Clever Plantronics BT Headset Knows When You’re Wearing It

The new Voyager Bluetooth headset comes into Aussie stores with smart sensor technology that cleverly senses when it is or isn’t hooked onto your ear.
Plantronics’ earlier headset release topped the Bluetooth list by sitting at the bottom for weight, weighing in at a miniscule seven grams. It was slim and sexy, but lacked the full functionality of top-tier headsets like noise cancellation.

Welcome the Voyager Pro HD – the latest refresh of Plantronics’ business-level Bluetooth headset, complete with high quality audio and noise cancellation and legitimately hands-free control (no asterisk in sight).

The durable headset isn’t the sleek and chic aural companion that is the earlier Marque from late 2011, but what it lacks in looks it doubles in functionality – most notably, its new smart sensor technology.

The star feature on the new headset, the smart sensor technology activates the headset whenever it detects that it is placed in your ear. Take the earpiece off and calls are thrown back to your handset. Throw it on, and calls are sent back to your headset where you can answer with your voice.

Early reviews out of the US point to the new Voyager’s size as an issue, with its large hearing aid-looking wrap-around design lending no surprise here.

A2DP support means stereo feeds can be thrown into the single ear piece so you can enjoy music and podcasts without cutting out half of the sound. There is also multipoint pairing for connecting multiple devices to the one headset.

It’s just hit stores for $149 (a fair chunk ahead of the US$100 tag) and comes with a one-year subscription to the cloud-based Vocalyst service that lets you update Facebook, catch news headlines and record audio logs on the go, hands-free.