Plantronic Discovery 655 Bluetooth Headset

September 16, 2006 01:45

3.5/5
I have a Voyager 510 which has great sound quality on both sides. Why do I continue to buy and test Bluetooth headsets??? Because I'm waiting for DSP to finally work and block background noise for the person I'm talking to.

This headset is equal to the Voyager 510 when in a quiet envirnment but if you're outside and a truck passes by or you're in your car and it's raining - sound quality for the other person is poor.

Sorry Plantronics - I love ya - but you're not done yet.....

- shotblock

August 27, 2006 10:30

4.5/5
Before I bought the Discovery 655, I was using the Plantronics Discovery 640 Bluetooth Headset and was quite happy with it except for these things:

1. Even though 640 is a tiny headset, I really never liked it's shape.
2. It didn't have DSP [Digital Signal Processing] and that meant occasional noisy conversations.
3. Most of the times you were unsure if the HeadSet got connected to the Charger and it felt as if it would fall out of it.

With the Discovery 655, Plantronics has addressed all these problems and has added some features which everyone would love. I have highlighted the main changes here:

1. Is the best looking heaset around. It's silver black color scheme looks fabulous both when it is on the ear as well as off it.
2. It has DSP, that means clear conversations even in Noisy environments. And Yes! the DSP does work well.
3. Comes with a charger addon which enables you to charge it using a USB Port of your Computer/Laptop. This feature will be loved by Professionals on the go.
4. You can actually feel the HeadSet getting connected with the charger and to confirm that it will vibrate once when the charging actually starts.

Though the 655 doesn't come with the sleek looking carrying case and charger add-ons like 640 came, the headset will still be a best seller and I personally love it .

- CooLVick$

August 23, 2006 09:09

4.5/5
The 655 improves on the 640 in many ways ... little things that really help.

a) the 640 was hard to put into the charger and be sure it was charging. Move it around on your desk and it could easily "disconnect" from the charger. The 655 has not such issue and vibrates when it starts to charge.

b) DSP means a better signal, at least as far as I found

c) Very comfortable

Bad things: doesn't come with the nice case + power adapters that the 640 did. However, the adapters are the one accessory from the 640 that can be used with the 655.

- msanto

October 1, 2006 08:49
Spectacular
2.5/5
I had been using this headset for a couple of days when I discovered that everyone on the receiving end of my calls with the headset said it was difficult to hear me because everyother word would be dropped out. I tried the headset on two different phones with different service providers and it was the same story so the phone(s) definentaly were not to blame. Basically, I could't move more than 2 or 3 feet away from the phone before the bluetooth connection began to get fuzzy and fall out dramatically....it is rated for 33' right?! Also, the earbuds are comfortable, but a PITA because they keep falling off, I had one of them break too! Overall, this headset is a nice unit that needs a fix in the range of operation. I can hear everybody perfectly clear, but they cannot say the same.

- svasica

October 1, 2006 02:36
Excellent
2.0/5
I bought this 655 as a replacement for my 645 which got stepped on by someone. I loved the 645 but thought I'd try the "upgraded" model for the same price (thru Newegg).

While it was comfortable, I have used it for a week and no one can hear me talking. Everyone I have talked to this week has complained that all they hear is static or nothing at all. There has also been a lot of background noise and wind affecting it even when I'm just in a relatively quite place like Target. Also, while mostly I could hear well it would have static and cut out on me from time to time. It doesn't have the range that the 645 had.

My husband was so frustrated from trying to talk to me this past week we decided to return it and get my old 645 again, which I have loved and never had any problems with people telling me they couldn't hear me (I had it for 6 months). Also, like other users there is no good case for all the extra pieces, and of course you don't get as many chargers. For those looking to replace the 640 I would highly recommend the 645 over the 655. The 645 seems to have fixed many of the problems the 640 had, while the 655 just got new problems.

- Jennifer1822

December 8, 2006 07:22
Excellent
2.0/5
The but. I had been waiting months for the LG VX9900. This would be my first new phone in 2 years. Never having been a fan of cell phones and carrying one only out of necessity, I've always carried the rock bottom, cheapest phone I could find. Then I got hooked on texting. Thus the VX9900.

Going for a higher end phone I decided I might as well come on out of my closet..err, cave, and go with a bluetooth headset. My last headset was a Plantronics and aside from the hassles of the cord I was fairly pleased with it. That along with what I knew of Plantronics I decided I'd stick with the brand and after reading several reviews I settled on the 655.

I'm quite disappointed. But (this is the but) since I have nothing to compare it to you'll need to take my review with that particular grain of salt.

When it came I thought, man this looks pretty slick. I tried all of the gel ear pieces, with and without the clip. All of the earpieces were comfy but with the headset's ultra light weight I felt the medium earpiece without the clip would suit me best. It is comfortable to wear and after about 15 minutes of wearing it around the house I found myself actually forgetting that it was even in my ear. I guess that's a plus!

My phone arrived a couple of days later and after familiarizing myself with it I was ready to rock. Unfortunately we didn't roll.

First off, the attachments, while great in concept and theory are so rigid I was constantly worried that I might break something while forcing them together or "breaking" them apart.

Along the same line I found the buttons (main control and up/down volume rocker) very difficult to push. I found myself having to apply so much pressure to engage a button that it was nearly impossible to keep it in place in my ear while doing so. Personally I found it a bit awkward having to say "can you hold on while I adjust the volume? oops, that's too much. Hold again while I turn it up/down some more". Same for the main function button. I'd press it and wait. Did I press it hard enough? Did I hold it down long enough? Did I accidentally release it for an instant while trying to engage the function? I could find out easily enough (he said with some sarcasm) by again taking it out of my ear and observing the speed and color of the light flashes. I found this particularly annoying.

Next, while on hold with a vendor I'd called I decided to warm my coffee and test the range and sound quality at some distance. The coffee was maybe 20-25 feet so I didn't figure this would be much of a test. But to my surprise I started getting static at about 10 feet. When the caller came back on the line I hear her say, you...ca...cu..ing...st termin..call. Then silence. So I'm thinking that's not terribly impressive and now I get to call back and go back into the hold queue!

I was in the process of getting ready for a 6 hour road trip the next day so I made sure I had a full charge on the new phone and headset (I hadn't yet bought any of the accouterments). Next day I'm making my trek and called a friend that I expected I'd talk to for a while. This was my second call since the charge. The first having had a duration of maybe five minutes. My friend and I talked for I'd guess 45-60(MAX) minutes. I'm sure we would have gone longer but, yep, headset battery is gone.

I decided right then and there that this puppy was going back to the mill.

I've read the other reviews and am tempted to think that perhaps I'm just too demanding. Nonetheless, if this CNet (and user) top rated product is as good as bluetooth gets, I'll hassle with the cord and trade this $70 toy back in on my $9 "true"blue corded headset.

- MRickB

October 8, 2006 04:58

3.5/5
This is the best Bluetooth headset I've used with my LG VX8300 so far, but it still is far from perfect. I get roughly 2-3 hour of talk time out of this headset depending upon how long I leave it on between calls, but I assume that the battery life is a trade off for the small size and light wght. My biggest problem with the headset to date has been that it is extremely slow to connect to my phone when I hit the headset command button. With incoming calls, the call may roll to voicemail before the headset connects (if I don't pickup the handset and flip it open.) I've given up on using the voice commands altogether because the connect is so slow to get established.

As noted by other reviewers, the ear loop and gel ear buds work well until they pop off of the headset (usually while you have it in your pocket). I've found the ear loop to be vital to keeping this unit in my ear; the ear bud just doesn't hold it firmly enough to keep it from falling out in the middle of extended calls or while driving.

Despite the problems above, this headset (once it has connected to my LG VX8300) has had great sound quality and everything functions nicely.

- dcarr1971

December 6, 2006 12:56

3.5/5
I've used many bluetooth headsets:
Motorola HS 810
Motorola HS 820
Motorola HS 850 (3 of them)
Motorola H700
Jabra BT 200
Jabra BT 250
Jabra BT 800
Jabra JX10
Plantronics 510
Plantronics 640
Plantronics 655
Flamingo (I forgot which one)
Tekkeon EZ talker

Call me a nut, but I just want to find a headset that is as clear as a wired headset. The Plantronics 510 so far is the most clear with my Treo 700w. But for the size and compatibility, the 655 is very good. Callers can't tell if I'm using a headset or not. The only thing I don't like is ...

1) When I have my phone on my waist in the case, there's a crackling noise
2) There is a "white noise" in the background that can get rather annoying if you're picky.

Besides that, the headset is loud. Tone isn't bad. Sometimes a little muddled because the the range of the sound may not be very great (small headset ... cant' expect too much) but it is a lot better than any of the headsets I've used.

The motorola hs 850 was great. the only thing was the sound wasn't as loud and the design was a flimsy even though I found the folding boom mic VERY practical.

A little about myself, I was a music major ... so sound quality is very important. that's why I'm so picky.

- petros316

September 20, 2006 05:13

4.5/5
This is my fourth headset:
1. Bluetooth Basic
2. Motorola H300
3. Motorola H300 (sent a replacement)

I have been using bluetooths for about 2 years now. The Bluetooth basic and the Moto H300 had horrible sound quality compared to the Plantronics 655. I use a Treo 650 and I would rather not have to hold it to my ear. I lost the H300 and it may have been a blessing in disguise. I have now purchased the Plantronics Discovery 655 (great ratings by Cnet 8.3 and users 8.3) headset which is perfect in all aspects. I spent 3 days looking at reviews on about 10 headets and this was the winner. It costs $150 on their website but I bought it for $66 on ebay brand new with a warranty. It paired easily and it is very light on the ear, I use the optional ear clip to keep it secure.

- Aquil33

September 7, 2006 09:53

5.0/5
This is my first BT headset. I am glad I bout this one. My first intention was that after coming back from overseas, I would purchase the 640 since I read all the great things about it. However, when I went on to newegg.com and saw the 655, I changed my mind and bought it after reading the reviews on cnet.com. This is sold for about $10 more but what changed my mind was the fact that it has the vibrating alert on incoming calls and also that it fits better into the charging case.

I have a Nokia 6682, and after charing the headset, I was able to pair with the phone with no problems what-so-ever. The sound quality is great. No static, did not drop. I tried whispering and my wife on the other end said she heard me fine.

I found the single multi-use button easy to use and the volume buttons, although small, are fine for me. The headset fits comfortably in my ear with the medium ear plug. I have not tried the other two that are included. I like the fact that the carring/charging case has a clip so that I can clip it onto my shirt. I don't like having things in my ears for long no matter how comfy it is. It's just me. So, I prefer to put it into the charger when I'm not using it. The vibrating alert will tell me if I get a call.

I was surprised while waiting for the unit to arrive that it does not have the cool case and different charging adapters like the 640. Although it comes with a mini-USB charger and I do also have a Moto RAZR, I don't know if I can use the charger since it seems to give out more amps. So, I'm using the included charger for now.

After months of researches and reading reviews, I'm glad I bought the 655.

- escee