Jabra Speak 510 MS Wireless Bluetooth Speakerphone – Outstanding Sound Quality, Portable Conference Speaker for Holding Meetings Anywhere – Certified for Microsoft Teams

I got it today for use with Microsoft Teams in a small conference room at work. This thing is tiny, much smaller than I expected: it fits into the palm of my hand. It has a bluetooth connection capability (but it does not come with a special dongle, like my Jabra headset), and also USB connectivity (via the permanently connected to the unit USB cable). I plugged it into Dell docking station, and now we can connect our laptops to the speaker by just plugging in the USB-C cable from the docking station. This cable via docking station provides power to the laptop, feeds video to the TV via HDMI cable, and feeds audio to the Jabra Speak via USB. The sound is surprisingly good – the quality is great, and it is loud enough for the team. While it is nominally rated for 4 people, I found that mike is good enough to pick up sound from people around a larger table, which can sit up to 8 people. Connection to MS Teams as audio established automatically, one did not even need to switch the audio to Jabra Meet in the list. Sound quality on the other end was also better than expected. The only annoying thing is that every time you turn the unit on, it gives recorded instructions to connect to bluetooth – which is totally unnecessary as we do not play to use the bluetooth functionality, and this announcement is very annoying as it is repeated over and over again. I guess, the only way to deal with it is to keep it plugged into the docking station and never turn it off. Overall, a really nice gadget. Please be aware that when you buy on Amazon, the gadget can be sold by Amazon.com or any other business or individual doing merchant business through Amazon. At the time of this writing, there are 3 businesses who are not authorized dealers offering the same unit along with Amazon.com as a seller! You as a customer may pick from whom you want to buy. Jabra is very specific on their web site that warranty support will only be provided to original owners of units bought from authorized resellers. Amazon.com is one of them, but many third party vendors (with names you never heard) who are selling through Amazon are not. Jabra even maintains a list of non-authorized vendors, and they say they sell either grey market products or refurbished units, as they cannot get what they sell directly from Jabra! An option to buy a unit sold directly by Amazon can cost a few dollars more, but it is the only one that comes with warranty!

I recently purchased the Microsoft Lync-compatible version of the Jabra Speak 410 (from Amazon), and have been using it daily for about 3 months. My experience has been excellent and I highly recommend it. This is a very well-designed product.Functionally, it integrates very smoothly with MS Lync and the audio settings of my laptop (the software downloaded via Jabra’s website is very easy to set up and use). It’s about the diameter of a CD, and about an inch thick – with the supplied soft case it tucks away nicely in my laptop bag for on-the-go use.The sound quality of the speaker is excellent – I’ve used it for both conference calls, VoIP phone calls via Lync, and listing to music and CDs from my laptop. In all cases, it sounded as good or better than any external computer speakers I have ever used (excluding outboard subwoofers, etc.). It gets plenty loud and can easily fill a small to medium size room with sound.People whom I am speaking with via the Jabra 410 have told me that my audio quality (i.e. the Jabra 410’s internal microphone) sounds excellent, however I have not been able to actually hear how I sound to others when using the Jabra 410 so I can not compare the Jabra 410’s mic sound quality to more traditional wired headsets or dedicated external mics. All my use of the Jabra has been from my own home office or small conference rooms, so I can not confirm how it performs in large conference rooms with many people speaking in a group (Jabra claims the microphone is multidirectional, and it does appear to be).It has a jack for an external headset, so you can listen to calls/music/audio privately if others are in the room with you, and when doing so it continues to use its own internal microphone in case you need to speak. I have not tried this, but I suspect the headphone jack would also allow you to connect the Jabra to an outboard audio system or the audio input of a computer monitor with speakers (and I suspect when doing so it would maintain full duplex audio).The onboard controls (volume, mute, etc.) are touch-sensitive and work very smoothly, and when pressing them the Jabra’s LEDs light up and you hear a soft “click” sound through the Jabra’s speaker to confirm (really slick, actually).A feature I particularly like is that when you press the “Mute” button, all 12 of the LEDs around the outer ring of the device light up red, and do NOT blink when you are on mute. The LEDs will stay red as long as the unit is muted, so at a quick glance you can verify that you are on mute, even from several feet away from the unit. I can’t stand mute lights that blink when on mute, especially when on long calls where I am not a key participant and am on mute for most of the call.My only complaint is that it is a wired device and isn’t wireless/battery powered. I’ll bet Jabra’s working on a wireless version though (if they aren’t they should be). Also, it would be nice to have a hinged base or “kickstand” so you could angle it toward you rather than having it point straight up all the time.If you’re looking for a true hands-free audio conferencing experience via MS Lync that is similar to that of traditional and far more expensive conferencing equipment (like Polycom, etc.), the Jabra Speak 410 will work nicely.

I tried a cheaper disc that started giving me static issues 3 months in. I have never had a complaint about the clarity of my voice in online meetings and have never had issues with the sound from this disc. Easy to use and works great.

I purchased my second one because it’s so easy to use. One for work and one for home. This is truly plug-and-play with no software to download, no apps, no special instructions or difficult setup.Take it out of the box, stick the USB plug in, and it’s working. That simple.(I have used mine with both Dell and HP laptop computers)Outstanding microphone sensitivity – can pick up on all of the voices around a table in an average sized conference room (8 to 10 people).

I have a reputation among friends, associates, family for doing a deep dive and researching the field when choosing new products. I like to understand the differences between products, state of the art, etc., and generally be an informed buyer. I’ve also been in “tech” for more than 35 years, with roles from hands on through CIO and CTO, so I’ve got a lot of experience researching and choosing products, whether for one person or thousands. In short: I tend to be a picky shopper. I researched the field here, and think I’ve found a winner.At this point in my career, I’m traveling weekly, and I’m meeting — either in person or remote — with numerous people each week. Conference calls are the norm, and may involve dozens of people, conference rooms with poor equipment, offices with dreadful 15 year old “speakerphones”, hotel rooms, working from my home office, etc. One of the most frustrating experiences is trying to participate in a mission critical conference call when 1) I can barely hear or understand the folks at the other end, and 2) they can’t hear and understand me unless I lean over a mic and raise my voice. Cell phone “speakerphones” may be acceptable in an emergency, but haven’t proven adequate for routine use.I had recently research Bluetooth speakers for use primarily as audio / music listening speakers (for use, e.g., with Google Play Music from my phone). I researched and auditioned many: Bose, Cambridge, JBL, Shark, Amazon, Phillips, Anker, Jambox, etc. I narrowed it down to those with speakerphone capability, thinking I’d satisfy that need along with the media speaker requirement. After a LOT of research and live auditions, I settled on Nyne Bass, and couldn’t be happier with it — as a media speaker – truly amazing in all respects: sound is stunningly good – even outdoors, and both battery life and bluetooth handling are excellent. Unfortunately, it’s only mediocre when turning a phone into a speakerphone, and often quite disappointing — and I’ve tried out colleague’s products like Jambox for the same purpose, and also found them disappointing. So — I went on the hunt for a “real” business quality Bluetooth speakerphone.After much research, I homed in on Jabra, and the 510+ looked most promising after reading a LOT of reviews. Buying via Amazon Prime, I knew I had no risk, so I place the order — and had the package on my desk about 36 hours later. Once again — kudos to Amazon Prime and the vendors that work with Amazon in this program.The product is perfectly packaged, and beautifully made. It appears to be about 4.5″ in diameter, and about 1.25″ high when sitting flat on a desk or table. It is a gorgeous, professional grade piece of tech with excellent fit and finish and features. It comes with a neoprene zipper case, the USB cord wraps around the body and tucks into a groove that also holds the cable end in place. Incredibly well thought out and executed.This model can be connected to a phone or laptop via bluetooth, and to a laptop via USB cable. It doesn’t come with its own charging brick, but the USB cable can charge from any standard 1A or higher brick. It takes a while for a full charge, but once charged, I can use it all day and into the night, and the charge is only partially depleted.Sound quality is absolutely spectacular for the purpose. I can place this on a table or desk in a room with a dozen people at distances from 3 ft to 15 ft or more, and they are all picked up and easily understand by people at the other end of the call. What comes out of the speaker is superb as well: I’m often on the receiving end of a conference call with two dozen people, all different sound environments and volume levels, and half a dozen international accents — and this speaker yields clear audio rivaling $400 or $500 Polycom and Cisco equipment (no exaggeration). This is so good, in fact, that I’ve taken to turning it on when sitting in my office at my current client’s site, and using it in favor of the brand new Cisco equipment installed there. It’s a better experience.The controls around the perimeter are all touch controls — no physical buttons to degrade, and they work perfectly. Power, answer / hang up, volume up/down, bluetooth (on/off/pair), mute, battery (to check battery charge level). There are a serious of LEDs around the perimeter of the speaker that are almost invisible when off, but light up as needed to indicate function, e.g., Bluetooth connected, power on, volume level and battery life (number of lights on out of ten around the perimeter), etc. Audio prompts walk you through pairing, connection status, etc — and these can be turned on and off via preferences.The firmware is easily upgradeable via the USB cable and downloadable PC application. I haven’t had need to use the app yet, but it provides deeper control over options and connection to services like Lync. This also provides support for soft phones: this “510+ MS edition” is optimized for Microsoft products like Lync — the other 510+ is, I believe, aimed more at other soft phone products like Cisco.All in all: a beautifully designed, engineered and implemented product. Every now and then you trip across a gem that defines state of the art in its category – and I believe this qualifies. As you might guess, I’m delighted with this product.