One thing I have learned over time and after so much traveling is that wireless connectivity is not consistent. At best, it is hit and miss. Part of the problem is the airlines themselves. Another part is the airports. However, there are solutions. On a recent flight I had the chance to check out the new Poly Voyager Free 60 cordless earbuds. I didn’t expect much, but when everything else went south, thankfully they came to my rescue.
Poly sent me these Voyager earbuds hoping I would talk about them and even recommend them. Since I had another business trip coming up, I thought I would test them under real world conditions.
So boldly, I left my other technology home and went for broke. You know, there is nothing is worse than being stuck on a multi-hour flight with no connectivity. So, I was taking my sanity into my own hands.
Compare to Bose QuietComfort earbuds and Apple AirPods
To tell you the truth, these Poly Voyager earbuds worked better than the Delta Airlines TV headphones and when up in the air, even better than the Apple AirPods.
I also have a set of Bose QuietComfort headphones, which always work well. However, they are larger on the ear and take up more room in my suitcase.
Bose does have a similar smaller set of QuietComfort earbuds as well. These are not as quiet as the headphones, but they are smaller and easier to carry around, like the Poly Voyager Free 60.
Plus, there are plenty of other competitors from a host of companies like Samsung, Sony, Beats, JBL, Google and countless others.
Most of these are just fine. Some are more complicated than others. So, it’s really a matter of personal choice and your brand loyalty.
Poly sent Voyager Free 60 earbuds to tech influencers to trial
As a Technology Industry Analyst, columnist, consultant and influencer, I am always interacting with different companies, attending various briefings, meeting with top executives, having luncheons, customer activities and more.
First, they hope to get on my radar and second, win me over.
After many trips I have learned an important lesson about the Apple AirPods. They work just fine connecting to your devices and they are the top selling ear pods on the market today.
However, without help they don’t work on well on a flight. You need to have an adapter to make the connection.
Connect your AirPods to airplane with AirFly, Anker, Realm, Giveet and…
There are many adapters like AirFly, Anker, Realm, Giveet and others. With an adapter, they connect with the plane and let you hear the movie or TV show on the back of seat screen.
An important note, some adapters are simpler than others to use.
Another important note, size matters. While these adapters let you connect, they do add more baggage to carry around with you.
The Poly Voyager Free 60 has a larger case than your typical ear buds, but the adapter is built in and is smaller compared to carrying an ear pod case and an adapter.
After testing the Poly Voyager Free 60 earbuds, the result was good
I was traveling to a meeting and on this trip, I decided to test the Poly Voyager Free 60 earbuds.
When on board, the Delta Airlines entertainment system worked, but I could not listen using my AirPods without an adapter. Sure, I could use them to link to my iPhone or MacBook, but once up in the air, without the adapter they were of little use except for quieting the noise level.
Perfect time to break out the Poly Voyager Free 60. The problem was, I couldn’t find them. I checked every nook and cranny in my backpack and finally came to the conclusion that I forgot them.
Oh no! Great. Just great.
Delta and other airlines need to improve their wireless connectivity
So, my choice seemed suddenly simple I am stuck on an airplane for several hours with either AirPods to help reduce the noise level, or the Delta headset which plugged into the plane letting me watch TV but suffer with loud jet airplane sounds. Not both.
After a short while I couldn’t take it any longer. So, once again I searched every pocket and fold hoping I somehow missed them.
This time, I found them. Yes! They ended up being stuck under some granola bars I shoved in the bag at the last minute.
That was the first good step. Now, I had to hope they would simply work.
Poly Voyager Free 60 earbuds took experience one step further
The Poly Voyager Free 60 earbuds worked well wirelessly connecting to the phone, tablet and laptop. They shut out the extra flight noise similar to others.
This was like the competitor’s devices. But the Poly Voyager Free 60 earbuds took the experience one important step further.
You can also plug the charging case into the TV screen on the plane and wireless connect to it with your earphones. This lets you listen to the TV and get the noise cancelling feature as well.
By the way, this is the same with your workout at the gym. You can plug this into the treadmill and listen to one of many TV sets hanging from the ceiling.
That’s when sitting on the airplane I took a big sigh of relief. It works.
The case also has a touch screen which lets you control different features. Pretty cool.
Airlines should reboot entertainment systems several times daily
On the way back home, things were not so good. It wasn’t the fault of Poly. Rather, it was the fault of Delta Airlines.
While others around me watched TV to their hearts content, I was stuck having my screen flicker on and off between the map and the title screen. I could select nothing.
The whole system needed to be restarted to solve this problem. But Delta didn’t do that. They let me and others with this problem suffer.
In fact, on the originating flight, Delta said they were having similar problems with their video system, so they were restarting it. When it did start up again, everything worked great.
A tip for Delta is to reboot their video system several times a day to make sure your good customers aren’t lost in cyberspace. This is not only for Delta, but for every airline out there.
Just saying. After all, because of competition, keeping your customers happy is a basic rule of success.
Plantronics merged with Polycom to become Poly then HP acquired them
So, I am pleased to report the Poly Voyager Free 60 worked. I would recommend them for their ability to cut the ambient noise level and let you connect to your phone, tablet and laptop. Also, to let you connect to the planes entertainment center by simply plugging it into the airline or health club TV.
Who is Poly? Plantronics merged with Polycom to become Poly. Then they were acquired by HP. So, today Poly is a Hewlett Packard company. Just in case you were wondering.
Any way you slice it, Poly saved me from a long flight out without connectivity, communications and entertainment. They are not the only solution, but they are the one I had with me that trip, and they worked. So, thank you Poly!
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