Plantronics Audio 995

Product Survey: Headsets with microphones

Plantronics is the headphone and mobile phone accessories division of Altec Lansing, a brand that's well known for the quality of its audio products. Let's see if the .Audio 995 can live up to the reputation. Despite being well put together, this headset doesn't make a great first impression with its mixture of glossy and matte black plastics and silver paintwork that's of rather dubious quality. It's the same with the USB key, which is neither refined or attractive. Likewise with the padding around the top of the headphones: it's quite a firm foam covered in fake leather. We've seen classier choices. Only the matte plastic does well, and it's smooth finish feels pleasant to the touch. Up to this point, the promises made by this product really didn't stand up to our scrutiny. Sure, there was never any hope we'd find a real pair of headphones inside, but … There are buttons on the outside that allow you to control the volume in Windows, as well as playing music in iTunes or Windows Media PLayer. You can pause the track you're listening to or start it up again or move to the next one … but it's impossible to move to the next track. There just isn't a control for it.