Logitech Zone Wired Earbuds
An excellent, if expensive, way to ensure high-quality calls whether you’re in your office or on your travels
SCORE
PRICE £75 (£90 inc VAT) from logitech.com
The Logitech Zone Wired Earbuds may well be the product you’ve been waiting for these past two years. Rather than wear a clunky headset for video calls, you can switch to wired earbuds with a built-in noise-cancelling microphone that you can use in busy environments. That gives it two clear selling points: it’s great for Zoom calls with a virtual background, as the earbuds merge into your face; and of particular use to business travellers. Logitech even includes a handy pouch.
While I mention Zoom above, these earbuds are actually at their best for
Teams users. Pres Pressing the middle button on the in-line inremote control launches Teams if i you already have it installed, and the button’s backlight will pulse if some someone calls you via Microsoft’s servic service, too. You can also use the control to mute yourself (the button lights up i in an unmissable vivid red), while another button le lets you pause or play mu music. A volume strip down dow the side completes the con controls.
Sound quality will depend on how well the e earbuds slot into your ears. Logitech Logitec does its best to accommodate everyone by including four sizes of tips, but my admittedly narrow ear canal would have liked the body of the earbuds to be even smaller. I found the tiniest tips to be usable, however, and that’s better than most earbuds I’ve tried. Assuming you achieve the same physical result, you’ll be rewarded re with solid audio – its weak weakness is treble, with cymbals a holl hollow echo of themselves.
The bonus is that I found foun the earbuds comfortable enough enou to wear for an hour-long mee meeting without even thinking about abo them, and the dual noise-cancelling noise-cancell mics (built into the left earbud) are great at isolating your voice even in n a noisy public space. It’s not the purest urest audio – the algorithm’s emphasis s is evidently on clarity rather er than capturing the Branagh-like agh-like depth of your tones nes – but it’s effective. You can also take some me control by downloading ding Logi Tune, which h allows you to adjust the mic level and sidetone (how much of your voice you ou hear through the earbuds). uds).
With a 1.5m cable and three connection options – 3.5mm 5mm jack, USB USB-C C and USB-A USB A – the Zone Wired Earbuds are a great weapon to add to your communication arsenal. They’ll work with a phone or laptop, Windows or macOS, Android or iOS, and could be a meeting-saver if you need to make yourself heard. The obvious downside? nside? At £90, they’re ten times the price ce of perfectly serviceable wired earbuds. uds. TIM DANTON
SPECIFICATIONS S ICATIONS
Wired in-ear -ear earbuds dual MEMS noise-cancelling ancelling mic 1.5m cable 3.5mm, USB-C and USB-A connections certified for Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, Google Voice oice and Zoom each earbud, 23 x 23 x 27mm (WDH) 2yr limited warranty