Customer Reviews

Plantronics Explorer 350 Bluetooth Headset

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(20)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

When I bought my first Bluetooth-enabled phone about 3 years ago the deal included a Motorola Bluetooth headset. Cool, I thought. Then I used it less and less, because the thing had to be recharged at home and would only last about an hour. Soon I thought it was just too hard to use ... hard to put on, and totally weird in that to turn it on you had to take it OFF your ear, flip down the mouthpiece, then put it BACK on your ear. Whoever designed the thing had no clue how people use headsets. It also sounded like I was talking from the bottom of a water well. Whenever I used it on conference calls people would yell for me to go on mute. So I started asking people in the waiting rooms at airports what brand they had and what brand they liked. I got so many people who hated Jabra that I didn't even consider it. I already didn't really care for Motorola, so I started looking at Nokia, which seem to be nice but clumsy, and then I kept meeting more and more people who were in love with their Plantronics. I have used Plantronics headsets for a long time in the office, after all, that's all they do and they seem to do it well. I looked at a few Plantronics and didn't find one that jumped out at me, then one day I ran across the Explorer 350. This was just too good to be true! Are you kidding me, $49 bucks for a Bluetooth headset made by the top brand? Then I looked closer and found that Plantronics did something very unique with this headset. Instead of having to charge it at home, it comes with an extremely cool little clip that either mounts to your dash or hooks to your air vent in your car then plugs into your cigarette lighter. Now that made sense! A place to hold the headset where you use it most, always charging, then ready to use in a second or to walk around the rest of the day with it fully charged. For us road warriors, Plantronics also thoughtfully included a USB charging cable so the trusty laptop will keep your headset charged while you sleep. You can buy an optional AC adapter if that makes you feel more secure. So how is it built and how does it perform? Built like a Hummer! The main piece is one solid chunk that looks like it is pretty immune to any normal damage while clunking around in your pocket with a lot of coins. The piece that goes around your ear looks like it is solid as well, and effortlessly switches from ear to ear and slips on with one easy motion. After the first time, this thing slips on with no thought on my part and instantly is in the perfect position for use. Operation couldn't be simpler. Unlike my Motorola with several switches that you had to remember how and what sequence to push them in, the Plantronics has one switch. Push it in to turn it on, push it in to turn it off, push it in to talk, push it in to hang up, push it in to voice dial, etc. All you have to do is push. Want to make it louder or quieter? Push up or push down. No-brainer. I saved performance for last because this is what convinced me to keep it. After a quick charge I called a friend from my car with the window rolled down. This is a friend I talk to all the time from my land line. I said, hey, I just bought a new Bluetooth headset and want to see how it sounds to you. He said, cool, put it on and I'll let you know. I said ... I already have it on! He said the sound was perfect, no background noise of any kind and it sounded at least as good as my landline. One of the things several of my airport buddies told me they liked about Plantronics is how the durable rubber earpiece fits comfortably inside your ear and blocks out noise ... like annoying flight announcements. I have to say that not only did I sound perfect to my friend but every call I have been on has been easier to hear than with any other headset I have ever tried.

PROS:

Sound Quality
Superior construction
Ease of use
Pairing - instant and flawless
Price
Comfort

CONS:

None I could see. Earns a comfortable 5 stars!

I bought this because of the ease of keeping it charged by having a cradle to store and charge the unit when not in use. This functionality is great. However, the unit picks up road noise more than most. Since going to this headset I get complaints from the person on the other end of the call that it sounds like I'm in water when I go over a certain speed. This took some time to isolate, but is definitely the wind noise from outside my vehicle. While it isn't the quietest vehicle, other headsets I've used have never had this problem.

Final thoughts: If the noise reduction for the unit were improved this would be a 5 star product.

This is my first BT headset.
Good: Contrary to some "official" reviews such as CNET, it is very comfortable for me. The car kit is very convenient, I leave my headset in it overnight, so it is always charged - thus the absence of AC adapter is not a problem for me. Excellent sound. Relatively cheap.
Less good: It's not the smallest headset available, so if looking like an alien is a concern there are better (more expensive) options.
General comment regarding BT headsets - how come you can't turn off the blue blinking light? When driving at night with this particular headset in its cradle you get a strong glaring blink that is very annoying

I bought this model because of the in-ear bud. I had tried others that just sat on top of the ear. The on-ear never felt comfortable or locked-in.

This model is adequate, but nothing special. Regardless how far I am away from the phone or laptop, I hear steady static. I've paired it to my phone (Palm Treo 650), my laptop (Dell Latitude D620) and my fiance's phone (Samsung SGH-D807). All are about the same in terms of the static. Listening to music from the laptop is really bad and low quality, but that's not the main usage model for this device. As a cellphone headset, it's just OK.

My fiance has the Plantronics Discovery 655. That's a much better device and well worth the extra money.

If the bluetooth headset design process and products were compared to a big sandbox and the engineers were kids, the plantronics engineers would be blowing multicolored glass vases and the motorola people would be making mud pies that smell like a cat box while they made noises vaguely resembling coherent speech.

More to the point, my dog picked up my headset where I dropped it and crunched into my plantronics 330 this weekend. I got the 350 to replace it. It's wonderful.

Anyway, after buying mine, I opened it in the car, then charged it with the included car charger. It was useable in 20 minutes. From there, I paired it. It paired almost instantly - no fuss no muss. As anybody that's ever owned any other bluetooth models can confirm - pairing with your bluetooth can be a bigger pain than trying to court a supermodel with similar expectations of success.

After pairing, I left myself a message, and yes - the volume and quality of sound coming through to the other end was excellent.

I moved on to the human field trials. I called my brother. I told him about it, and he asked if I had it on. I said yes, and he said he couldn't tell.

It's comfortable, the price wasn't bad, it looks like it will be very durable unless I drop it where my dog can find it, it charges quickly, the volume can be turned up to loud levels, and the callee has no trouble understanding me while I am driving down the highway in my dodge pickup at 70 mph.

For the record I've owned 2 high end motorola headsets, and one of those black banana looking jabra ones as well. None of them compared to my plantronics. I liked the 330 as well, but this one is even better.

If you are a road warrior like me constantly on the go then the USB and auto charger option are useful. Otherwise I'd stick with the 320 which you can charge in a regular outlet and I preferrred over the 350 and also the Motorola H500.

I'm sure this works fine, which is why I gave it four stars, but BE AWARE THERE'S NO WALL CHARGER with this unit. There's a USB charger and a car charger, but no wall charger. That was a deal breaker for me and I sent it back.

I'm disappointed that this listing is not more clear on that fact.

had this in down-pours and extreme heat of an attic. this little guy stood up to it all and keeps on going. once this one "dies" i will get another.. if it ever does die out. I have had 3 others and beat the hell out of them in my job and this one keeps on going and going. Buy it and you will love it.

The Plantronics Bluetooth adapter is a comfortable bluetooth headset that allows handsfree talking - especially useful for driving! Unfortunately, this is also where it is at it's weakest.

Good: I like the car charger that accompanies the bluetooth set. They obviously know this is where it will be primarily used. You can even clip it to your AC Vent and it acts as a cradle and a charger! Sounds very good receiving calls in many conditions.

Bad: The microphone on this unit has little to NO noise reduction whatsoever. I am constantly plagued with complaints about background noise while I'm driving. Apparently it sounds like I am in a wind tunnel! Many times people will cut their conversations short with me because it is so difficult to hear, and when they can they are hearing equally as much road noise/wind. Ironically when on my phone itself, there is no wind or other road noise. It appears to pick up some noises and amplify them in a bad way.

Final Verdict - acceptable budget bluetooth adapter, but if you don't have a superbly insulated car you will likely get complaints about the background noise, even if very little even exists.

I purchased this product for $37, and it was well worth the money.
What surprised me was the talk and charge that the headset was able to hold. On a single 2 hr. charge I was able to use it well for many days traveling to and from college and work. It is great with wind and very well designed. Voice can be heard clearly; but, your voice heard by others sounds SLIGHTLY like you are on speakerphone. As for the uncomfortability that other reviews have stated.... I have no problem with it at all. The 30 foot range is actually the max. range at which it will be connected. It is NOT the max. range that is talkable. You will start to here static at about 8 feet away. I do not like that once connected, you can only answer with your headset and not with your cell phone --very annoying when a call comes in at 5 a.m. and you cant find your headset to answer the call on your cell phone that is a foot away-- Many headsets are like this though, and you only need to disconnect or walk out of range to be able to answer by cell phone. I've gotten used to this small setback, and I believe this product is the best in its class for the price.