Earbuds are fine for a quick call. If you spend hours a day in meetings, a proper headset with a boom microphone is a different experience — for the people listening to you more than for you. This guide explains the connection types, what “certified for Teams” actually means, and which headset style fits your day.
Quick answer
- Back-to-back meetings in a noisy home: a wireless headset with a boom mic and ANC.
- Calls plus music, quiet room: ANC headphones with a good mic, or a USB mic (see USB microphones).
- Contact-centre style all-day use: a lightweight mono headset with a DECT base.
- Budget and reliability: a wired USB headset — no battery, no pairing, no surprises.
Why a boom mic beats earbuds
Microphone distance matters more than microphone quality. A boom arm puts the mic a few centimetres from your mouth, so your voice arrives loud relative to the room — which means less aggressive noise processing and a more natural sound. Earbud mics sit near your jaw and rely on algorithms to separate you from the room; they do well in a quiet office and struggle in a café or a house with kids.
Connection types
| Type | Strengths | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Wired USB | Plug and play, no battery, stable, cheapest | You’re tethered to the desk |
| Bluetooth | Works with laptop and phone; multipoint on many models | Call audio quality can drop when the mic is active |
| USB dongle (2.4GHz) | Dedicated link, better call audio than Bluetooth | Uses a USB port; keep the dongle with the headset |
| DECT base | Long range — walk around the house mid-call; excellent battery management | Bigger, more expensive, desk base required |
“Certified for Microsoft Teams” and similar badges
Certification means the headset was tested with that platform and its buttons work as expected — answering, muting and the dedicated Teams key. Many models come in separate UC and Teams variants with the same hardware. If your company runs on Teams or Zoom, buying the matching variant saves small daily frustrations.
Features that matter in real meetings
- Mic mute by flipping the boom up — the fastest, most reliable mute there is.
- Sidetone (hearing your own voice in the headset) stops you from shouting.
- Multipoint so a phone call doesn’t require re-pairing.
- Busy light that tells the household you’re on a call.
- Mono vs. stereo: mono keeps one ear free for the room; stereo is better if you also listen to music.
- Replaceable ear cushions — they wear out long before the electronics.
- Weight and clamp force decide whether hour six is comfortable.
Brands to shortlist
Jabra (Evolve2 line), Poly (Voyager and Blackwire), Logitech (Zone series) and EPOS are the names that dominate business headsets, with models at most price points from wired to premium wireless with ANC. Consumer brands make good headphones, but fewer have a real boom mic.
Get more from whatever you own
- Pick the headset explicitly as input and output device in your meeting app, not just in the operating system.
- Turn on the app’s noise suppression — Teams, Zoom and Meet all have it.
- Position the boom at the corner of your mouth, not in front of it, to avoid breath noise.
- Record a test message and listen back before an important call.
- If your room echoes, soft furnishings help more than any gadget.
Want to look as good as you sound? See our webcam guide and desk lighting guide.