Customer Reviews

Plantronics CS50 Wireless Office Headset

5 star:		(40)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

I ordered and received this headset from Amazon during the week of August 14th, and have been using it constantly since then. I have not experienced the problem with broken earpieces that others have been harping about, and my usage has been 3-8 hours a day, every day (minus a week of vacation in September).

I feel paranoid, though, and want to order extra earpieces from Plantronics as they do *look* flimsy.

I do have several gripes; one is that I get echo in the earpiece if I turn up the gain on the microphone too high, but I do not know if this is a problem with the headset, or my phone (Cisco 7960). Another nitpick would be to have some way to put the phone on/off hook w/o using the HL10--it's such an ugly hack...

All in all, the product performs perfectly as advertised, crystal clear communication, the earpiece is comfortable if you don't wear glasses (sometimes I don't wear my contacts and the earpiece can become uncomfortable with glasses on; the headband should rectify this, but I don't like headbands). This is a solid piece of kit that I would definitely recommend and buy again should the need arise.

PS. Why did Amazon raise the price on this lovely little item? ($165 -> $199) Regardless, this is still a great value.

I wanted to go handsfree at home, so I bought this product. The first thing I realized is that the cs50 wouldn't work with my cordless phone. That's because it takes as input the wire that connects the telephone handset to the telephone base unit. So I tried using my corded phone. But that wouldn't work either because the wire could not be removed, this is a problem with most phones where the keypad is not in the base but is in the handset. So I bought another $20 corded phone (29318GE1) and the cs50 worked with it, but the other party could not hear me well. I tried several other inexpensive phones but the clarity was not there. In desperation I tried an expensive phone (an $80 29486GE2), the kind one has in the office, and the cs50 worked much much better with it. I still could hear an irritating echo, but that went away after some tuning. My efforts paid off and I am now very happy with the clarity and the convenience.

I've had this headset for about 2 months. The mouthpiece is very lightweight, and the sound quality is excellent. The battery life is as advertised -- you can talk all day without needing to recharge. I also purchased the phone lifter to be able to answer calls while away from my desk. The unit comes with interchangeable over-the ear attachments and an over-the head attachment that snap onto the earpiece/mouthpiece unit.

The high points of the unit stop there. I was used to using an over-the-ear Plantronics Tristar, and was surprised to see that the earpiece on the CS50 simply sits next to the ear and does not have any earbud-type capability for making it easy to listen in noisy environments. The over-the-ear attachment for the CS50 is nowhere near as comfortable as the Tristar was, and I gave up and switched to the headset attachment.

The headset attachment was much more comfortable, and I quickly adjusted to the earpiece. For about two weeks I was very happy with the unit. Then the o-ring that attaches the headset to the earpiece snapped, making the headset attachment unusable. I was forced to switch to the over-the-ear attachment, as that was all I had left.

I slowly got used to the over-the-ear attachment, but have to say it is not comfortable to wear for an 8 hour day. The cushion over the top of the ear consists of hard rubber and makes my ear sore.

After using the over-the-ear piece for a couple weeks, the o-ring attaching to the earpiece snapped -- just like before! There is obviously a serious design problem with the CS50 -- look at the other reviews here.

I called Plantronics, got someone to talk to me rather quickly, and she immediately took my name and address and said they would send a replacement (she also said "redesigned") headpiece and earpiece to me. Without saying so, she implied that the snapping o-ring is a common problem.

If the darn things didn't keep breaking, I'd give the CS50 4 stars for over-the-ear use. (I think it would need an earbud-style earpiece and a more comfortable over-the-ear attachment in order to rate 5 stars.)

As an over-the-head style wireless phone, this unit would have rated 5 stars, if only it didn't break!

As is stands, it's a 1 star product because it keeps breaking, but the quick Plantronics customer support bumps it up to 2 stars.

I was so happy with this headset for a week. It provides great clarity and freedom of movement and integrates with your existing office phone. However, the wrap-around headset piece that attaches to the functional part of the unit broke. They got me another one and assured me that it was tougher and would not break. It broke after about 3 weeks. I am not hard on my things -- this is the only item that I can remember breaking in the last few years and it has broken twice. There is also another holder that wraps around your ear (seen in the picture) but it is rubbery and causes the slighly heavy unit to swing back and forth which is uncomfortable for me. One of my co-workers got this too and she had the same problems.

This unit is way to expensive to have these kind of comfort/quality problems.

Did not care for the ear piece of the unit. The one that fits around your ear is not moldable and doesn't fit the ear very well, even though they give you three sizes. They need to put a more moldable piece with the unit. More like the ear pieces you would get with some cell phones.

If you are on the phone a lot, you need this headset system. Quality is fantastic, has great range (I can go any place in my house (including my back and front yards) while on a call and see no drop in quality. I have been on calls for up to 7 hours and the battery never died. Adapters available for various types of use, like ear piece, headset or then one I like best, hangs over both ears and wraps around back of neck, which prevents headset hair ;-).

The CS50 has a button to mute the mic, turn volume up/down and if you order the optional lifter kit for your phone, you can pick up or hang up the phone from any place in your home.

The company website is very high priced and you can find it for 1/2 their price through other websites, so shop around. Other than that it will be one of the best investments you will make if you are on the phone a lot.

This product is okay but the ring that everyone talks about breaks easily and the only solution was to patch it with sellotape which make my ear sore! I suggest that you go for the CT12 (also a Plantronics product) a better buy, and less expensive!

I purchased 3 CS50 headsets for my business and was elated with them for about two weeks. Then the retaining rings that attach the head band and/or ear hook to the headset began breaking. Within the first month all 3 headsets were out of commission because of broken rings. Plantronics replaced the ring attachments with new ones which lasted all of another 2 weeks. None of them were abused in any way. Now, Plantronics claims to have replaced the brittle plastic rings with nylon ones that are supposed to be more sturdy. So far, they've only sent me ONE replacement set for my THREE headsets. It's only been a few days so I don't know if they will be any better. My other two headsets sit unused.

The Plantronics is an okay headset. You hear some echoing when talking, and it can get bothersome some times wearing on your ear all day either with the head piece or the one that hangs from your ear. And then if you don't purchase the automatic handlifter you still can't get far from the phone.

Do not look any more; this is the headset you are buying. I have purchased about five for gifts because it is that good. And the best part is that you can walk around the office and pretend you are on the phone so people do not stop you for superfluous conversations. I thought it was expensive at first but well worth it.