Do you need to have a headset exclusively for the open office environment? A headset is a headset, right? It plays music and drowns out the annoying person next to you, so surely any headset will do. I have been putting Logitech’s Zone Wireless headset through its paces to find out.
Priced at £199, it can seem like a large sum to splash on a headset. But what will your £199 get you?
First, this headset is aesthetically beautiful, with its simple yet elegant design. A plastic and metal mix in a shade of grey that even Christian Grey himself couldn’t turn down.
I wore the Zone Wireless for almost an entire day and quickly forgot I was even wearing it. So, comfort-wise, this headset ticks all the boxes. Your head is cushioned by a smooth rubbery material containing a gel-like substance. The ear pads are equally comfortable, each filled with a spongy foam encased in smooth leatherette.
The Zone Wireless is incredibly light, weighing just 0.18kg. Despite this, sturdiness doesn’t feel like an issue and that is partly due to the metal frames. Unfortunately, the build quality is a bit of a let-down when comes to the built-in, slide-down microphone, which feels cheap and could easily break.
With regards to the sound, after hours of listening to music using the headset, I came away feeling disappointed. While the sound is pleasing, it severely lacked bass. Logitech stated, “the Zone series of headsets delivers superior sound quality” – I can’t help but feel that they have fallen short of this statement.
Noise cancellation feature
Moving on to the Zone Wireless’s party piece, the ‘Active Noise Cancellation’ (ANC). I was sceptical at first, having used headsets that claim to be noise cancelling, but in reality, only muffled the noises around you. At a push of a button or a swipe on the companion app, all noise vanished. I was stunned: activating ANC was like stepping into my own impenetrable, soundproof bubble.
The Zone Wireless can be charged in two ways: via a USB C cable or QI wireless charging. But with a battery life of (talk time): 14 hours (ANC on), 15 hours (ANC off) and (listening time): 14 hours (ANC on), 16 hours (ANC off), you will spend more time with them on your head than on a QI charging pad.
Easy to use
The Zone Wireless is a Bluetooth headset but also comes with a USB dongle for easy connectivity to your computer – simply slip the USB dongle into any of your computer’s USB ports and that’s it. Connecting to your phone follows the same process as any Bluetooth device. Pair this with Logitech’s mobile companion app Logi Tune and you will be able to make small equaliser tweaks and control the microphone and ANC settings.
Where the headset fell short in music quality, the Zone Wireless’s microphone really hits the mark. The microphone is by default muted; unmuting is done by rotating the microphone down in front of your mouth. Simply rotate the microphone back to its original vertical position to mute it again. The overall sound quality of the microphone is crystal clear, as you would expect for a high-end headset.
For those who work in a co-working space or a client’s office and regularly on the phone, this could be the headset for you. As long as you’re not expecting a bass-producing monster.