Plantronics 655 Bluetooth Headset Review
Plantronics 655 is the successor of the popular 645 model, as a headset from high class with stylish design and supporting digital signal processing technology for reducing of noise and delivering better sound quality. The 655 keeps the same dimension as the previous model but changes its style from one with curve edges to more angular design with stronger influence of the black color. It is still stylish but looks more modern and futuristic than its predecessor, as if it has come out of a fantasy movie. Sadly, the 655 box set is not that impressive as of its predecessor, but still has handy tools; it includes:
The 655 keeps the same weight as its predecessor which is 9grams (1/3oz) and makes it part of the light-weight headsets currently offered on the market. It has simple design attaching to the ear by the soft rubber earpiece, and can also be used with an optional earhook that gives additional security. A simple rotation will allow for wearing it on the other ear, too.
The whole headset is made out of combination of silver and black plastic. The darker color takes a bigger part here than it was with the previous model, and the contrast is stronger. The whole back (inner) and both sides are made of single glossy black part, which unfortunately gets scratched very easy. Similar to the 645, for service indication it has a LED “ring” around the call key, which flashes in blue or red.
<<<1-SE PV705, 2-SE GV435, 3-Jabra BT350, 4-Nokia BH-900, 5-SE IV835, 6-Plantronics 655
All the three keys the headset has are situated in a column on the front side: here are a couple of black volume keys and the call key just above them. Although the keys have raised arrows that are easily felt, you should get used to them in order to press them properly, which should be done by directly pushing these arrows – pressing the area around them won’t do anything at all. The call key can be easily felt, as it is situated at an angle towards the volume keys. All the three buttons are relatively hard to press, but return strong tactile feedback.
Functionality:
It’s easy to pair the 655 with your phone: holding the call key down for about 8 seconds will put it into pairing mode, indicated by red-blue flashing of the LED. When you find it with your phone, just enter the standard 0000 key to go into the accessory’s list of known devices.
The call key is multifunctional key: holding it for a couple of seconds in standby mode will activate the voice dialing of the phone, while double pressing it will redial last number. When an incoming call is received, a single press of this key will answer it, but if you want to reject it, the same key should be held for 8 seconds, which is pretty much, and even dumb, as you can’t reject a call immediately.
Pressing the couple of volume keys at the same time will put the headset in power saving mode – it turns the digital signal processing system off until you power it on in the same way; unfortunately it is indicated by a simple beep, which is the same as the one when powering it on – so you can’t understand if it is on or of. The same key combination during a call will mute the microphone.
Performance:
During a call the performance of the 655 is above the average but it is not anything special. Relatively strong volume is obtained in both directions, and the voices sound realistic and clear, but a little muffled and monotone. The DSP system is not the best in windy environment, but handles well with music and other sounds around you so you can use the headset in noisy places.
Comfort:
Just as its predecessor, the 655 can be attached directly to the ear only by its rubber earpiece. Coming with the accessory are three sizes for more accurate adjusting, and a great improvement is that the headset now stays steadily and doesn’t bias down, pointing at the ground with its microphone. It is very easy to attach it to the ear in this case, but if you add the optional earloop it will be a little harder, as it is not very plastic and you’ll have to use some finger to move it behind your ear. The latter will help you for even more secured feel while you are wearing the device – it won’t fall if you don’t want to, and it won’t make you worry in any way about this!
When it comes to continuous wearing of the headset, the 655 performs better than the 645; although it has the same earhook and earpiece design, we felt it more comfortable on our ear and unlike the predecessor it didn’t disturbed us so strong and wearing it for nearly 2 hours didn’t worried us.
A high-end device, the Plantronis 655 doesn’t suffer from poor design – definitely. It is small and good-looking accessory that looks stylish on your ear, attached on its own or with small black metallic earloop. When it’s not over the ear, the charging pocket with the AAA charger are stylish way to bring the headset, that also expands its battery life.
Conclusion:
Coming in less pretending than its predecessor box, the 655 improves some of the main drawbacks, but not all: the headset is now fully usable without the earhook and it sits still without a problem for wearing it. Its keys are still hard do press, but they give feedback.
- Plantronics 655 headset
- Cradle for charging
- Charger
- Adapter ring to miniUSB plus miniUSB cable
- AAA Charger ‘barrel’ for charging from a single AAA battery
- Additional 2 eartips and optional earhook
The 655 keeps the same weight as its predecessor which is 9grams (1/3oz) and makes it part of the light-weight headsets currently offered on the market. It has simple design attaching to the ear by the soft rubber earpiece, and can also be used with an optional earhook that gives additional security. A simple rotation will allow for wearing it on the other ear, too.
<<<1-SE PV705, 2-SE GV435, 3-Jabra BT350, 4-Nokia BH-900, 5-SE IV835, 6-Plantronics 655
All the three keys the headset has are situated in a column on the front side: here are a couple of black volume keys and the call key just above them. Although the keys have raised arrows that are easily felt, you should get used to them in order to press them properly, which should be done by directly pushing these arrows – pressing the area around them won’t do anything at all. The call key can be easily felt, as it is situated at an angle towards the volume keys. All the three buttons are relatively hard to press, but return strong tactile feedback.
It’s easy to pair the 655 with your phone: holding the call key down for about 8 seconds will put it into pairing mode, indicated by red-blue flashing of the LED. When you find it with your phone, just enter the standard 0000 key to go into the accessory’s list of known devices.
The call key is multifunctional key: holding it for a couple of seconds in standby mode will activate the voice dialing of the phone, while double pressing it will redial last number. When an incoming call is received, a single press of this key will answer it, but if you want to reject it, the same key should be held for 8 seconds, which is pretty much, and even dumb, as you can’t reject a call immediately.
Pressing the couple of volume keys at the same time will put the headset in power saving mode – it turns the digital signal processing system off until you power it on in the same way; unfortunately it is indicated by a simple beep, which is the same as the one when powering it on – so you can’t understand if it is on or of. The same key combination during a call will mute the microphone.
Performance:
During a call the performance of the 655 is above the average but it is not anything special. Relatively strong volume is obtained in both directions, and the voices sound realistic and clear, but a little muffled and monotone. The DSP system is not the best in windy environment, but handles well with music and other sounds around you so you can use the headset in noisy places.
Just as its predecessor, the 655 can be attached directly to the ear only by its rubber earpiece. Coming with the accessory are three sizes for more accurate adjusting, and a great improvement is that the headset now stays steadily and doesn’t bias down, pointing at the ground with its microphone. It is very easy to attach it to the ear in this case, but if you add the optional earloop it will be a little harder, as it is not very plastic and you’ll have to use some finger to move it behind your ear. The latter will help you for even more secured feel while you are wearing the device – it won’t fall if you don’t want to, and it won’t make you worry in any way about this!
When it comes to continuous wearing of the headset, the 655 performs better than the 645; although it has the same earhook and earpiece design, we felt it more comfortable on our ear and unlike the predecessor it didn’t disturbed us so strong and wearing it for nearly 2 hours didn’t worried us.
Coming in less pretending than its predecessor box, the 655 improves some of the main drawbacks, but not all: the headset is now fully usable without the earhook and it sits still without a problem for wearing it. Its keys are still hard do press, but they give feedback.
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