If you’re working from home, you need the proper equipment to be productive. Depending on what you do, the right headphones, headset, or speaker can help make working from home really work for you.
For a job that requires you to take a lot of calls, you should consider a dedicated Bluetooth headset. These devices can be monoaural (for one ear) or stereo (two ears), and feature powerful boom microphones with noise-cancelling circuitry that blocks out any sound other than your voice. The microphones are the big deals on these headsets, though you can also find some that deliver very good sound quality.
If you don’t need to take many calls but want to keep out any distractions, look for a pair of noise-cancelling headphones. They use outward-facing microphones to read any distracting noises and generate waves to cancel them out before they hit your ear. Active noise cancellation (ANC) circuitry can be expensive, but it’ll help you stay focused by muffling noisy pets, kids, roommates, traffic, or construction. These headphones generally don’t have boom microphones, so they aren’t quite as good for phone calls.
If you want a boom mic, good sound, and a reasonable price, look for a gaming headset. These are headphones equipped with dedicated boom microphones. They often sound very good, and are available in a wide variety of shapes and sizes, with various different features. Wired headsets tend to cost less and are good for taking calls on your computer, while some headsets feature phone connectivity through Bluetooth.
With that in mind, here are some headphones and headsets that really work for us.
