Customer Reviews

Logitech ClearChat Wireless USB Headset - Black

5 star:		(75)
4 star:		(70)
3 star:		(32)
2 star:		(48)
1 star:		(47)

 

 

This headset had me hooked and I preordered it months before I finally got it. I didn't want to review it until I put it through it's paces. Sadly it comes up short in more ways than I expected. But I'm a fair guy, so let's start with the Positive:

1) It's cordless, gets decent range ~10m in my testing.
2) The sound quality of the headset and the mic are both pretty good (i.e. no complaints in game chat).
3) Headset cushions are top notch.
4) Quality construction - they aren't breaking anytime soon.
5) I was impressed with the ease of setting them up. Plug in the USB dongle, turn them on, set games to use the new headset.

And on to the negative:
1) Granted, I have a fairly big melon, but these have a really tight fit and start to fatigue the ears after a few hours of wear.
2) The Battery life is not much over 3.5 hours in my testing. It doesn't matter what app. I found myself plugging in the power cable to continue (what's the point of cordless?!) and shutting them down even for quick breaks while idle in games.
3) No interchangeable batteries (well, I didn't take them apart to see, but then the case isn't made to be taken apart).
4) Proprietary power cable? Come on! Why this wasn't mini USB, I'll never understand.
5) The Mic only comes down on the left hand side, which I find to be an annoying engineering limitation for no particular purpose.
6) Mic is static - no way to flex it other than up or down. Though it seems to pic up my voice fairly well.
7) I didn't think this was a big deal at first, but now It might be the most annoying thing: The USB Dongle connected to the computer FLASHES green incessantly until the headset is turned on and they sync. Now, I'm a computer guy, I've a truckload of LEDs that keep the office well lit at night, but NONE of them blink and draw attention to themselves except for a few moments. This stupid thing won't stop. I have to put things in front of it to keep it from annoying me.

So, I'm disappointed in this thing. Logitech makes good gear, but engineering needs to review this one and make the following changes for version 2:
1) Use standard USB to power the headset. If you must have a charge indicator, just build it into the headset as another LED and forget the proprietary cable.
2) If you have to drop both earpieces to fit a larger head, there should be an adjustable top pad so it stays in place.
3) Make it so that the mic can flip either way, and the Left/Right speakers change accordingly.
4) Beef up the battery power and make it so it charges faster. 3 hours? Come on... even 6 hours isn't much for marathon MMORPGs or LAN Parties, and your headset came nowhere near that mark. It's not cordless if I have to keep the power cable plugged in. Suggestion: 12 Hours minimum, even if it adds to bulk a little bit. And that's actual 12 hours, not some mathematical estimate.
5. Use two different colored lights on the USB dongle instead of flashing the same one. How expensive can that be?

And for those of us that wear glasses, please make a model with convex earpieces, the concave ones put pressure at the top of the ear and they smash the earpiece of your glasses against the skull. Unpleasant. Okay, this one's more of a wish, but the others above are absolutely requisite.

There you have it. The decent sound quality, construction, and cordlessness don't come close to outweighing the technical issues. I'd give this a 2.5, but when it costs close to a hundo, the price factor says all of these things should never have been a problem. If the next version sucks the same, I'll be looking for another manufacturer (and I'm a Logitech fan).

I just got my Logitech ClearChat Wireless headset today, and so far so good. It is the third wireless stereo headset I've tried and it is by far the best of all three. After using my first two wireless headsets, I switched back to my wired one due to echos during Skype calls, poor headset volume (I had trouble hearing people), and low mic volume (people had trouble hearing me). I haven't experienced any of these problems with my new headset. Of the four calls I've made so far (3 Skype to Skype and one SkypeOut) the only comment I received was that I sounded a little more "electronic" then normal. To be fair, the same person who mentioned this, also asked for the product info at the end of the call. Below is a summary of the pros and cons that I have found so far.

Pros:
Audio sounds great (using both Skype and iTunes)
No echo when used with Skype
Volume is more than adequate and louder than my previous wired headset
Comfortable fit (my wife disagrees with me here)
Easy to use volume controls on headset
Slightly better than advertised range (I got about 35-40 feet from the USB dongle before losing reception)

Cons:
Although the range seems to be a little better than advertised, I'd love to see a wireless headset that gets twice this range.


Update:
I've been using this headset every day for the past 9 months (mostly for Skype) and it has worked great up until today. All of a sudden the headset started making a funny buzzing sound. I removed the headset turned it off and on and noticed the power light was red. I plugged in the headset and it remained red. The buzzing noise has stopped, but now the headset won't turn on. Looks like it's back to my trusty wired headset for now :(

I received mine today. Work just fine with all of the applications I have tested....iTunes, Ventrilo, World of Warcraft, etc. My Vent buddies tell me they sound better than the wired headset I was previously using.

I can get out of range when moving laterally 25 feet or so, but it re-acquires the signal after I move upstairs and get within 20 or so feet line of sight.

Setup was super easy; plug in the dongle, turn on the headset, and DONE.

Very happy with this purchase; Headset is light and comfortable. The boom mic will not interfere with pizza slices or martini glasses.

I only wish the volume/mute controls were on the left side so I wouldn't have to take my hand off my mouse - lefties rejoice!

Agree with previous comments regarding adjustability for large heads...I wish it had an extra 1/2 inch to expand; hence only 4 stars.

THese are amazingly good. I am pretty sure they use the Avnera technology, I dont think there is anything else out there that it could be. I use them to listen to music and to make skype calls - works great for both, no switching back and forth, it just works. Music is spectacular since it's full spectrum 20Hz-20KHz, and (since I think this is Avnera) no lossy compression like bluetooth etc that messes up the music experience. It certainly sounds like they are lossless.

Skype calls are very clear, the equivalent to a wired headset. Range is very good, better than they claim, I have walked 50 feet away from my PC and still had a perfect connection through walls and doors, which is nice. No interference from/with wifi or bluetooth as near as I can tell.

Installation was nice - I plugged in the usb dongle, and that was it. Vista switched me over so that was my default audio device. Literally no software, no hassling with settings, etc - they just worked right out of the box.

I think my only complaint is that sometimes the battery doesnt last the full day with continuous use. But that's a fairly minor issue to me since it's rare that I have them on for 8+ hours straight, usually I plug them in to charge at lunch or when I go to a meeting.

I have been searching for a long time for a good wireless headset. I game for hours upon hours, and use Ventrilo to communicate with the people I game with. I've been fed up with corded headsets for years, but options for wireless headsets are few and far between. This has always boggled my mind, as I cannot fathom why people are happy being tethered to their PCs. Enter the Logitech ClearChat. I had high hopes for this after reading all the good reviews it received. Unfortunately, these hopes were dashed not long after I began using it. I'm just going to make bullet points as that seems the best way to review this headset.

Pros:

- It's wireless.

- Incredibly easy to set up.

- Headset sounds reasonable.

Ok now that the only 3 good things I can say about them are out of the way...

Cons:

- The mic is not long enough. I like a mic that wraps around at least somewhat close to my mouth. This one gets sort of close to the side of my mouth.

- The earmuffs are too small.

- The headset doesn't adjust its length far enough. I couldn't extend them to a comfortable position. You better have a tiny head or they will be uncomfortable.

- Because of the small earmuffs and lack of adjustable length, they wound up physically hurting my ears after only 15 minutes or so of wearing them.

- The receiver would sometimes randomly have to reconnect to the headset, causing large amounts of noise to everyone listening.

- There is no way to extend the range, since it's not a Bluetooth headset.

- The mic was constantly transmitting, and I'm not sure if it was the base unit or the headset, or a combination of both, but somehow the unit fooled Ventrilo into thinking that I was talking when I wasn't. I dislike using push to talk and rely exclusively on voice activation, so people could hear me typing, and breathing, and every other mundane little thing I would do, no matter how high I put Ventrilo's sensitivity. This was never an issue with my corded headset.

- When you walked out of range, the unit would transmit a large amount of annoying noises to everyone in Ventrilo.

- The cord that plugs into the unit to charge it never felt like it was really connected, as there was barely any "snap" when the cord was placed in it. It felt very cheap.

- No indication that the battery was about to die. The headset would just up and quit.

- Battery life is too short. It would last maybe four hours, and then guess what: you're right back to having to deal with a cord again to charge it.

To sum up, this headset failed on almost every aspect of what a good wireless headset should be. I am very disappointed in them and would never recommend them to anyone.

I am very happy with the purchase and would recommend it. Sound quality is good and the range is fine for walking around in the room. I really don't expect it to walk around the house with it. The price could come down a lot more but I am still happy for the purchase.

My biggest problem was overloading the USB ports on the DELL D620 laptop. With a standard Dell KB and mouse and a USB VOIP device (MagicJack) already plugged in, this headset transmitter drawed power beyond the 500mA limit of the USB hub and killed all of my USB devices. It's not really the headset's fault but sure was annoying to find a solution for. I tried a powered external USB hub - same thing. The solution turned out to be getting a 90W power supply for the DELL docking station to properly power it's USB ports and relocating the USB devices. But in the end, it's working great.

LIKES:
- Good sound quality for music at medium volume and excellent quality for conversation at any volume.
- Using VOIP, I don't even hear myself. A little strange to get used to, but it's great.
- It's NOT Bluetooth and you don't have to deal with pairing. It's simply plug and play.
- Wireless freedom is awesome.
- When the battery dies because I forget to charge it, I can continue to use it comfortably with the charging cable attached.
- Construction feels solid.
- The red mute light is helpful.

DISLIKES:
- The headband is a bit too small and tight!
- Music can clip at higher volume (and I really don't listen to music that loudly). But admittedly this could be the quality of the MP3's themselves? Not sure.


EDITOR
A couple of things now that I have used it for about a month primariy on VOIP and music:

Drop out - Every now and then I do hear clipping even though the laptop is only feet away from my head[set]. It's not a big problem but does get annoying when I am on the phone. Interference w/ my WiFi? Dunno. The range is decent - 10 feet or so is no problem. The wireless freedom is just wonderful.

Comfort - I managed to bend the band itself and made it fit around my ears better. It's tight around the ear - with eye glasses on, I'd definitely take breaks after 30 mins or so. But the tight fit also improves the sound insulation.

The construction is good. Comfortable to wear. Takes no effort to install on Mac. No said input problem on my MacBook 1.5.4 so far.
This is my first wireless headphone so the freedom it brings feels GREAT. Being able to talk on Skype with no wire attached is wonderful. The sound quality is also much better than I expected. Pop music and casual listening are very good. Don't know the battery life yet.

I noticed with the Plantronic USB headphone, iTune automatically go into pause when I dial on Skype. This unit does not do that and I had to turn off iTune manually. Would nice to have that.

Additional review:
After using it for a couple months. I feel I have to mark it down to about 3. The main problem is the mic problem. My voice went through the mic got chopped very badly whether I use Vista or Mac. I tried some recording and Skype. Sometimes it is good but most of the time, the other side cannot understand me. I have not yet found the source of the problem.
The headphone is comfortable and provides good listening. However, if it cannot be used for VOIP, it is missing the point.

This product was great for the month that it worked. After the first week of using it I threw away the packaging, which is a decision I now regret. There is no Serial Number or Part ID printed anywhere on the device. Even though Logitech supports this product with a 2 year limited warranty, do not plan on using the warranty unless you will hold on to the packaging (proof of purchase) and receipt for 2 years. How many of us do that for such non-essential products?

My device stopped working after a month of use and now is a shiny paper weight on my desk. Logitech customer support told me that without a proof of purchase there was nothing they could do for me. I understand Logitech's position, but it does not make me happy as a customer. For the $100 asking price, I think Logitech could have easily print the serial number or at least the part ID on the device itself.

I tried the Plantronics wireless headset along with this one.

Comparisons:

Sound Quality:
With both headsets, the person on the receiving side claimed the quality was great. When I recorded myself with the Plantronics however there was a low buzzing sound on the recording, however the other person claimed not to hear it on Skype chat. On my end, the audio quality on for both the Logitech and the Plantronics was great. No difference there.

Mute:
For the Logitech, it is on the side as a button. For the Plantronics, you have to lift the mic to upright to mute. It is slightly more accessible for the Logitech, although it's easy to mute by accident while you're messing with the volume or just leaning on something. When muted, a red light appears on the mic on the Logitech, which is nice to let you know it's muted.

Comfort:
This is a toughie. The Logitech has a smaller ear piece. it sortof sits on your ears. It can get slightly uncomfortable over time if you don't have it in the center of your ear. But it's mostly comfortable for long periods. The Plantronics has a larger ear piece which fits over your ear completely, so there are less comfort issues. But both are pretty good here.

Hearing yourself talk:
With both headsets, it blocks out what you hear around you, so there is the issue of hearing yourself talk or feeling like your voice is muffled. However the Logitech has a nice solution to this as it plays your voice back to you in the earpiece... You don't notice it though because it's instant- You don't hear an echo, but you hear it just enough to compensate for the fact that all audio is blocked out. Plug your ears and talk and you will know what I mean. I found trouble with the Plantronics due to the muffled-ness and had to move one of the ears off my ear behind it, because of how annoying being muffled was.

Style:
The Logitech is more stylish no question. The mic is more aesthetic and with the smaller earpieces, it doesn't look quite as clunky... (But it still is clunky).

Range:
This was an issue for me because I like to talk away from my computer. Even though the Plantronics claims to have a longer range, it would cut out at certain spots where the Logitech wouldn't, so really, the Logitech worked better so far as range. Also, if you're having range issues, the Logitech has a nice extension cord which you can plug in your USB and it gives you even a longer range. I like to talk outside and so it reaches through the wall to my chair on the other side of my small room.

Only complaint... Is that I would really like to be able to answer a Skype call without having to come back to my computer. I don't think any headsets have this ability yet, but I would like it, especially when the call gets disconnected and I have to come back to my computer.

The verdict between Logitech and Plantronics? Well if you're tight on money, Just get the Plantronics (Right now it's about [...]cheaper than the Logitech). It's a good quality product. But, I have to say the Logitech seems to have slightly better range and quality so I would go with that one if these things matter to you. The quality difference again is questionable due to the person on the receiving end didn't hear a difference.

Just want to say that I've been a fan of Logitech for a long time, and this product proves their worthiness again. Received this headset today, and I'm thrilled by it. Pretty lights, comfortable fit (and yes, I'm one with a big melon of a head as well).

About other comments: the propriatory power connector is the only disadvantage of it. But that doesn't weigh up to all the good things about it. I've read all the other comments, and to be honest: I don't see all those bad things. I'm working on WinXP, so no Mac problems. And that person who complained about the sound quality on the wired version: buy this wireless version first, then see if you want to complain again.

Just a few tips to Logitech, in case you make a next version of it:
- make the power connector mini-usb
- include controls for higher and lower pitch
- for those who have really big heads: make it half an inch bigger
- don't change anything else

5 stars from me.