Amazon.com: Customer reviews: Sennheiser Presence UC (504576) - Dual Connectivity, Single-Sided Bluetooth Headset for Mobile Device & Softphone/PC Connection, with Carrying Case and USB Dongle, Major UC Platform Compatible (Black)

Finally, a Bluetooth earpiece I can LOVE!!! Sennheiser hits a home run!!!

Reviewed in the United States on February 20, 2018

Like many others, I have been through a variety of Bluetooth earpieces, never being truly happy with some aspect of performance (inadequate earpiece volume, poor sound quality, poor overall value, poor noise rejection, poor battery life, etc.). I can say that this Sennheiser earpiece ticks all the boxes!
Comfort: I'm able to wear all day long without the ear hook with no issues. Has never fallen out. If wearing while being physically active, I would suggest using the ear hook. Easy to forget it's in my ear!
Audio volume: All the volume I want, and sometimes have to turn it down depending on level of incoming signal.
Audio quality: Superb! Produces High Definition call quality like I've never heard before (high-end Plantronics, Bose, Motorola), and standard definition audio as as good as it can possibly be. Music reproduction can be considered "high fidelity" within the limits of this being a small earpiece not sealed to the ear canal.
Audio quality at caller end: Nothing but positive feedback. Super clear, highly intelligible per five or six callers questioned.
Spurious noise rejection: Amazing! Standing in busy airport with loud announcements and the caller cannot hear any of it. Was on open deck on ferry boat in extremely strong winds a few days ago. The caller heard me clearly and was unaware that I was standing in 40 - 50 mph winds!
Battery life: As advertised. Takes me through a long day with talk time to spare.
Ergonomics, controls: Super easy to use, simple control layout, no errant button presses, but volume up/down buttons could be a little better defined for touch, but perfectly adequate. Sliding out the short microphone "boom" by a 1/4" turns it on very smoothly. Sliding in turns it off smoothly.
Appearance: Not the smallest earpiece, but also not unusually large. The device exudes quality when in your hand. Beautiful design, really, and something I've grown accustomed to with Sennheiser products (I've owned and used their stereo over-the ear headphones, and a couple of microphones over the years).
Bluetooth performance: Pairing was very easy. Earpiece battery charge level indicator is visible on my iPhone screen. I've had two or three connection dropouts with my iPhone. Very quick to react to incoming calls (earpiece with power off in my pocket, phone rings, place earphone in my ear and pull down mic boom, picks up call quickly).

Highly recommended if you're a serious Bluetooth earpiece user!

8 people found this helpful

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Randy E. Blue

Great battery life, picky alignment requirements, uncomfortable ear inserts.

Reviewed in the United States on March 3, 2016

Style: Presence UCVerified Purchase

This headset is a nice improvement over the Jawbone Era headset I previously used. The battery life on this headset far exceeds that of any headset I have previously used. With a full charge, the headset reports between 8 and 10 hours of usage. I am not a constant user of a cell phone, but after making several extended calls during the course of the day, the headset still reports between 4 and 8 hours of usage at the end of the day, unlike the Era which began the day with a full charge of 4 hours, but generally dropped to 2 hours within the first 10-15 minute phone call. The Era was always empty by the end of the day. On the other hand, the ear inserts of the Sennheiser do not fit comfortably for me. The medium size is too small to really secure the headset in my ear. While the large size secures well enough, after a full day of use, my ear begins to hurt just a bit from the headset. Also, this headset seems quite picky on how it is placed in the ear. If I do not make sure that it is precisely lined up along the side of my face, the other parties to the call often complain that they cannot hear me very well. So long as the headset is properly aligned, the sound quality is very good at either end of the call. The claim of 25 meters range is overly optimistic.

Update April 5, 2016

After an extensive trial, I have concluded that this headset is pretty much terrible. Initially, it was occasionally plagued by sound problems on the other end of calls, which I attributed to its requiring careful placement. Things have just gotten ridiculous with call recipients constantly saying, "What did you say? You're cutting out. Are you saying anything? Hello? Hello? Hello?" In to the trash it goes and I will be going shopping tonight to try to find one that works. The battery life is the only reason this pricey piece of junk even merits one star.

8 people found this helpful

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William Minton

Reviewed in the United States on July 11, 2014

Style: Presence UCVerified Purchase

I thought I'd lost my Bose Bluetooth headset Series 2 and after doing a lot of research, I placed an order for the Sennheiser Presence. I went w/the UC model because that was the one with the best price at the time. I've not used the UC functionality, and doubt I will. I simply wanted a replacement for my Bose Series 2, and quite simply, that's what I got.

I eventually found my Bose Series 2, but after having used the Sennheiser, the Bose has been relegated to backup duties. They are similar in weight/feel/functionality, but the Sennheiser feels slightly lighter and less lightly to fall out of my ear. I've had the Bose since July 2012 and am very used to it and its shortcomings, which are mostly battery life and noise cancelling for whoever I'm talking to.

Battery life with the Bose is probably 2 to 4 hours of talk time at the most. The biggest issue of it is the lack of any real noise cancelling for the person I'm talking to. For example, if I'm filling a cup with ice at the refrigerator, walking outside with any wind, or even starting my vehicle where the seat-belt beep seems to go on forever, the person on the other end complains about the noise level. With the Sennheiser, they seem to not even hear it. You do have to apply some level of common sense of course. If you're out in 10-15mph winds for example, they're likely to notice, but anything less than that, and they'll think the phone is to your head and you're on your couch.

Battery life is fantastic. I've charged it once since I got it, and talked on it for a few hours and it still indicates I have several hours of talk time left. That alone is worth the purchase, but when you add in the sound clarity, noise cancellation, and comfort of how it fits, it really is a no brainer if you're in the market for a higher end bluetooth headset. So far, I can recommend it without hesitation.

UPDATE: I've used the Sennheiser quite a bit at this point and yesterday spent some time on the phone with a buddy who typically complains quite a bit about the background noise my kids (four of them) make while I'm on the phone. A couple of times during our call I responded to the kids and he seemed very impressed that he didn't even know I was home. He couldn't hear them talking or playing the background, and they were definitely making some noise. He also owns the Bose I used to use and says there's no question which one he's buying next.

The noise cancellation, battery life, ability to sync to multiple devices, and USB dongle are key reasons this is the product to beat. That USB dongle comes in handy if you're just wanting to watch a quick video on the computer and don't want to disturb the people around you, or want some privacy when using Skype or something similar.

Get this one, you won't be disappointed.

148 people found this helpful

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Vincent D. Rodriguez

Excellent product while it lasted.

Reviewed in the United States on January 15, 2019

Style: Presence UCVerified Purchase

I purchased the Sennheiser Presence August 2018. Sound quality was excellent. The best out of the many BT headsets I have owned. the mic/power switch combination was a bit irritating at first but I was able to get used to it. You turn the unit on by pulling the mic slide out. Sometimes, while doing normal motions near your face, you can hit the slide and accidentally turn off the unit. If you're on a call, this will disconnect the call.

The unit comes with a single ear hook and three, different sized, friction "loops" for use with/without the ear hook. When using the loops, extended use can produce an ear ache where the loop presses on the ear.

Noise cancelling properties are fantastic. While speaking on the phone and driving on the freeway with the window down, callers were barely able to discern that I was driving.

I gave the Presence only 3 stars due to the fact that the speaker in the unit has failed. I can still hear, but, the speaker is "blown", as in, the sound coming out is very tinney. So 4 months in and the unit is no longer useful to me. Amazon support has ended for the product and now I will find out how good the customer service is from Sennheiser. More to come...

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M. Elek

The good: Excellent battery life

Reviewed in the United States on November 24, 2014

Style: Presence UCVerified Purchase

The good: Excellent battery life. Very easy to use. Compact. Excellent build quality. Voice quality is very good. You can connect to multiple sources at once, such as your PC and your phone. It does a good job of eliminating wind noise.

The not so good: Trying to remember what each flashing sequence of the blue LED means. Comfort, which depends largely on the shape and size of your ear and your tragus (that small flap that covers the opening of the ear). Price - it's one of the higher-priced Bluetooth earpieces on the market.

My thoughts:
I was looking for a high-quality Bluetooth earpiece. I was tired of the dangling cord, the short life in the Nokia Luma (15 to 20 minutes before it ran out of battery power) and the need to cover my earpiece every time I stepped outside because of wind noise.

I have owned a lot of Sennheiser products, starting with my first set of headphones in the early 1980s to some earbuds that I bought last month.

The entire thing is packed in a non-descript brown box, which contains a high-quality hard case, instructions and three rubber ear hoops. Inside the case is the earpiece, a Bluetooth USB dongle, which can plugged into a computer, the ear hook and a short, very thick USB charging cable.

After charging it on a regular micro-USB charger, I began testing it. First up, sync it with my phone (Nokia N9). No problem.

Next, turn it on. I was looking for a button. With the Presence, you turn it on by sliding the microphone forward. A voice informs you that it is now on "Power on" and when it is connected. A single press of the Sennheiser "S" will tell you how much battery life is left in hours of talk time. Sort of cool, right? The volume buttons are on the end opposite the microphone on the corners. You can switch the buttons if you always put the earpiece into the same ear.

The one thing that bedevils me a bit is comfort. I'm going back and forth between using the small rubber hoops and the ear hook. My tragus - the small hard flap that covers the front of the ear opening, sticks out slightly. That means that the bluetooth earpiece doesn't lay flat against the side of my head. Some days, it feels very comfortable with the ear hook. Other days, the ear hook is uncomfortable so I switch to the hoop. There are three sizes of hoops. For my ear, the small one works best. You have to test all three to see which one is best for you. You have to remove the rubber covering of the earpiece if you want to put on one of the hoops.

Summary:
I think the design is excellent and avoids unnecessary frills. I like that it tells you in approximate hours how much talk time you have left. The sliding on-off switch is good, although I have hung up on people accidentally because I turned off the Presence while trying to reposition it in my ear.

In colder weather, if you plan to use a hood, make your call before your pull on your hood. There are several microphones on the extension, and the Presence selects the best available one. Several people said they could no longer hear me after I pulled my hood over my head.

Overall, I really like this earpiece. I just need to find a way to make it feel comfortable on and in my ear.

2 people found this helpful

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VirtualWatts

Fantastic headset with multiple fit and source options and very very effective noise cancellation

Reviewed in the United States on September 20, 2016

Style: Presence UCVerified Purchase

This has got to be the best Bluetooth headset for cell phones period. I travel quite a bit and am on business calls constantly, including conference calls where I am the speaker. I've been through about every headset worth buying, wired and wireless, including the last three Jabras and the two gen's of Bose. No comparison, this unit tops the all.

The Sennheiser has clear crisp sound and more importantly for me, the person or persons on the other end can hear me perfectly without background noise. I have tried this while walking down an urban roadway in DC and in airports. They can hear me fine, cannot hear all the background noise. Stellar.

I admit the on-off is a bit awkward, I thought it would be a problem, but I've learned to adapt and after a week it was unnoticeable. In case it isn't clear to you, the silver boom mic is pulled out half an inch to turn on and off - the awkwardness of the design is that if you handle the earpiece during a call (adjusting in your ear for example) it is possible to hang up the call. You learn to only handle on the sides, just like with the ERA series you never touch the back.

The one area I am still challenged is the ear bud. This unit uses the similar loop tab style in-ear bud as many others like the Jabra, and personally I don't think they stay in the ear very well. There is an over ear hook and that works fine but is not quick to put on and off, for a long car drive the over the ear is the right choice, for a "from pocket to ear" sort of situation it doesn't work.

If a Sennheiser human interface engineer was listening I'd suggest an ear gel like the bose sport, the kind with the "hook" to fit snugly in the curve of the ear. I modified my Jabras to use an ear gel that is sold here on Amazon (the clear white ones, the yellowis ones are crap) and they were perfect. It gave my Jabras the perfect fit similar to the Bose. I'll be doing same with this headset and report back.

I also ordered the headset separately, the over the head operator looking thing, and that is neat for days at my home-office when I'm just at a desk all day I can do cell and computer skype/webex meetings with the same device, no more swapping out.

The battery has provided duration as advertised, and since I charge mid-day it hasn't been a problem for super long days.

I am right now on Amazon ordering a second one so if I lose or break this one I won't worry it is no longer available.

3 people found this helpful

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Celeste

Disappointing ergonomics, good electronics, and amazing battery life.

Reviewed in the United States on July 4, 2017

Style: Presence UCVerified Purchase

NOTE: I updated this. Bottom line with a modification it works great. So, 1/2 a Star for ergonomics, and 4 Stars for good electronics.
Totally disappointed. Once every 5-20 (approx) I have to re-install it in my ear or otherwise adjust it. Plus, the audio isn't all that special. The mic does seem to be OK in a noisy environment.
I wish I had stuck with the older tech ERA by Jawbone. It has a great fitting ear piece and is super light weight. Only the talk time / standby time is horrible. I'll give it to the Sennheiser for excellent battery life!!
I guess I'll try it with the hoop even though I hate those.

UPDATE: So I used the stupid hoop for a while. Totally uncomfortable and the Bluetooth just bounces on my ear and is useless in even mildly noisy environments.
My solution: I took the ear piece from my ERA and put it on the Sennheiser. Bingo! ...comfortable, stays in place, and plenty of volume with it being somewhat sealed into the ear. I may end up needing to silicone it in place, but it will be worth it.
I already said it....I'll say it again. Crazy good battery life. I haven't charged it since the initial charge 25 days ago and it just reached the 2-4 hrs available mark. It's a cinch for making it a month. (VS charging at least once a day with the ERA)

One person found this helpful

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Joan A. Smith

Great sound & performance in a near-weightless headset

Reviewed in the United States on November 7, 2015

Style: Presence UCVerified Purchase

Lightweight, easy to fit, and a battery that lasts hours on end: What more could you want? Well, I would prefer softer silicone ear inserts because I wear the headset for very long periods of time, but enough different sizes come with the headset to ensure that one of them will fit OK. Easy to switch from one ear to the other. Great packaging, with a little Bluetooth 4.x USB connector (in case your computer doesn't support this latest Bluetooth version), a micro-USB charging cable, a car-lighter adapter for USB charging, and a compact hard case for storing all of these items. The USB dongle is a very small, 1/2-inch x 1-inch USB-connected plastic piece, not obtrusive at all. The car charger fits into any cigarette lighter socket and has a standard USB female receptacle. So it's basically an extra USB charger for your car. Sound quality is fine: I use it to listen to my Audible books on my iPhone 6s and, even though it is only one ear, the sound is clear and strong. Best feature for me is the instant-on-connected, and instant-off-disconnected. Simply slide the little silver frame edge out (to connect) or up (to disconnect) and it is virtually immediately sync'ed with the phone. So I can leave the headset off, slide it on to answer an incoming call, and within a ring the call is connected. Other bluetooth sets took too long to sync from an off state, and leaving a headset on when not in use is pointless.

This was an expensive purchase, but I am very satisfied with the product and its performance. Quick to charge, long talk/listen time, really long idle time, great sound, great voice quality, super lightweight. Headsets.com fulfilled the order and they are terrific. Highly recommend this one.

5 people found this helpful

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Bruce_in_LA

Good noise reduction without sounding tinny

Reviewed in the United States on January 26, 2014

Style: Presence UCVerified Purchase

Usually with earsets you can have good sound, good noise reduction, but not both. The PRESENCE seems to do a good job of providing both.

MICROPHONE SOUND QUALITY -----------------
I tested against the native Iphone 5 microphone, a Jbuds J6M earbug set, and an HX550 earset. Leaving myself voicemails, there was not a great range in sound among all four, although the Sennheiser Presence was a little better.

NOISE REDUCTION ----------------
I tested leaving voicemails near a very loud TV with the native iPhone microphone, the J6M, and the Sennheiser. To my surprise, the iPhone itself was pretty good, and as I expected the J6M earbud/microphone set was bad, with the background TV noise not only present and badly distorted and grating.
With the Sennheiser, the background TV noise essentially disappeared.
So it does what it says: multi microphone based electronic noise reduction. Good. I am guessing it uses the (a) main extended microphone as the main input, while (b) microphones facing out on the lateral side receive "noise" to be canceled, and (c) tiny microphones on the inside near your skin help confirm the sounds that are really your voice.

LOOK & FEEL------------
In Your Ear:
This is a 50% bigger than my last headset HX550, but it's feather light. With the over-ear loop (it is packaged in this configuration), it was comfortable enough but the speaker floated well outside my (small) ear canal so while the sound was loud and clear enough, there was no benefit to a snug fit for reducing ambient noise while listening in that ear. (The HX550 and other earsets can be good at that.) Although it is not a small earset, it was light enough to work with an small flexible in-ear rubber brace and this also provided somewhat better sound sealing for me. I assume I will usually use with the in-ear brace. When you change from the over-ear loop to the in-ear brace, the loop just pulls out of a hole (it's snug so the first time you'll worry if this is correct.) You won't be able to put the small rubber in ear loop until until after you remove a tiny inconspicous thin black cap from the speaker piece, used with the big over the ear loop but separate from it.

Using Its Controls:
ON OFF? The pull-arm to turn on and off was convenient enough.
END CALL? The mid-lateral push buttom to end a call was small and subtle, so you'd have to get use to that.
VOLUME? Tiny top and bottom edge buttons to raise and lower volume were somewhat difficult, again, you'll really have to get used to the feel and location of these. Some of the software ergonomics were good - the +/- buttons were for call volume during a call, but things like ring volume when off line. Depending on your left/right ear preference (which will invert the earset) you can flip flop the identity of the +/- buttons.
MUTE? Mute is possible, but it is achieved by pushing the plus-minus volume buttons along the earbud's upper and lower edge simultaneously, which seems fairly awkward. You may find yourself just using mute on your phone screen during a call.

Music:
While no one would use a one-ear earset primarily to enjoy music, I tried it and the sound was the best of any earset I've ever had. (No big achievement, but WAY better than listening to the little iphone speaker.) I suspect I'll use often when going on walks to listen to Pandora or podcasts.

SPECs
* I have not tested the up to ten hour life but that would be great; it's due to a new version of Bluetooth but it's not clear to me the life will be as good with any phone. Also great battery news: has rapid charge (30 min = 50% = 5 h, 90 min = 100% = 10 h).
* It comes with a nice hard shell black case, not small, almost 3x2x1 inches.
* To my surprise the case holds a USB dongle, I have not tried with laptop Skype yet.
* Blue tooth pairing was quick. With my iPhone inside my car, the sound was very good up to about 20' away.
* As mentioned, it is feather light, so it can be worn in-ear only without a loop, though it's not especially tiny.

SUMMARY
Very long talk life. Light enough to use in-ear. Good speaker, even for bluetooth music. Noise reduction quite good. Top tier price.

86 people found this helpful

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Cody Lewis

This bluetooth device is excellent, with only one small issue for our intended use...

Reviewed in the United States on June 14, 2016

Style: Presence UCVerified Purchase

This bluetooth device is excellent, with really only one minor issue. This issue is likely unique to my situation and usage. But first, the good stuff.

Range is solid.
Battery life is ridiculous; no other bluetooth we've tried so far comes close.
Fairly unobtrusive; not obnoxiously large.
Stays in place well with casual use.
Call quality and clarity/volume are fine even in windy environments, with one exception I'll note later.

Background for intended use: my girlfriend has a neck/back/shoulder injury due to a couple car crashes. Holding a phone for any period of time is difficult for her and causes her pain. I bought this specifically for her, and it was very important that it could last for a full day of calls on bluetooth for every conversation. It's not being abused or subjected to harsh conditions or busy call environments, just being used in a casual setting virtually all the time. This thing has never run out of battery or even come close. The battery life is fantastic and far beyond what most people would need. I like that peace of mind. That is far and away the best thing about this bluetooth. Everything else is "good" but the battery is amazing.

There is one thing, however, that does bother me: frequently during the day my girlfriend lies down to rest her neck. When this happens, the call cuts in and out and gets very quiet. We haven't been able to figure out why, but it is unfortunate that she cannot relax in this manner and speak on the phone via bluetooth at the same time. It makes no sense, because the microphone is never covered by a pillow or anything: that is the sole reason this product isn't perfect to me - but we do still like it. The idea was to get her a device that worked without any issues. Despite how good it is, this is a somewhat irritating flaw for our intended use.

Let me be clear: this is an excellent product. However, it is unusable for significant periods of time due to this quirk. Considering how much money it costs, this is unfortunate However, I'm sure nearly everyone else will love it.

One person found this helpful

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