Plantronics/Poly Blackwire 8225 ANC

Plantronics/Poly Blackwire 8225 ANC Corded USB Headset

Corded USB headset with Hybrid Active Noise Cancelling and a noise cancelling microphone so you stay on task and your caller only hears you. Connects to USB only. Available in USB-A and USB-C versions, and also as a USB-C model with a USB-C to USB-A adapter to ensure compatibility with a wide range of devices and to future-proof your setup.

Launch Date – June 2020

What We Love

• Advanced Hybrid Active Noise Cancelling in the earcups with 3 levels of ANC so you can choose how much noise to block out
• Flexible Acoustic Fence microphone (which meets Microsoft’s exacting Open Office certification requirements) so your caller hears only you, not your noisy environment/colleagues/family
• Plug and play simplicity –  no charging or pairing
• Wide, padded headband and large, on-ear ultra-soft leatherette cushions for all day comfort
• Busy light on the earcups so your colleagues/family know when you’re on a call and can’t be disturbed
• Available in MS Teams or UC versions. MS Teams version has a dedicated Teams button for instant access.
• Carry case included to protect your headset on the go.
• Wear with the microphone on left or right
• Depending on variant,  will connect to USB desk phones

What We Don’t Love

• Corded headset, so you can’t multi-task and have to stay at your desk
• Cushions don’t encompass the ear, so some background noise leaks in

In Detail

This Blackwire 8225 is a high end, corded stereo (2 ear) USB only headset. It has Active Noise Cancelling in the earcups.

So is this headset right for you? Well let’s see….

• Do you work in a noisy environment (home or office) and want to block out the noise around you so you can focus?
• You want something comfy cos you’ll be wearing for long periods.
• You’ll be listening to music so you want good quality sound so you can really enjoy the music?
• You want something simple that you can just plug in and it works every time, no need to charge or to pair?

If you answered yes to more than 1 one of those questions? Well then YES, it looks like you’ve made an excellent choice – go ahead and hit that ‘Add to Cart’ button with confidence. Or read on if you really like to know everything….

Not only are the 8225s Active Noise Cancelling (meaning you won’t hear distracting background noise), but the boom microphone also offers noise cancelling with Acoustic Fence Technology so others won’t hear your distracting background noise. Meaning when you’re on a call, your voice will be the only thing people hear, not the chaos around you. And you don’t have to hear that racket either! It also offers an on call indicator to let others know when you are on a call to further avoid interruptions. This is great for those noisy environments to cover all bases.

With not 1 but 3 ACTIVE noise cancelling settings that will block out distractions and help you stay focused on your task no matter the location. It’s not going to block out everything on its own but when you’re also playing music you will be blissfully unaware of your environment. You can turn this off if you want to and there’s also a talk through option which amplifies background noise over your music if someone pops over with a quick question.

You can control your calls / music from the headphones too – call answer/end, mute & volume controls are on the earcups.

You can opt to get the ‘Certified’ for Microsoft Teams, but of course they also work with all major softphones, other programmes like regular Skype, Dragon and pretty much anything you want to use a headset for on your PC or laptop!. 8225s are additionally compatible with any softphone or USB application.

For large deployments the 8225 headset will of course connect to Plantronics Manager Pro allowing remote management of updates, usage monitoring and headset inventory tracking – no matter where the user is working.

What does ‘certified for MS Teams’ actually mean? … Excellent question!! It means there are a few Teams functions pre-programmed into the headset. Eg The ability to launch Teams on your desktop directly from the headset. Also if you’re on a mobile call using the headset, it will change your ‘presence’ in Teams to unavailable. Additionally, if you have technical issues and call Microsoft for support with the programme, they will troubleshoot a Teams Certified device like this as part of the problem. That is not to say they’ll offer overall tech support for the headset – Poly and Simply Headsets would do that. If you don’t use it with Teams you will find this headset identical to the non Teams version.