Do you want the best headset? 
Noise is a problem when on important business calls. Whether you’re using Zoom, Microsoft Teams or other applications to conduct your business calls, giving yourself, and your callers a noise pollution free experience is something that should be high on your list of priorities.
We’ve all been on calls where we hear a lot of noise coming from the caller's work environment. It might be the sound of coworkers chatting it up in the background, or if working from home, it could easily be the sounds from children or the family pet.
Whatever kinds of noises you have in your workplace, and we all have them, it’s something to be mindful of not only for yourself, but for those you’re communicating with.
In this blog, I’m going to provide you with our top pick for the best of the best for 2021 in the category of best active noise canceling headset. This is part of an expanded awards show that we recorded where we selected the best of the best headsets in multiple categories.
But, before I begin this reveal, I wanted to let you know that we recorded a Youtube video on this exact award. If you’d prefer to watch this video over reading this blog, feel free to do so.
Here’s the video on the best active noise canceling headset for 2021
If you’re still reading this blog, then let’s find out which business headset came out on top for being the best at reducing room noise.
Before I reveal our selection, I did want to make one important clarification. This is, what’s the difference between noise cancelation, and active noise cancelation? I’ll provide you with a quick breakdown.
Noise Cancelation
This is a term that is normally used when discussing the qualities or characteristics of a headset microphone. These microphones typically come in a few variants:
- Non-noise canceling
- Noise canceling
- Ultra-noise canceling
All of these terms refer to the microphone’s ability to remove unwanted room noise for the benefit of giving your callers a quieter, more professional sounding call experience. This is to say that the noise that’s coming from your work environment won’t be heard by those you speak to on the phone or on video calls.
Noise canceling microphones are designed to give your callers a better sounding call experience. Now let’s see how noise canceling compares to active noise canceling.
Active Noise Cancellation
Active Noise Cancelation is often abbreviated as “ANC” for short, and this feature is designed to provide you, the headset wearer, with a quieter experience. Here’s what I mean by that.
Unlike noise canceling, which is a feature engineered into the headset microphone, ANC is an electronic feature that’s engineered into the headset ear cups. I say ear cups because ANC is for use with double ear headsets.
If it were used in a single ear headset, the feature would be defeated because there would be one ear open which would still be available to hear the noise going on around you.
What ANC does is to provide electronic countermeasures to ambient room noise. This is a sort of anti-noise. When wearing a headset, and exposed to room noise, this can seriously disrupt your ability to concentrate on your calls, on your writing or any other task at hand. Once the headset wearer has activated this feature, it filters out room noise allowing you to concentrate better.
One final thought on ANC; Some of the models that have this feature provide you with ANC on/off, while others provide varying levels of ANC which helps you to regulate the amount of room noise that’s been removed. As you might imagine, we favor those models that have more environmental noise control.
ANC is for you, the headset wearer, where noise canceling is for your callers. Make sense?
Okay, with that distinction made, let’s move on to the headset model that we feel represents the best of the best when it comes to Active Noise Cancelation.
Without further ado, here’s our pick for the best Active Noise Canceling headset for 2021…insert drum roll here.
The Jabra Evolve2 85
Though it was a hard choice to make, the Jabra Evolve2 85 was our top selection for 2021. The Evolve2 85 didn’t take this award without challenges. Here are the other two finalists on our list:
Any of these three headsets would be great choices if an Active Noise Cancellation headset is what you’re looking for, though the Evolve2 85 was our top choice.
We did have another headset we gave honorable mention to.
This headset is well worth checking out too as it’s chalked full of great features, and a very robust ANC, and a great sounding microphone.
Why the Evolve2 85 received our top award in this category
There are several key areas that we considered before giving the nod to any one headset. These areas included size of ear cups and cushions, passive noise reduction, levels of ANC adjustability, comfort and finally overall performance (how well it did to remove unwanted sounds).
The Jabra Evolve2 85 comes with large ear cups that fully cover both ears. These ear cups help to passively remove unwanted sounds, and when combined with a pair of leather ear cushions, that not only makes the experience softer, but also gives another layer of noise filtering.
Unlike having an ANC on/off button with no levels of adjustment, the Evolve2 85 provides you with five levels of adjustability. This means you can regulate how much of your environment you hear.
If you want to filter out as much as possible so you can better concentrate, then you’d dial up this adjustment to the max. Otherwise, you can scale it back to incrementally increase your audio awareness. Either way, you have choices, and you’re in control.
The Evolve2 85 is available in two colors; sand, and black. Though black is the most common color for headsets, it’s nice to have choices, right? So, if you want to stand out in the crowd, and express yourself, the sand color option might be a great choice.
Downsides to the Evolve2 85
- Size. The Evolve2 85 is a bit bigger, and bulkier than other models. Those that prefer a sleeker, smaller look might not like this headset. That said, this isn’t to say that the Evolve2 85 is uncomfortable. The truth is, it’s not. Though larger in size, it’s well designed, and capable of being worn for extended periods of time comfortably.
Size aside, this is a great sounding, comfortable headset that puts you in control of your noise. Your callers will be treated to a great sound, and you’ll be able to keep focused on your work without those productivity robbing sounds stemming from your workplace.
So if you’re in the market for a headset that’s designed to tame all that noise in your place of business, the Jabra Evolve2 85 should be on your shortlist. In fact, in our opinion, it should be number one on your list.
Having trouble finding the right headset?
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