I’m not sure if this animal exists, but I am looking for a wireless (hopefully noise-cancelling) headset to connect with a Windows laptop – but not with Bluetooth. One of my clients is doing more meetings with audio in Teams, and I’d rather participate with a wireless headset so I can walk around while talking. They lockdown their computers though to prevent Bluetooth connections for security reasons. I could use a solution that relies on a USB dongle or base station (non-Bluetooth).
Yes, I know this is a Windows request, but headsets are headsets so I figured the friendly (!) crew here might have some ideas.
I do a fair bit of video conferencing and I’ve settled on a couple of pairs of the Logitech H600 headset. It doesn’t do noise cancellation but it’s light, inexpensive, sounds good, and (most importantly) people can hear me.
I tried the (supposed to be better) H800 but the mic is terrible on those. The best that I’ve ever used was a Plantronics headset that doesn’t seem to be available anymore.
Since MS Teams is hosted by Microsoft, there is a possibility that you could access the meetings via the Teams app for iOS. This might also be restricted by policy, of course, but maybe something to investigate?
Working within the confines of a policy can be extremely limiting at times. I find it sad that we need to cripple our technology in the name of security.
That looks like a good and reasonably priced option. Would work similar to the wireless mice connected to USB-A that the company already supports. Thanks!
It was said they lock down Bluetooth for security, not all wireless. I think we should assume the positive that this has been OKed by the people who are able to do so rather than presuming the worst
This suggestion is Bluetooth based, but might still be acceptable:
The Airfly plugs into the headphone jack on your computer and then your Bluetooth headphones connect to the Airfly rather than the computer - as far as the computer is concerned it has wired headphones connected. So no dongles (Bluetooth or otherwise) that might not play nicely with your computer, or which might need drivers installing. And it’s no more of an attack vector than a regular pair of wired headphones.
I have similar needs (Windows, open plan office, Skype calls, wish for noise cancelling headset, wireless so I can grab coffee while working at home) and I was really excited about a new Logitech Zone Wireless Plus headset which was announced earlier this year and seems to have come out now: here’s the comparison page - https://www.logitech.com/en-us/product/bluetooth-headset-zone-wireless?crid=36#section-product-hero
At work I have a Windows notebook that has Bluetooth but if I use it with any of the Bluetooth headsets I own, apparently I sound like I’m in a tin can orbiting Mars. My airpods work as headphones with this notebook but I can’t get the microphone to work. I’m done fiddling around with this, and if I ever got any Bluetooth headset to work I don’t have any confidence that it would continue to work indefinitely.
I have Logitech Bluetooth / Unifying mice that if used with Bluetooth have issues on Windows but with the Unifying receiver, work fine. So I use the mice with Bluetooth on my Mac and Unifying receiver on the Windows notebook. The Unifying receiver is so tiny that you can leave it plugged in permanently. I also have a Logitech multi device Bluetooth / Unifying keyboard at home, which I use via Bluetooth for my Mac and via Unifying receiver for the Windows notebook.
The Unifying receiver just works on Windows, usually right out of the box without even using the Logitech Options software. You do have to use Logitech Options to set one receiver to work with several devices. If you program the receiver on one machine it works with others. I do this on Windows for Linux machines. So if you’re not allowed to download Logitech Options to your work machine, you could program the receiver elsewhere.
My hope is that this Logitech headset would work as well as the mice with the Unifying receiver on Windows and I could connect it with my Mac via Bluetooth. The receiver is a bit bigger for the headset as it has audio functionality as well as mouse and keyboard. Does anyone have experience with this headset?
This might not be workplace-professional in all places of work, but I started using gaming headsets. The sound is much better, and the microphones tend to be better as well. Steelseries makes many options, some of which are wireless with a receiver dongle. Since they’re over the ear, while they’re not noise-cancelling, they are noise-blocking and I’ve been quite happy with sound isolation. The range on the wireless dongle is also very good. I have an Arctis 7.
They also function well as headphones if you need to be sound-isolated at work via music or background noise tracks.
This sounds like a great suggestion. Does the Arctis 7 wireless dongle require a driver installed on the laptop? Or does it just work when it’s plugged in?
Thanks!
Katie
(I bought one of the other recommendations, but on the ears they were very scratchy and had poor build quality. So the gaming headset idea is intriguing.)
There is a driver app. But I was using them for a year before installing it. I can’t remember why I ended up installing it. I think it’s because I was always having to manually switch audio settings to use them and was hoping that the app would allow me to set up a trigger for it with Keyboard Maestro (no dice). I ended up buying a USB adapter hardware switch to turn the dongle on and off (my Mac automatically switches to them when it sees they are there).
My Arctis 7 arrived today. I plugged the dongle into my client laptop, turned on the headset, and it just worked. Out of the box with zero configuration. I’ve already been on Teams calls for 3 hours since I got the Arctis. The quality is very good.
