First up lets start with the price, this is not a cheap solution and so it needs to be a quality product. At £199 we expect many features beyond a basic DECT communicator and from first sight it seems that you don't get that much more beyond the headset in the box.

In essence Plantronics justify the CS60's price by claiming compatibility with a wide range of landline phones from analogue and digital, VOPI to existing DECT systems. Unlike many systems the CS60 sits between your landline phone and the cabled handset, you can then select the type of phone from the 4 positions on the CS60's selector.

The CS60 then transfers your calls audio using DECT technology which gives and effective 100 meter range outdoors and a more realistic 50 meters indoors. The over the ear style of headset is very comfortable if a little large compared to many of today's Bluetooth headsets, the big boom style may not be to everyone's tastes.

The Plantronics CS60 headset gives around 9 hours of talk time from its user replaceable battery which proved more than enough for our heavy office use and would suit those who are away from their desk a lot during the working day. However being a headset design means there is no keypad and without any control pack there is no way to initiate a call meaning you'll have to dial first at your desk then transfer to the headset.

While this can be workable we do feel this has just eliminated a large slice of the potential user base as now its only good for incoming calls or calls you start while at your desk and then transfer to wireless. There are some attempts to further justify the high price tag and the intellistand is the main one, this is a holder for the headset that not only keeps it fully charged but also sense when the headset is removed and can use this to answer incoming calls.

When paired with the option H10 motorised handset lifter you can then use the CS60 as if it were your main telephone handset, the little lifter is a nice piece of work and neatly lifts your fixed lines handset off the hook giving a short delay to get the headset on your ear (but not much of a delay).

Call quality is first class and is amongst the best DECT connections we've used, the earpiece is loud a clear plus the microphone is sensitive yet quite directional making it ideal for use in noisy environments.

Perhaps the saving grace of this CS60 is the USB connection that enables the Plantronics headset to work with Skype. Simply install the handsets software and plug up the USB cable to your PC and you can receive and make VOIP calls. Once again it works very well and the Skype calls were identical in quality and range to the standard landline calls. Sadly it has the same issues with not being able to make outgoing calls from the handset unless you use voice recognition to call out.

We gave the voice recognition a try but ended up order pizza more time than we called Peter, plus without any form of display you can't see who's online on Skype missing out on most of the cool VOIP features. For VOIP we'd stick with the Olympia Dect Skype we unit we tested a few weeks back.

Plantronics have certainly put a lot of effort into building what is a high quality product, however without the H10 its a bit like a chocolate fireguard and we do wonder why its not part of the standard package. DECT handsets are commonplace and available for at least half the price of the CS60 so unless you really need a headset in a hostile environment, like a machine room or test lab we'd have to say check out the other standard DECT sets available.

Published - 06/06/2005

More DECT handset Reviews-

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