open ear design which allows uninterrupted use across home, car, cafe. Would opt for the Epos if you work in a noisy environment or call while commuting (specially public transport).
Yea totally agree with the noisy env. Tried it at a cafe once and nope… didn’t work well.
But other than a noisy env, in general I’ve been very happy with it. Not just because it’s open ear but it’s also very lightweight and minimal.
One other note, based on my experience, is when you smile or laugh, it pushes the contact point further away from my bone (or more ‘flesh’ is now between headset and bone… whatever it is) so I lose a bit of volume 😆 quite annoying but maybe that’s just for me.
Same experience re it slipping and needing frequent repositioning. Have accepted this as the price of an awesome mic. Coffee shop work (my fav type) is a breeze. Haven't had a single complaint about call quality.
I wonder if ear plugs would work if needed to use these in noisy environments. I never given that a try.
@YeboMate: 🤣🤣. Yes they work. My mate, who was the trigger for me getting a pair, used a pair of the squishy plugs from Chemist Warehouse. Worked a treat. I'm… minimalist 🤣. Hate carrying extra stuff around… so am putting up with the inconvenience of finger in ear occasionally.
@OrderedChaos: Yea same but I do have this little tube container that is attached to my keychain. It currently holds Flare Calmers but I could easily add in some ear plugs 😄
What head sets have you used to qualify it has the best microphone in the market? What other models do you consider to be in the market?
Researched this quite a bit for background noise cancellation and mic. The OC2 (own), Epos 1000 (work colleague owns), and Sony WM5's (head to head YouTube reviews) are top notch. Rtngs.com sound clips and results suggested that the Soundcore Liberty Pro 3's (own) were also great. They sucked wrt background noise cancellation - unusable, but rock wrt audio - better than the Momentum TW4 (own) imo.
thanks and much appreciated for providing the context.
The models/brands I was on the lookout for were the Jabra Evolve2 range and Plantronics. The rtings website isn't so easy to use to cross reference the noise isolation and recording quality to find a balance between the two, as its common for isolation to be prioritised over quality or vice versa but finding that balance IMHO results in the best call experience.
Would be interesting to see where these headsets rank on there in terms of noise isolation once they're tested
@peter05: The higher end Jabra Evolve2 stuff with dual ears are amazing.
But unless you have a corporate account or means for discount… Prepare for $500+ lol.
Still trying to convince work to buy me an Evolve 85 I think it is.
It's like $750 RRP haha
I would buy this for gaming purpose if there wasn't a latency as I don't like to use big headset for long time. Hopefully in future SHOKZ uses better wifi connectivity.