Plantronics Audio 480 Virtual Phone Booth Earbuds Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Pros:
1. Fairly good build quality;
2. clean sound;
3. light and portable;
4. comes with a USB sound card (mine absolutely did, but it seems they changed that, as I read some reviews complaining about not receiving the USB soundcard);
5. quite effective sound insulation;
6. short and light cable suitable for laptop;
7. in-line volume and mic control.
8. a nice travel case.
Cons:
1. Very uncomfortable to wear. The ear tab must be properly placed to stabilize the thing, but when it's placed stably, it is quite uncomfortable to wear. To me, 15 minutes was too long. I have a Plantronics MX510 which can be worn for hours without noticeable discomfort.
2. The soft cover (white) over the earbuds can easily fall off and get lost. I used other microphones that have a similar design and know it will happen. If you use it frequently and you're not a super organized and careful person, I'd be surprised that you still have that earbud cover after several months of use. Once you lose the cover, the whole thing becomes useless because it cannot be stabilized on your ear.
3. The microphone isn't a sensitive type. The input volume is quite low. But on the positive side, the sound is pretty clean, especially when it's used with a USB sound card that comes with the headset.
4. The idea of sound insulation really does not go very well with a microphone. It's great for listening only, but it feels awful when you speak to microphone when the your ear canal is blocked by the earbud. If you have experienced ear discomfort during airplane takeoff or landing, you get the idea how this microphone feels when you listen and speak at the same time. But this is not a problem of this model in particular, but rather a common problem for this type of design. You may get used to it, but I can't.
5. You'd need an extension cord if you want to use it with a desktop. But this is no fault of the headset itself, because it is designed for laptops, and for which purpose the short cord is actually a benefit.
6. Too expensive. Amazon has it for about $60. I think $20-$30 would be fair for a product like this (But that's assuming that the unit comes with a USB soundcard; if they have taken away the USB soundcard, I would say this thing is worth probably just $10-$15).

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