Thanks to the excellent microphone quality, the Poly Voyager 4320 UC is a blessing for your conversation partner and the wearer will not complain either. However, the mix of brand names that we find on the device detracts from the professionalism.

This is a review of the HP Poly Plantronics Voyager 4320 UC. While branding doesn’t directly impact quality, this soup still deserves an explanation. Plantronics is or was a headset manufacturer with an impressive track record. The Apollo astronauts wore a headset from the company on their heads. Plantronics hardware has rightly maintained its solid reputation over the years.

HPlantronycom

In 2018 Plantronics bought Polycom and in 2019 the company changed its name to Poly. In 2022, Poly was in turn bought by HP. HP plans to make Poly a sub-brand (analogous to Omen in the gaming world, for example). For example, future products will be marketed in the style of HP Poly. Unfortunately, it’s not that far yet.

This poly headset lacks HP branding, but we can understand that. After all, the takeover is still fresh. The combination of Poly and Plantronics branding is less understandable. Only references to Plantronics can be found on the Poly Voyager 4320 UC, while the charging station has a Poly logo on the front but a Plantronics nameplate on the bottom. With Plantronics as a name already gone in 2019 (four years ago), we’re still scratching at the Frankenstein-esque mix of brand names. To be clear: With the Poly Voyager 4320 UC you get a headset for which HP currently bears the final responsibility.

The Poly Voyager 4320 UC looks cheaper than it is. This is due to the still stable plastic processing. It does the job, but we happen to have a seven-year-old first-gen Plantronics Voyager Focus on our desk, and it looks better quality. Luckily, the Voyager 4320 UC is comfortable. The pads that rest on your ears are soft, as is the headband. Of course, on-ears cannot match the wearing comfort of over-ears, but you get a more compact device.

charging station and controller

Inside the box is a Plantronics Poly charging dock that you can connect to a laptop, display, computer, or other power source with a USB cable. You can easily click away the headset in it. The stand looks neat and ensures that you can keep the headset charged and tidy almost organically. That’s a good thing, because without a charging station, you have to charge with an antique micro-USB cable.

All controls are on one side of the headset, including the microphone arm. It rotates in two directions, so the Poly Voyager 4320 UC doesn’t have a real front and back. Luckily, because both left- and right-handed people can operate the thing easily.

Fortunately, the Poly Voyager 4320 UC is not very complex. You can turn it on and off with a small switch. You can mute the headset via a large red button. The most important button is located in the center of the earcup. This allows you to record calls, pause your music, or navigate to the next song (double click) or a previous song (triple click). In the Teams-certified versions of this headset, the button is also used to perform certain Teams functions. For example, you can bring Teams to the front and jump into a meeting when notified that it’s started.

Connected instantly

A small USB dongle is included with the headset, which is already connected to the Voyager at the factory. Plug it into your laptop and you’re good to go. Teams recognizes the headset correctly, so you can start a conversation in seconds via the Poly Voyager 4320 UC.

If you don’t have a USB-A port, you can also easily connect the headset to your laptop (or smartphone) via the Bluetooth menu. You can easily put the headset into pairing mode by sliding the power switch a little further to the on position. The device can remember up to eight different computers or smartphones and maintain an active connection with two. This is useful, for example, when you receive a call on your smartphone while listening to music on the PC.

Tailored to the interlocutor

The Poly Voyager 4320 UC is designed for those who need to make regular office calls. It is above all the interlocutor that Poly had in mind when developing the device. The adjustable mic boom includes two mics that let Poly handle the noise-cancellation. Ambient noises therefore do not penetrate during a call.

No ambient noise can be heard during a call

You get less on the speaker side. The comfortable cushions sit snugly on the ears and do block out some ambient noise, but if you want active noise cancellation, you’ll need an HP Poly Plantronics Voyager Focus headset. In office environments that aren’t an acoustic nightmare, the Poly Voyager 4320 UC gets the job done.

The headphones also do their job when working from home and sufficiently filter out noises from children, partners, animals or background music for the conversation partner. Disturbing noises can also occur here as a speaker.

We like to walk when we’re on the phone, and the Voyager 4320 is perfect for that. Poly states a range of fifty meters, but of course that depends a bit on the placement of the walls and desks. At least we can take a nice walk into neighboring rooms without the connection dropping. We might as well stay there for a while because Voyager’s battery seemed to last forever.

Not always necessary, not always suitable

Since Poly is from HP, we also compare the headset to HP’s built-in sound capability in its latest laptops. Of course, the lip mic and ear speakers have an advantage, although we don’t think that’s great these days. If you can set yourself apart from colleagues or family members, you can be heard for a while using the built-in laptop microphones, for example in the HP Dragonfly G4 that we tested. Ambient noise is also suppressed very successfully.

Therefore, we see the lack of active noise cancellation for the wearer as a significant disadvantage of this device. When there’s a lot of ambient noise, you need a headset like the Voyager Focus, and when you’re isolated, the hardware of a well-equipped laptop will suffice. For those using a device without high quality video conferencing capabilities, the Poly Voyager 4320 UC is an added value.

software

The headphones come with software: the Poly Lens app. This allows you to manage the device and adjust some settings. Firmware updates also run through the program. Poly wants to add value to the tool by also including a health aspect. Poly Lens notifies you on your PC when you need to take a break from work. Useful, but also somewhat unnecessary. There are plenty of tools to deal with this, and there’s actually a bit of functionality in Windows 11’s Focus Assist. We think Poly does a good job of keeping the software as light as possible: those who use headphones don’t expect and need one detailed application.

Poly Lens works with all of Poly’s hardware and also offers a cloud counterpart for businesses that want to manage multiple devices. There is also a mobile application.

Good but expensive

The Poly Voyager 4320 UC does what it is supposed to do. This headset is ideal for office environments where you are deep in conversation several times a day or where employees are somewhat separated acoustically. The call quality is excellent and the sound is more than decent, even with music.

It is therefore a high-quality functional product that we are not particularly enthusiastic about. Our seven-year-old Plantronics Voyager Focus feels and looks even more premium today, despite its age. The (new) Focus series is priced a class higher than this Poly Voyager 4320 UC, but at 144 euros excluding VAT, this device is not exactly in the entry-level class. However, this headset does everything it needs to do.

However, those who can stand out and have a good microphone in their laptop won’t find much value here, and those working in a busier environment will still benefit more from the noise-cancelling Poly Voyager Focus UC (and a better finish). . For mainly listening to music, there are better (over-ear) options.

For 144 euros you buy a quality headset that you can rely on. All in all, however, we wonder whether this would not have been possible with a slightly higher price.