Headphones & Speakers

Two different jobs sit in this category: sounding good to the people on your calls, and hearing well enough to focus. A business headset optimises the first; noise-cancelling headphones optimise the second. A few products do both passably, none do both perfectly.

How to choose

• Headset or headphones? A UC headset (Jabra Evolve2, Poly) has a boom mic built for voice and certification for Teams/Zoom. Consumer headphones (Sony WH-1000XM5, Bose) have better music sound and ANC but a mediocre call mic. Pick by which half of the job matters more.
• Certification. "Certified for Microsoft Teams" means the buttons work and the audio profile is tuned for speech. Worth it if your whole day is in one platform.
• Connection. Bluetooth multipoint lets you stay paired to laptop and phone at once. A USB dongle (Jabra Link) gives a more stable connection in a busy RF environment; some newer headsets connect to Teams natively without one.
• All-day comfort beats peak sound. Over-ear with replaceable cushions, clamp force you stop noticing after an hour, and weight under ~300g. You'll wear this for six hours.
• Battery. 20 hours is a full work week of calls; 30+ means you charge it less often.

Speakerphones and desktop audio

• Speakerphone — for a huddle room, a kitchen-table call with two people, or anyone who refuses to wear a headset. Look at the pickup range (how far the mic reaches), whether it daisy-chains for larger rooms, and USB vs Bluetooth. Full duplex (both sides talk at once without clipping) is the quality marker.
• Desktop DAC/amp — for driving good wired headphones past what a laptop jack manages. Matters mainly for higher-impedance studio headphones; most consumer cans don't need it. Check the output power against your headphones' requirements.

What matters less

Hi-res codec support (LDAC/aptX) for calls — voice is narrowband anyway. Spatial-audio features. The number of ANC "modes" beyond on/off/transparency.

Start here: our best noise-cancelling headphones guide.