The Best Headphones and Headsets for Work Calls

Generally yes. A boom mic sits close to your mouth and, combined with noise-cancelling processing, isolates your voice far better than the mics built into most consumer headphones, so colleagues hear less keyboard noise and background chatter. Premium headphones like the Sony WH-1000XM6 have closed much of the gap with beamforming AI mics, but in a genuinely noisy room a dedicated boom-mic headset such as the Jabra Evolve2 65 or Poly Voyager Focus 2 UC still has the edge.

You do not need to spend a fortune. A capable wired headset such as the Logitech Zone Wired starts around £90, and a comfortable wireless one like the Zone Vibe 100 sits near £100. Around £140-£160 buys a business-grade wireless headset with a busylight and multipoint, such as the Jabra Evolve2 65 or a discounted Poly Voyager Focus 2. Only step up to roughly £350 for a Sony WH-1000XM6 if you also want flagship music and travel noise cancellation in the same pair.

Unified Communications (UC) and Microsoft Teams certification mean the manufacturer has validated the headset to work reliably with those platforms, including features like the hardware mute and call-answer buttons and the busylight. Many headsets come in separate UC and Teams-certified variants, so if you live in Teams it is worth choosing the matching version for the smoothest plug-and-play experience. All the picks here work with Zoom, Teams and Google Meet.

It helps you, but it does not change what your colleagues hear. Active noise cancellation (ANC) reduces the background noise you hear, making it easier to concentrate, while a separate technology, the noise-cancelling microphone, controls how much of your background noise reaches the call. If you work somewhere loud, look for both a strong mic system and ANC; if your space is quiet, a good mic alone, as on the Logitech Zone Vibe 100 or Jabra Evolve2 65, is enough.

Earbuds can work for occasional calls and are great for portability, but their tiny, far-from-mouth mics rarely match a boom-arm headset for voice clarity, and battery life is shorter for back-to-back meetings. If calls are a core part of your day, an over-ear headset with a boom mic like the Jabra Evolve2 65 will make you noticeably clearer and more comfortable. Keep earbuds as a mobile back-up rather than your main call device.

Wireless headsets let you stand up, stretch and move between rooms during long calls, and multipoint models pair with a laptop and phone at once. Wired headsets like the Logitech Zone Wired trade that freedom for simplicity: nothing to charge, no pairing and no dongle, so they are ideal for a permanent desk setup. If you value reliability and low cost over mobility, go wired; otherwise wireless is the more flexible choice.