I Finally Found a Bluetooth Headset for my BlackBerry that Works in my Noisy Car – The Plantronics Voyager Pro

By Dave Peiser

Up until now, I have been really unhappy with all the headsets I’ve tried using with my BlackBerry Storm. They typically work fine when I’m sitting at my desk at the office, but once I start moving around and particularly in the car with the A/C or heater blowing, the person on the other side of the conversation has had a hard time following everything I am saying.

And it’s not that I’ve been cheap. The first Bluetooth headset I tried was the Aliph “Jawbone” which was a great example of one that worked under ideal circumstances but not in my car. The Jawbone has a small plastic nub that needs to touch your cheek in order for the noise cancellation to work. I couldn’t get that nub to constantly be in contact with my cheek, so it typically had no functioning noise cancellation. So it wasn’t any better than the cheapos.

I tried wired headsets too, but microphone placement seemed to be sub-optimal, especially with background noises in my car.

The device that has finally been working for me is the Plantronics Voyager PRO Bluetooth Headset. This headset has two noise-canceling mics on a boom that sticks out from the earpiece toward your mouth. Their marketing material says they have “Three layers of WindSmart technology--stainless steel mic screens, acoustic fabrics, and an electronic filter--block intrusive wind noise”. That's lots of mumbo jumbo, but the bottom line is It works!! I have used this headset with my air conditioner blowing big-time on a hot day in Calfornia and the person I was talking to me could hear me and I could hear them. Amazing!!

The Voyager Pro was a cnet Editor’s Choice in April of 2009 (http://tinyurl.com/qczs37).

It also has an available car charger, which works perfectly for me, because I only use the thing in the car. I don’t need to look like a dork walking around talking to myself, right? As of 7/2009 you can get a free car charger for registering the device on the Plantronics website (http://tinyurl.com/cra9vm).

The typical price for the Voyager Pro is $99.99 and you can buy it at most places that sell these type devices including:

Amazon.com: Plantronics Voyager PRO Bluetooth Headset

See a promotional video about the Voyager Pro on YouTube

Start talking! And driving! At the same time! Don't miss your exit though!