Hardware

Mobile Phone | Bluetooth Headset

Long-term Field Test: 04.06.2016 to date


Plantronics M70

Photo: Plantronics Bluetooth Headset M70

Photo: Plantronics M70 Bluetooth headset

Hands free when talking on the Phone!

The Bluetooth® Headset Plantronics© M70™ is ideal for all who don´t want call only with their smartphone.
Stream music, podcasts or GPS navigation voice announcings to your headset.

Cause of the separate power button you can switch off the headset here and there and so you can save energy for a longer operation time.

Noise from wind and background will be filtered for an extra clear tonal quality.
Voice announcings informs you about the remain call time, connection status etc.
Answer Calls, End Calls and the Volume you can control comfortably with the buttons at the device.

Due to Multipoint technology two bluetooth devices can be used simultaneously with this headset.
This is great when you must use two smartphones e.g. one for business and one for personal use.

Purchasing

02.06.2016: Ordered a Plantronics M70 at amazon.de. The price: 19.99 EUR – the price of its predecessor M50 was 28.00 EUR (29.12.2011)!
04.06.2016: My favorite DHL Packstation announces me via SMS: parcel received!

Equipment

  • Bluetooth Headset Plantronics M70
  • Ear hook
  • USB charging cable
  • Quick reference guide

Photo: Carton contents Plantronics M70

Photo: Product Contents Plantronics M70

Unpacked

Here I show you a little photo gallery.

Photo: Plantronics M70 recently unpacked

Photo: original packing Plantronics M70, view of left and right side (move the mouse over the image and away)

Photo: Plantronics M70 recently unpacked

Photo: original packing Plantronics M70, view of left and right side (move the mouse over the image and away)

Photo: transparent packaging of the Plantronics M70 Bluetooth headset, bottom side

Photo: transparent boxing of the bluetooth headset Plantronics M70, bottom side

Photo: Plantronics M70

Photo: the Bluetooth-Headset Plantronics M70 …

Photo: Plantronics M70

Photo: the Bluetooth-Headset Plantronics M70 …

Photo: Plantronics M70

Photo: boxing content Bluetooth Headset Plantronics M70

Photo: Plantronics M70

Photo: boxing content Bluetooth Headset Plantronics M70

Photo: Plantronics M70 headset inner side

Photo: M70 inner surface

Photo: Plantronics M70

Photo: Bluetooth Headset side view with the power selector (on/off)

Tech Specs

Headset Weight: 11 g
Measurements: 10.5 x 6 x 18 cm

Call Time: up to 11 hours
Standby Time: up to 11 days

Kind of accumulator: 3.5 Volt Lithium-Ion polymer, rechargeable, not changeable

Charging: at micro USB jack for USB cable or with the supplied charger
Charge Time: 2 hours for a full chargepower demand: 5 Volt, 180 mA

Wearing style: behind the ear, left or right, microphone strap

Bluetooth Technology: Version 3.0
Profile: Advanced Audio Distribution v1.2 (A2DP), Hands-free v1.6 (HFP), Headset v1.2 (HSP)

Coverage: up to 10 meters, Class II

Noise Cancelling Microphone with WindSmart® Technology reduces noice from wind and other background noise.

Storage and Operating Temperature Range: 0–40 °C
Temperature at Charging: 0–40 °C

Practice

First Operation

04.06.2016: First use in the evening without charging the battery, because the display of my iPhone shows a headset battery charge status of 80 percent (yes, the iPhone really reads and shows the battery status of this Plantronics M70 headset on its display!).

Handling

After unpacking first I try how fast and easy I get this headset on my ear. This is important for you if you don´t want to wear the headset permanent but instantly when you hear the ringing of an incoming call. It is easy.

Wear Comfort

The wearing comfort is superb.
With its 8 grams this headset is so light, you will feel it on your ear marginally. Thanks of its lightweight design the wearing is without inconvenient feeling.
It is no in-ear-system and don´t covers your whole external ear. The tiny loudspeaker is placed soft and without pressure ahead of your earhole.
This is the design with best possible wearing comfort for every person. One disadvantage: not the best design for deep bass transmission.

Tonal Quality: Audio Transmission on your Side

Noiseless, high fidelity. The volume you can set with several steps from quiet to very loud.

Tonal Quality: Audio Transmission at the Remote Station

All friends and colleagues using the Plantronics M70 cause of my recommendation have stated a very high tonal quality in both directions.
As a yearslong user of the predecessor M50 I had told my asking friends and colleagues that the M70 couldn´t be worse than the excellent M50.
Furthermore I had read very much positive reviews (e.g. at amazon.de). They all can be fakes, but my own experience with the predecessor M50 was so good, too.

07.06.2016: In the morning, while I am walking to my work I call a friend with my iPhone 6s Plus via Voice over LTE (VoLTE) on his landline phone.
We talk ten minutes with HD Voice quality. Best audio quality you can have like you speak directly without phone face to face. Great!
In the meantime I had further calls with the same good quality.

Testing Environment

I am phoning in the mobile phone network (am.: cellular network) of Deutsche Telekom (Americans knows their subsidiary T-Mobile). Their Network offers a very good reception quality in my sphere of activity. Therefore I can call always with Voice over LTE (VoLTE).
The Smartphones and landline phones of the remote stations were error-free.

During this field test I myself use an Apple iPhone 6s Plus for calls. It offers an outstanding tonal quality at music playback and phone.

The evaluation of the tonal quality is objective, because I don´t inform the called party about my equipment. So I prevent impairments by prejudices or envy.
The environment I mention while talking or at the end of a call if the called party asks me or it becomes topic of the conversation.

Battery Performance

Talk time: up to 11 hours
Standby: up to 16 days / up to 180 days in DeepSleep mode

Battery type: 3.5 volt lithium-ion polymer, rechargeable, non-replaceable

Charging: on the micro USB port for USB cable
Charging time: 2 hours for a full charge

Power requirement: 5 volts, 180 mA

Battery cannot be replaced = total economic loss if battery is defective.

Battery Protocol

A full charge takes about two hours. The indicator light above the large call acceptance button then goes out.
To protect the non-replaceable battery, I avoid discharging it below 20% and charging it above 90% as far as possible.
At an item price of 20 EUR, premature failure due to battery wear is not dramatic, but avoidable.
If I make few calls at the moment and do not listen to podcasts, the battery of the M70 will last an extremely long time. Frequent phone users recharge every day or every two to three days anyway, but for infrequent phone users, my pre-purchase notes might also be interesting.
The Plantronics M70 doesn't have an LC display to read the exact charging status, but it transmits the status to the iPhone.
You can check the battery status at any time via the notification centre (e.g. iPhone: swipe from left to right at the display).

16.06.2016: Charging on the BlackBerry USB power adapter up to 90%.
Remaining charge: 20% at 22:08. First charge since initial operation on 04.06.2016.Charged: 90% at 22:34. Talk time: 8 h.
Conclusion: 70% within 0:26 h.

29.06.2016: Charging on BlackBerry USB power adapter up to 90%.
Remaining charge: 20% at 21:35.
Charged: 90% at 22:06.
Conclusion: 70% within 0:31 h.

Pros

  • reliable stable Bluetooth connection with all tested mobile phones
  • stream music, podcasts or GPS navigation voice announcings to the headset
  • thank of separate power button anytime power off to save energy
  • extra long talk and standby times
  • noise filtering reduces wind and background noise for better tonal quality
  • voice announcings informs you about the remain call time, connection status etc.
  • control answer calls, end calls and the volume comfortably with the buttons at the device
  • due to Multipoint technology two Bluetooth devices can be used simultaneously with this headset
  • stable design, after drop down on the ground the headset is not broken
  • lightweight and barely noticeable – maybe you will forget it sometimes after a long wearing time
  • comfortably perfect fit at the ear, it won´t bother you (no guarantee, humans are different …)

Cons

  • omnidirectional microphone transmits all external noise, therefore less suitable for use in the car
  • the voice control of the smartphone does not always work satisfactorily with loud background noises (escalator, station announcements etc.)
  • microphone mute is fiddly because the tiny volume buttons [+][-] have to be pressed simultaneously and are too close together

Conclusion

This little and lightweight high-tech device eases the daily routine with very good tonal quality, easy using and robust design.

I would purchase this Bluetooth headset again, because it is very handy, offers very good tonal quality in both directions, can be paired with every (?) mobile phone and can be used parallel on two mobile phones – so you have to handle only one headset and of course you save the money for a second headset!

Alternatives

  • Plantronics M90
    equivalent to M70, but with a special USB charge cable in the box – with that you can connect two devices on one USB jack
    (e.g. connect a M90 with the USB jack from your PC and connect another USB device on the same USB jack with that PC)
  • Jabra Supreme+
    Also works with iPhone models of the 11 series (tested with iPhone 11 Pro & iPhone 11 Pro Max)

Photo, f.l.t.r.: Jabra Supreme+, Plantronics M50, Plantronics M70

Photo, f. l. t. r.: Jabra Supreme+ (with fold-out microphone bracket), Plantronics M50, Plantronics M70

Photo, f.l.t.r.: Jabra Supreme+, Plantronics M50, Plantronics M70

Photo, f. l. t. r.: Jabra Supreme+ (with fold-out microphone bracket), Plantronics M50, Plantronics M70

Keyword list: Accumulator, Alternatives, Apple iPhone 6s Plus, Battery Performance, BlackBerry, Bluetooth, Bluetooth Headset, Conclusion, Cons, Experience, Field Test, GPS, HD Voice, Hardware, IT, LTE, Long-term Field Test, Mobile Phone, Mobile Phones, Mouse, Network, PC, Plantronics M50, Plantronics M70, Pros, Reviews, SMS, Smartphone, Smartphones, Storage, USB, User, Who, field test, how, iPhone, photo gallery

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