HP H8000 Wireless Headset - Smooth Operator

Talk clearer and listen closer with HP's wireless headset

Here at CHIP, we've reviewed headsets meant for gaming, movies and pure musical enjoyment. We've gone up the highest note and rode down to the lowest bass, traversing the fickle lands of aural bliss and sensuality. How ignorant are we to have ignored another segment of headsets that are equally significant? We're talking about office headsets: the crowns of operators worldwide. Crowns like the HP H8000 Wireless Headset.

If you haven't caught on already, the H8000 is a wireless headset made to be more viable for work environments, and the looks itself reflects it. Nothing rugged or grungy here: the H8000 is slim, and sensibly minimalistic in design.

The H8000 is a surprisingly comfortable wear. The ear-cans are well padded and cushioned, fitting just rightly on the ear so it doesn't heat up like enveloping cans would. The pressure keeping the ear-cans on is also just right. You needn't be too worried wearing it during those long work hours.

It's easy operation here: you only need to worry about the on-ear volume control, a microphone-deactivating button and the swivel-down microphone itself. The Wireless connectivity here works over a USB receiver, and it's plug-&-play from the start. We found ourselves tuned in within seconds. No wires and no hassle here!

Sound quality is pretty good overall. While we can't directly compare it to higher-end headsets, the H8000 delivers clear audio with a decent amount of bass and clarity. It works well over music and movies, too, and can go loud enough without breaking. The noise-cancelling microphone is excellent, doing a good job in isolating noise and providing crystal clear audio.

The signal holds well in close range, but if you take the headset a little further you'll find that it'll disrupt or break when a few obstacles come between. It's hardly a big deal, because you'll less likely take it beyond your office cubicle. We did discover, however, that when left to idle, you can catch a faint but audible string of static, which can be rather distracting.

HP H8000 Wireless Headset

Price $48.99

Info www.hp.com

Specifications

Connectivity: USB receiver, mini-USB (charging)

Frequency Range: 20Hz - 20 KHz

Other: Noise cancelling microphone

(+) Good audio quality

Comfortable wear

Easy Plug-n-play

Great microphone

(-) Slight static when idle Ranged performance could be better