The Poly Voyager 6200 UC headset is truly a near perfect jack of all trades headset for the power user. Poly, formerly known as Plantronics and Polycom, is renowned for their Unified Communications (UC) solutions such as their traditional headsets.

In the past year many workplaces have transitioned to work from home and the recent hybrid. Owing to the huge impact of Covid, business conferencing via remote options such as Zoom have greatly risen.

As such we find ourselves often on calls or waiting to be on calls. We want something convenient to use. Something not bulky and excessive such as those one ear headsets that cling on to your head.

Design

Overall the bulky, but neat design of the headset, has been one of the most convenient headphones I’ve ever come across. Of course by all means I am referring to the ease of use. In particular, the headset has all that you’d expect from the UC line of products that the company stands behind.

The Voyager 6200 UC boasts a sleek and flexible neckband design. Similarly to other products such as the Sony WI-C400 or the LG TONE Ultra α. Available in both black or white models, the headphones have a rubbery texture which adds to the stability and comfort. The ear-tips are available to select through for ears of all sizes as expected. Although I would in particular have preferred to have also had foam tips included. Nothing like a little extra passive noise cancellation to sweeten the deal.

The Poly Voyager 6200 UC is simply well designed with elevated buttons for volume, mute, and toggles for noise cancellation as well as power on each side. Despite the numerous buttons on the small and sleek device, there is simply no confusion once you get down to using it. Along the unit from end to end, buttons are laid out at different segments for each function with little overlap.

Poly Voyager 6200 UC Features:

• Professional-Grade audio with enhanced digital signal processing.
• On-demand active noise canceling.
• Incoming call alert.
• Dynamic mute alert.
• Class 1 Bluetooth with 98-foot/30-meter wireless range (for devices that support it).
• Customizable call and media options.
• Hi-fi stereo and passive noise canceling with earbuds.
• Unified Communications-ready.
• Dedicated mute button.
• Wide-band audio and stereo telephony support.
• Up to 16 hours of playback time, with 9 hours of active talk time and 14 days of standby time.

Call Quality

The four omni-directional microphones with digital signal processing (DSP) that the headphone sports provides stable and crisp audio quality. Gone are the days where the user needs to shout at the front of a laptop or camera while guessing where the single low quality microphone array is.

The software is able to handle the audio paths and process accordingly to focus on the user and not the surrounding noise. Therefore providing a cleaner audio for your conference calls. Speaking of software actually, the Voyager 6200 UC as the name would suggest is Unified Communications ready. That is to say that the device is heavily certified in all areas of ones business sided conferencing solution needs. Poly Voyager 6200 UC is Certified with Microsoft Teams, Cisco, Mitel, Zoom and much more.

In my experience I went from often being told the various built in or wired microphones that we used sounded like I was speaking out from inside closet. A stuffy closet, perhaps even under a blanket. To that of a coherent and virtually no background noise quality for others.

Audio Performance

The Poly Voyager 6200 UC surely isn’t at the level of Bose or Sennheiser. If you’re looking to drown out a sufficient level of background noise, then perhaps you’d be looking for other alternatives. The Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) technology provided for the Voyager 6200 UC like many other devices has a slight hiss or frequency noise that can be heard. That said, for a UC business headset, the level of noise cancellation is sufficient.

Stereo mode playback for listening to music or videos does not cause any distortions or audio failures. Though as mentioned, it would surely not be enough to impress any serious audiophiles. Then again these are basically in the ear small headphones.

Features wise, the user is even given an audio alert in response to any of the functions changed on the device. Toggling the device on would audibly inform the user of the battery level of the unit as well as pairing status. Similarly switching the mute, noise cancellation, or max/min volume would audibly alert the user accordingly as well. Upon receipt of a call, the user would as well receive an audible alert of the call and informed available speech commands to “accept” or “reject” the call hands free.

Battery Performance

The small lithium ion polymer battery boasts a surprisingly battery life as listed in the features. I’ve often found being able to use it in a full days work with conferencing and listening to audio for an 8 to 10 hour workday. Albeit with time that the device is also left idle.

When low battery the user would receive an audible message alert through the headset. Upon of which the user could either charge directly via micro-USB cable or use the convenient magnetic charging cradle. And yes, unfortunately as I said, the Voyager 6200 UC still sports a micro-USB as opposed to USB-C.

Price

The Poly Voyager 6200 UC aren’t exactly cheap. At $299.95 MSRP from the Poly website these are surely a hell of a headset. At a cost. All of the features are decent. From the custom charging cradle, the ANC, the audio, to the neat audible messages of status, the Voyager 6200 UC is surely a feature rich headset. One that is capable of being a convenient jack of all trades decent headset beyond just business calls.

So, is the Poly Voyager 6200 UC worth it?

Oh and did I mention it sports the latest Bluetooth v5.0 and has a class 1 BT capability? The convenience of having wireless extends to only the limit and range of your Bluetooth signal. In the case of the Voyager 6200 UC that is Class 1 enabled, we’re able to expect up to 30m of range! That’s a whole, let’s go to the kitchen and grab a snack down the hall while I’m in a conference call kind of range!

And let’s not forget the added benefit that the device is able to handle 2 simultaneous “active” connections. With the ability to save up to 8 total devices! Meaning for individuals working from home, you could essentially have both your work laptop and home computer actively paired. Maybe take a break sometime and listen to music or watch a video on your home PC. Then get a call on your work laptop, and bam, then the hands free mode kicks in and automatically diverts your audio to your work laptop for Teams or Zoom! Surely worth it for the snack time alone!