Plantronics/Poly Blackwire 5200 Series Corded USB Headset

In Brief

Quality Plantronics USB headset with 3.5mm connector and control panel for answer/ignore/end/hold (softphone dependant), volume and mute. Comfort is assured with the ergonomic headband and pillow-soft leatherette ear cushions. All versions are certified for Teams, Zoom and all major softphones. Launch Date – November 2017

What We Love

+ Quality headset at a great price
+ Ergonomic, hammock style headband reduces pressure on the head, ultra-soft on-ear leatherette cushions
+ 3.5mm jack is great for the odd mobile call (most modern mobiles will need an adaptor to be compatible)
+ That jack is also useful if you don’t want to take your headset off every time you walk away from your desk –  just unplug the jack and go!
+ Flexible microphone boom with digital sound processors for clear, rich sound.
+ Carry case included to protect your headset on the go.
+ Wear with the microphone on left or right (for mono versions you can have the earcup on either ear)
+ Noise cancelling in the microphone (not earcups) to help block out your background noise for your caller.
+ Plug and play simplicity –  no charging or pairing
+ Depending on variant,  will connect to USB desk phones

What We Don’t Love

– Been around for a while (but still performs well)
– Corded headset, so you can’t multi-task and have to stay at your desk 
– Adaptor required to make it work with most mobiles

The Blurb

Please note this headset has a 3.5mm connector. Before purchasing, if you intend to use it via the 3.5mm connection with a mobile/tablet, please check that your device has this connection. Eg iPhone models 7 and above require the lightning to 3.5mm adapter. Some models come with that, some don’t. If you do not have the adapter, you can purchase for $10-$20 from stores such as Kmart, Officeworks or any techy/gadget store. If you have any queries, please call our team for clarification.

Launched in November 2017, this is the mid-range USB headset in the Plantronics/Poly range that includes a 3.5mm jack to connect to a mobile phone or tablet for all brands inc Apple. As a USB headset it will of course connect to any PC or Mac and works with all major softphones and applications.

The 5200 series are all Lync, Skype for Business and Microsoft Teams compatible of course they also work with all major softphones, other programmes like regular Skype, Dragon and pretty much anything you want to use a headset for on your PC or laptop! There’s also a USB C version (a smaller version of the standard USB plug. 

The microphone is of course noise cancelling so no-one hears the background noise around you and is wideband so your voice sounds natural and rich – just like you were there in person. Inbound audio is a very good quality and the Dynamic EQ feature automatically adapts to music and multimedia to give you the optimal sound for calls or the fun stuff. Many headsets don’t cope well switching from voice calls to music, and they have awful tinny audio when playing music but the 5200s do this with ease.So you can take a call on your softphone, then listen to music and stunning sound for both.

Ultra-soft leatherette ear cushions and lightweight headband mean all-day comfort and a secure fit. Indeed the 5220 models (that go on both ears) has 2 soft cushions which conform to the shape of your ear to help block out background noise (but please note this isn’t an ACTIVE noise cancelling headset. Also those duo models have a sprung headband to ease pressure on the top of the head for intensive all day use.

In summary this is a good mid range headset for use with mobile and USB. Not the cheapest in the field but a well known brand, a snazzy design and a standard 2 year warranty.

Specifications
SKU	Plantronics-Poly-Blackwire-5200
Manufacturer	Plantronics/Poly
Product Type	Computer Corded, Mobile Corded
Wireless Technology
Warranty	1 Year (Direct with Manufacturers)
Wearing Style
Connection Type	3.5mm mobile phone connection, USB, USB-C
Software Compatabilty	Dragon Naturally Speaking, MacSpeech, MOC & Lync, MS Teams CERTIFIED, Skype, Unified Communications, Voice Recognition Software, Windows, Zoom CERTIFIED, Skype For Business, MS Teams Compatible, Zoom Compatible
Ear Cushion Material	Leatherette
Speaker Frequency Response	150-6800Hz
Mic Frequency Response	150-6800Hz
Headset Weight	138.8g (headset part), 164.2g total (including cable)
Coverage Range
Conference Additonal Headsets
Best Use	Noisy Office, Quiet Office
Application	Computer – USB-C, Computer/VOIP (USB BT Dongle) + Mobile Phone
Audio Qualities	Echo cancellation, Enhanced (DSP) Digital Sound Processing, HD Audio, Noise cancelling mic, Noise protection, Soundguard Digital, Wideband Audio, Wideband mic
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Manufacturers Description

The Blackwire 5200 Series fits your busy workday. Easy to use, its USB or USB-C and 3.5 mm
connectivity lets you work on a variety of devices. Ergonomically designed, it’s comfortable enough
to wear all day, on your longest calls. The Blackwire 5200 Series—the power to connect and work
easily is here.

TOP FEATURES

• Ideal for all-day use, long conference calls and listening to multimedia
• Noise canceling microphone masks nearby talkers for maximum call privacy
• Available in monaural (Blackwire 5210) or hi-fi stereo with passive noise reduction (Blackwire 5220)
• Variants include universal USB or USB-C
• Connectivity to smartphone and tablet via 3.5 mm
• One-touch call answer/end, volume +/- and mute
• PC wideband audio with noise-canceling microphones for high-quality PC telephony
• Plantronics Manager Pro, an additional purchase, enables your IT team to gain insight into every compatible Plantronics headset being used company-wide

CONNECTS TO – PC via USB/USB-C, connects to mobile devices and tablets via 3.5mm and devices that support USB-C.

IDEAL FOR – Users with extensive PC communication and multimedia.

AUDIO PERFORMANCE – Dynamic EQ, microphone frequency response 100 Hz–8 kHz optimal for PC wideband voice telephony (up to 6,800 Hz), hi-fi stereo (C5220, C5220 USB-C only) receive frequency response from 20 Hz–20 kHz, enhanced Digital Signal Processing (DSP), noise canceling microphone, adjustable audio alerts with Plantronics Hub software (mute/volume)*

HEARING PROTECTION – SoundGuard® DIGITAL protects against sound levels above 118dBA; Anti-startle (during calls) detects and eliminates any large sudden increase in signal level; Time-Weighted Average prevents average daily noise exposure from exceeding 85 dBA (enabled by Plantronics Hub). Additional lower level hearing protection against coustic startle is provided by Plantronics Hub software limiting peak levels to 102 dBA.

MODELS – C5210 USB (Monaural); C5210 USB-C (Monaural): C5220 USB (Stereo); C5220 USB-C (Stereo): Built for UC applications and softphones from Avaya®, Cisco®, Microsoft® and more

* Certified for Skype for Business