Do you want the best headset? 
Even though there’s a herd migration away from using desk phones for business communications, to using computers, there remains a lot of desk phones still in use. Many of the same businesses that use desk phones, also rely on computers to help carry out their voice or video calls.
However your communications are done, a headset that sounds good and is comfortable will help you to be more efficient during your work day.
You’ll learn about different aspects of the Savi 8220 including:
- How much wireless range to expect
- How much battery life you get
- How good it sounds when we put it to the test
- And how much noise it reduced in our noise tests
- What devices you can use the 8220 with…and more.
So let’s find out the details about this premium headset by the world’s largest headset maker, Poly, or Plantronics for those of you who weren’t aware that Polycom, and Plantronics merged, forming the new company now called Poly.
Connectivity
First up is what does the Poly Savi 8220 connect to? Not all headsets connect to the same devices. Some connect to desk phones only, while others connect to different variations of desk phones, computers and mobile devices.
The Poly Savi 8220 connects to all three. So, if you use a desk phone in your office, the 8220 will connect to it. If you also use a computer where using a headset would be useful, the 8220 connects to that as well.
You can even use the 8220 with your mobile phone. But, one important thing to note is that when using the 8220 with your mobile phone, you need to be within 30 feet of the 8220 base.
This means that you aren’t able to use the Savi 8220 with a mobile phone out of the office. This is because the mobile phone connects wirelessly to the Savi 8220 base, and not directly to the headset. This is something that you’ll want to keep in mind if you’re looking for triple connectivity including Bluetooth on the go, which the 8220 cannot provide.
Poly Savi 8220 review and mic test video
Wireless Range
The Savi 8220 is a double ear wireless headset, and because it’s wireless, I feel you should know how much wireless range to expect.
Wireless headsets can either be Bluetooth or DECT. The Poly Savi 8220 is a DECT headset, and because of that, it will give you more wireless range compared to a Bluetooth model.
Specifically, the 8220 is rated to give you up to 590 feet according to Poly. However, they also state that this is line of sight, and when you factor in common obstructions that are normal to most offices, Poly says that you should get about 180 feet.
Something worth noting on this is it’s rare to see a manufacturer scale back the range figure as Poly did with the 8220. Yes, they claim 590 feet of wireless range in an open field, or as they say, line of sight, i.e., no obstructions.
But, Poly also states that in a typical office environment, you should expect about 180 feet. This is rare to see in print by any manufacturer. I, for one, applaud Poly for doing this, because it helps to set a more realistic expectation on how much true wireless range someone should expect. Something we’ve been chirping about for years based on what we’ve seen play out in the field for years.
So how does that line of sight 590 feet, or 180 usable feet compare to other headset options out there? Well…the 590 feet is among the highest you’ll find from any headset manufacturer, and that 180 feet could actually be more because it’s based on the number, and kinds of obstructions you have in your specific office.
All in all, this is wireless range that’s on the high side of wireless headsets and you should have plenty to allow you to move freely around your office.
Battery Life
With a wireless headset, it’s always good to know how much range you’ll get, but it’s also good to know how much available talk time to expect before the headset battery needs a recharge.
The Poly Savi 8220 has a battery that’s rated up to 13 hours of talk time. And, this battery is rechargeable, and customer replaceable. The amount of time required for a full recharge is 3 hours. Considering that this is a headset that’s primary use is for the office, my opinion is that 13 hours is more than enough for all day use.
Most of us work an 8 hour day, and during those 8 hours, we don’t spend it all talking. Typically, most of us are on and off calls throughout the day. So when you add up the total amount of time spent talking, such as on phone calls or video calls, it rarely totals 8 hours, and even if it did, the 8220 battery gives you 13 which is more than what most of us would need, even for those crazy busy days.
I appreciate the fact that this battery can be replaced by the customer too. More and more headsets today come with batteries that are sealed, and not able to be replaced by the customer.
So it’s nice to see that this one can be replaced without having to replace the entire headset. This makes it more convenient, and you save money too because the price of replacing a battery is much less than the price of replacing the headset.
Comfort
The weight of the Savi 8220 is 160 grams, or 5.6 ounces. This is about average for an over the head, double ear style headset. We’ve reviewed some models that weigh less, and others that weigh more, such as models weighing as much as 10 ounces. Weight does play into comfort, and this one being under 6 ounces places it in the comfortable range.
Besides weight, the Poly Savi 8220 also has padded headband, and very soft ear cushions. Both of these things reference touch points where the headset comes in contact with our head and ears. In both cases, there’s a nice amount of padding that’s designed to help make wearing this headset comfortable even for long periods of time.
Sound Quality
As much as I like the overall look and feel of this headset, I was less impressed when we put the 8220 through our sound tests.
We tested it for overall sound quality in a quiet room, and also against background noises that included:
- Office noise
- Dogs barking
- And of course, our noisy blender test
In terms of the voice audio quality, it was decent as you’d expect from any Poly headset. The sound was loud and clear and without any detectable static, distortion or choppiness. It wasn’t tinny sounding either. I wouldn’t place the sound quality into the elite category, but it was solid for sure.
Moving on to mic noise canceling, well, this is where I felt somewhat let down. There are two aspects to noise canceling.
- How well a headset can reduce unwanted background noise
- How well it reduces noise, while at the same time maintaining good voice quality I’ll give the Poly Savi 8220 one out of two in these categories.
First, it did a fairly poor job at reducing the noises we threw at it. Yes, it did remove some of the sound, but those same sounds were very detectable. And, I have to say that this headset performed more poorly than many other models we’ve tested, including one model priced under $100.00. This isn’t very complimentary I realize, especially when you consider that the Savi 8220 is designed to be a premium grade headset.
The voice audio quality was kept loud and clear while the 8220 microphone was wrestling with the noise. But, as I mentioned, it performed rather poorly at eliminating that noise. So it’s my opinion that Poly could improve this headset if they placed more emphasis on a microphone that reduces more background noise which would give those who purchase this headset a truly premium audio experience.
If you’re someone who works in an office where there’s a lot of noise, and you’re searching for a wireless headset to reduce it, I’d search elsewhere for a solution because this headset isn’t your best option, in my opinion.
The microphone can be located on the right or left side, which is nice because some headsets limit you to left or right only, and some people do have a preference on which side of their face to place the microphone.
As for the ear speakers, they sounded good overall when playing music through them. The music was clear and sharp though there was a lack of bass which isn’t uncommon for headsets designed to be used in an office.
Superior speaker quality is normally obtained through those headsets designed for that purpose, such as Sony or Bose for example.
So I really can’t knock the Savi 8220 for this lack of bass tone because it’s a headset that’s not intended to give you that level of audio. But for how most of us would want to use this headset, the Savi 8220 ear speakers will give you a very pleasant listening experience.
Better concentration through ANC
The Poly Savi 8220 is the only DECT headset today that includes the feature of Active Noise Cancelation, or ANC for short. So what is ANC?
ANC is a relatively new feature that’s appearing more and more on business headsets. Essentially, it’s an electronic feature that counteracts ambient room noise which is designed to avoid you from being distracted, and thereby concentrate better.
Some models give you ANC on/off, while others give you the ability to adjust the background noise in stages, such as the Orosound Tilde Pro which gives you 10 levels of ANC adjustment. The Poly Savi 8220 provides ANC on/off.
Optimization
The Poly Savi 8220 is optimized for use with many of the leading UC platforms such as Microsoft Teams, RingCentral and Zoom. This means that you can access the application or take and end calls directly from the softphone on your headset without the need to return to your desk if you’re away.
A lot of headsets don’t have this optimization which means with those headsets you won’t have the convenience of remote call answering which can lead to missed calls, and more voice messages for you to wade through. The 8220 gives you more convenience by providing you with this feature, and in the process, you’ll be more productive.
IF you connect to a corded desk phone
When connecting the Poly Savi 8220 to a corded desk phone, if you want the ability to answer/end calls when away from the phone, you need a separate accessory to go with your headset. This depends on the make/model of your desk phone as to which accessory you would need to get.
If you have questions about which device you need (Handset Lifter, or Electronic Hookswitch Cable), make sure to contact us, and talk to one of our Advisors. We’ll be glad to help.
Software download
Poly offers a headset software download called Hub. It’s a great idea to download this when using a Poly headset if your company allows you to.
With the Hub software, you can do a number of different things such as:
- Update your headset firmware
- You can make adjustments to the audio characteristics of your headset
- You can activate, or deactivate Bluetooth
- And a lot more
If your company doesn’t allow you to download software, which isn’t uncommon with a lot of companies, you may need to explore some alternative ways to get it downloaded.
One way is to download to your personal computer, rather than to your company computer. If you do that, make sure to get the approval from your management to take the headset home to perform updates.
Overall thoughts
There are things about the Poly Savi 8220 I like, and things I like less. For example, I like that the 8220 has a 13 hour battery, that’s customer replaceable. That’s convenient, and it saves money.
What I Liked
- It comes with Active Noise Cancelation because that’s a feature you won’t find on any other DECT headset. ANC is a useful feature if removing sound from your environment is important to you, and something you feel would allow you to concentrate better.
- The microphone gives you solid voice audio quality, and the ear speakers give you decent sound quality when listening to music, podcasts or movies. As mentioned earlier, no Bose here, but solid sound none-the-less.
- You can use the 8220 with your desk phone, computer and mobile phone. Most headsets can’t connect to all three devices, so that helps to make this a very versatile, and useful, headset.
- You can use the Savi 8220 with the leading UC platforms like Microsoft Teams, RingCentral and Zoom. This compatibility allows you to answer and end calls from the headset even when you’re away from your desk. This feature is very popular, and it helps to give your customers better access to you so they can get immediate answers, while helping you to avoid all those voice messages.
What I’d like to see improved on the 8220 is the noise canceling microphone.
As I mentioned earlier, it didn’t do well in our tests. This is a premium headset, and it needs to provide premium sound, which includes reducing noise at a high level.
I’d also like to see more adjustability to the ANC feature. Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s awesome that this headset comes with it. But, it would be nice to see it come with varying stages of ANC adjustment. This way, you could regulate how much of the background noise you’d like to tune out.
And lastly, I’d like to see enhanced Bluetooth connectivity. Currently, it’s limited to 30 feet, so it would be nice to see that footprint extended. In a perfect world, I’d even go so far as to say that it would be nice if you could use the headset on-the-go. But then again, I’m dreaming here.
All in all, if you need a headset to connect to multiple devices, and you’d like to be able to take incoming calls when away from the desk, then the Poly Savi 8220 would be a good choice.
This is particularly true if you prefer a double ear wearing style, even though there are other wearing styles in this line available. And finally, if you work in a reasonably quiet place, then this 8220 would fit right in.
So how much does one of these headsets cost?
$399.99 (you can find it listed on our website here)
Special Discount Offer
If you’re like most other people, you probably like getting discounts. I know I do. Well, if you’re interested in a new Poly Savi 8220, then here’s an offer for you.
When checking out on our website make sure to use coupon code BLOG to get an additional discount on your order.
Have questions, or need some help?
If the Poly Savi 8220 isn’t the exact product you’re looking for, or maybe you have a headset related question or just need some help getting your headset set up. If so, contact us today, and one of our California based headset specialists will be happy to help.
