Poly - Blackwire 8225 Wired Headset with Boom Mic (Plantronics) - Dual-Ear (Stereo) Computer-Headset, USB-A to Connect to your PC/Mac, Active Noise Canceling, Works with Teams (Certified), Zoom & more

If you're needing a headset that is capable of blocking nearby conversations, this is the headset to get. When seated next to the TV (0.5m away), my voice call participants could not hear a thing. And when there is a group of people in the house having conversations (within 1.5m proximity), my callers could either not hear them, or hear a very low muffled noise coming through. Mic movement action is also smooth, none of the clicketty-clack you get from cheaper models. Like all headset mics, this is also susceptible to picking up wind noise if you're seated near a fan. I wish the ear pads were the thicker though so that it can last more comfortably across 2 years of usage. The center is hollow which helps to prevent excessive ear sweat build up. I can comfortably wear these for a few hours at a time. I have a fairly large head and use the headband at the max settings. The ANC is admirable for the price point, along with the option to turn them off if you don't enjoy the minor hiss on the highest setting. For my use case, it blocked off my aircon's noise fairly effectively. Of course it isn't comparable to my Bose QC35, but still respectable. Extra info: On the MS Teams version, the Teams light is purple, and turns blue when in-call (on any communication platform, not just Teams). The in-call indicator is on the microphone ear cup only, and flashes red from side-to-side of the earcup.

Great headset and blocks out all sound around me. Never have problems on calls now and I'm heard a lot better than my old headset.

My Blackwire C520 started to wear out with the wires showing near the inline control box, so time for a replacement I thought. As I can expense these items while working from home I ordered this 8225 which cost £140 when I purchased. I opted for the 'TEAMS' versions. Initially the sound wasn't anywhere near as good as I had hoped. Nothing in the packaging offered any advice and no software that I could interact with was installed when plugging in the headset. TEAMS integration worked straight away, nice pulsing red light on the ear phone shows that I'm on a call. BUT and it is a big but initially the sound quality was really poor. Lots of 'white noise' while on calls but more off putting was the distortion from the right hand side speaker. So distracting I found myself 'hear' this distortion more than the person speaking. After reading the review I saw that someone recommended installing the desktop accompanying software. I did this. Straight away the software downloaded a new release of the firmware and the issues melted away. I was also able to stop the annoying lady speaking when I muted myself, she'd say "mute on" well I knew that as I had done it. With the desktop software you can turn this off. Which is great as now she doesn't talk over vital parts of a call. If I was to purchase again I'd not buy the TEAMS enabled variety as it doesn't work well with Zoom or Google Meet. It works but the flashing light to show you are on a call doesn't get enabled and the mute doesn't change the icon on the screen when not in TEAMS. Still as TEAMS is my main platform I'm ok. But get the software to get the clarity of sound needed.

This is an advanced model emphasizing noise cancellation. However it let me down as my colleagues said in a call that they could hear someone’s voice, and that person was sitting about 2 meters from me. I have decided to return it.

Among the wired headsets I own, Discover 722u, Logitech Pro-X, this one is the best by far. Voice Quality from the Mic can rival that of a USB condenser one. And the noise canceling is perfect, essentially quiet down a sound from loud TV, barking dogs, shouting kids, etc.