Published on
Poly Online Newsroom
(https://newsroom.poly.com) on 5/9/16
Plantronics BackBeat Pro+ Review: A Do-It-All
Bluetooth Headset That Falls Just Short Of Excellence
Terms:
[1]
[2]
Published Date and T ime:
5/7/16
News Organization:
Android Police
You'd be hard pressed to find a Bluetooth headset with more features than Plantronics' BackBeat Pro+. Active noise
canceling? Check. NFC? Sure. Bluetooth and 3.5mm plug? Yes, definitely. Multipoint technology? Oui. And the list goes on and
on. Name any option and the Pro+ likely has it. If you're looking for a jack of all trades headset, you'll waste a lot of time
trying to find one more versatile and feature-filled than the BackBeat Pro+, but there's more to this pair of headphones than
gimmicks and long feature lists. The Pro+ shines in some instances that I didn't know I'd appreciate and falls flat in some
other places where I had higher expectations. The result is that I love it but can't recommend it because there's a better
option hiding not so far away.
I am not a lover of large headphones. I am not even accustomed to wearing them for more than an hour and I'm definitely not
the kind of person who would go out and seek such a headset. I like small in-ear earphones, the smaller the better, and I hate
feeling pressure against my ears or carrying any weight on my head. The Plantronics BackBeat SENSE though, that I reviewed
last year, changed my perspective a little. I loved a lot of things about them, but hated the on-ear design, so I kept the
brand on my radar until I could get my hands on an over-ear model that should, on paper, be easier for me to manage.
And I was right. Even though the Pro+ weighs 340g to the SENSE's 140g, it is more comfortable for me to wear for longer
periods of time because it doesn't exert any physical pressure on my ears. I have listened to more than two hours of music
on it, non-stop, without any complaint. I won't deny that I felt some relief by the time I took it off, but at least I wasn't
tempted to rip it as far away as possible from my head in less than 10 minutes. That's a big nod of approval for any headset I
try. But I'm getting ahead of myself here so let's go back to the beginning of the story.
Packaging and Design
The BackBeat Pro+ ships in a huge box that just screams badass. Even the presentation of the headset, once you open the
box, is impressive with that faux-rock effect. It's nice, but most importantly, it keeps the headset safe during shipping.
Inside the box, you'll also find the carry sleeve, 3.5mm cable, MicroUSB cable, and Bluetooth USB adapter. The latter is
basically all that differentiates between the regular BackBeat Pro and Pro+: it's already paired with the headset and makes it
easier to stream audio from any computer, regardless of whether or not it has Bluetooth connectivity.
