The uniquely functional case, all-day batteries, and advanced features give you every reason to buy the HP Poly Voyager Free 60 series wireless earbuds if you travel for business or spend time working tethered to computers and smartphones.
Enterprise workers in an office setting are the ideal users of these high-end and specially-designed earbuds. Remote corporate workers also gain a tremendous amount of added functionality to enhance their workday conveniences.
I have yet to find a set of earpieces that successfully compete with the features crammed into these relatively small yet well-fitting dual devices.
The cost, however, is also in a higher price category than most people would be willing to purchase out-of-pocket. But if your needs go beyond wireless convenience to listen to phone calls and music throughout your workday, HP gives you a compelling list of reasons to plug in a pair.
Pricing and Purchasing
For some would-be users, performance outweighs the price of $329.95 for the premium product — Poly Voyager Free 60+ UC that comes with a touchscreen charge case and more.
Two lesser-endowed but still awesomely performing versions of these earbuds start at $229.95.
The starting price gets you the Poly Voyager Free 60 model that comes with a standard charge case that provides premium calls and music features. This unit’s dependability and reliability are designed for what HP calls “prosumers.”
The Poly Voyager Free 60 wireless earbuds and basic charge case, shown here in Carbon Black, are also available in White Sand. (Image Credit: HP/Poly)
In addition to the HP/Poly website, you can find these earbuds at B&H Photo and other online outlets.
Be careful when searching for this product. I found it listed on Amazon and elsewhere under the Plantronics label. Based on the price and the product description, such listings not branded as HP appear to be older units rather than HP’s latest product release.
HP acquired Poly last August and rebranded the new releases but kept the Poly moniker. For instance, the Poly name is on the charge cases, and even the Poly app is devoid of the HP label.
For a step up to $279.95, you get the Poly Voyager Free 60 UC earbuds with a standard charge case and enterprise-grade audio and music features. This version is Microsoft Teams/Zoom-certified and designed for enterprise users.
Premium Features Unmatched
One of the really impressive performance factors of these earbuds is the Poly Voyager Free 60 UC’s ability to fight ambient noise during calls and video sessions that impact both sides of the conversation.
This product reduces background noise during calls with active noise cancellation (ANC). Between calls, that same ANC functionality reduces background noise and provides the ability to listen to music in high-quality thanks to three environment settings.
One of them, Transparency Mode, lets you hear your surroundings without having to remove one or both earbuds. If you do remove an earbud, it will pause the soundtrack playing from the connected device.
Voice production is at premium levels resulting from six microphones, stem design, and noise-canceling circuitry called NoiseBlock, which is AI-driven.
Multi-point connectivity lets users stay connected to two devices simultaneously. The technology pairs the phones as Phone One and Phone Two, even if one of the devices is a speakerphone or computer.
Smart Charge Case Does More
Another benefit of the Voyager Free 60+ UC earpieces is the unique charging case. All three Voyager models come with cases that charge the earbuds wirelessly in the rechargeable case and have Qi charging capabilities.
The Free 60+ UC model goes well beyond that limited functionality. The smart charging case has a color touch screen with three control panels for customizing configurations and earbud control.
The Voyager Free 60+ UC touchscreen charge case displays the charge status of the case and the battery level of each earpiece. (Image Credit: HP/Poly)
The case charges with a USB cable that connects to a computer or a wall power plug. When the earbuds are in use, their case is wirelessly connected to control the sound functions that show the battery charge status, the listening environment settings, and the volume control.
You can easily switch between connected devices. The case lets you connect to external audio sources via 3.5 analog audio input.
Intelligent Design
The oval-shaped design and included three sizes of rubberized ear shields bring added wearing comfort to the earbuds. The tips are engineered to minimize pressure in the ear while providing superior audio isolation.
You can use both pieces in either ear for extended use. For long-term travel listening, for example, you can simply insert one earpiece in either ear while the other is charging in the case.
The earbuds provide up to 5.5 hours of talk time with ANC on. If you do not need ANC, the usage time is even longer.
The smart charge case provides up to 16 hours of extra talk time and comes with a USB-C port to charge on the go. The case also includes a BT700 Bluetooth adapter for enhanced functionality.
A really neat feature is the included USB-C to 3.5mm audio cable which lets you plug the charging case into almost any modern device and use the earphones wherever a physical connection is required instead of wireless connectivity.
The included USB receiver dongle tricks the host computer into pairing the earbuds without needing to open the computer’s Bluetooth stack to connect. The result is a more seamless user experience compared to built-in Bluetooth on computers.
Video Credit: HP/Poly
Long Stem Functionality
The Poly Voyager Free 60 series earbuds have a longer stem than you find on other wireless ear devices. The oval-shaped tip adds to the comfort factor and makes the earpieces much easier to grip, insert, and remove.
A small button at the bottom of each stem plays or pauses music and answers calls. Hold it down for two seconds to activate Google Assistant and introduce even more functionality.
A touch sensor lies along each stem’s midsection. Swipe it up and down to change the volume or mute the sound.
It took me a while to master using the swiping motion to activate the functions, and I did not find using it in conjunction with the lower tiny button very intuitive.
App Power Handy
Last but certainly not least is the Poly Lens app, available at Google Play and the App Store. You can use only the earbuds and get an excellent out-of-the-charge-box user experience.
But I found reaching for my smartphone to adjust additional settings no less convenient. It is the same as using smartphone apps to assist with settings for my smart watch and as a supplement for smart TV remote control devices.
You need the app to handle software updates for the earpieces and the smart charge case and to access the detailed configurability options to set up your earbuds for your preferences. The app provides a long list of toggles and sliders to tweak every possible decibel and frequency to fine-tune your productivity and enjoyment.
Enhanced Communication Features
Advanced sidetone technology keeps you aware of how loud you are speaking. I never lost my boisterous voice projection learned in my early days of public speaking classes. This particular feature helps me not to strain my voice.
The earbuds are designed with a wide microphone pickup area so users can adjust the wearing position for maximum comfort.
The Poly Voyager Free 60 series wireless earbuds are available in two colors: Carbon Black and White Sand.
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