Review: Sennheiser MB 660 Wireless Headset Could Keep You Sane In The Office

Maximizing your productivity in the office is all about striking a balance. You've got to be able to tune everything out and concentrate one minute, then tune back in the next to interact with a colleague.

Wearing noise-canceling headphones might seem like a way to help with the concentration part--until you realize you're having to pull them off every time someone comes over to ask a question.

With all of that in mind, at the CRN Test Center, we're fans of the new wireless noise-canceling Sennheiser MB 660 headset, and it is not the noise-canceling functions that have us so enthused. We were really impressed with the headset's the ability to quickly let us tune back in and hear what' going on around us. Upon seeing that someone wants to talk to you—or that something is going on in the office that you want to hear—you can just double tap on the right earphone of the MB 660, which serves as a touchpad. The double tap halts the noise canceling function and lets you hear the surrounding sounds clearly.

In our tryout, this was just one of the many cool features of Sennheiser's new headset, which seems to deliver on its promise of making the workplace a little easier and more productive.

Another key feature is that noise cancellation itself has some smarts to it; the headset adjusts to the level of ambient noise that's happening around you.

When listening to audio, we also liked that the headset lets you adjust the volume easily with an upward or downward swipe on the right earphone.

The sound quality is terrific, meanwhile, and the headset includes a number of "effect modes" that can be deployed depending on what you're listening to (whether it be music or talking, for instance).

As mentioned, the MB 660 is geared toward the workplace, and as such it is certified for use with Microsoft Skype for Business and works with major unified communications technologies as well.

The headset can pair with a smartphone over Bluetooth, or work with a PC. One particularly thoughtful move, in our view, is that the MB 660 comes with a small USB dongle that automatically connects your PC to the headset when it's plugged in. That saves users from the trouble of having to pair the headset with their laptop over Bluetooth, which is often problematic in our experience.

The only thing to keep in mind is that the dongle uses USB-A, and increasingly laptops are being made with few (or no) USB-A ports, in favor of USB-C. Which means, yes, you may end up needing another adapter to make the dongle work.

In terms of making calls, the MB 660 optimizes the transmission of your voice using three multi-directional microphones—including technologies for honing in on your voice and for reducing wind noise. That means you can reliably make hands-free calls even while on the move. And, of course, the fact that the headset is wireless makes this even more convenient.

On battery life, the headset promises up to 30 hours on a charge, and even if it drains down there is a wire included that can still be used to connect the headset to your device.

One nitpick with the MB 660 is that the earphones aren't as adjustable as we would expect—the fit is a bit tight for our liking—though not so tight that it would be a deal-breaker.

The MB 660 is not exactly bargain priced at $450, though it doesn't seem an unreasonable investment--$100 more than Bose QuietComfort 35, for instance--given the many useful work-oriented features of the headset.