Plantronics Voyager 855- now working with iPhone
Posted by Jeffrey on Jun 18, 2009
So I though I was SOL because I didn’t see how Apple could possible update the device with software. But I was wrong! Imagine my surprise when one of the features announced at WWDC ’09 was stereo Bluetooth! I didn’t even think it was possible but Apple, being clever, built in into the hardware and turning it on became possible with the right software upgrade.
So that solved the biggest problem. All I had to do was wait. And wait. And wait until June 17th for the upgrade to become available so I could download it and install. [I always worry when I upgrade software on most electronic devices about turning them into bricks, especially something that I use as frequently as my phone! But it went pretty smoothly all things considered]
Now a bit about the headset. The Plantronics Voyager 855 comes in an attractive package, suspended in clear plastic within the main outer box. I carefully pulled the headset out and took a look. It appears to be made to a high quality standard and although very light, looks like it will stand up to daily use.
It came with several replaceable ear buds that should help fit most ears. Except of course mine. Now this is not a new issue – I can’t get any ear buds, including the ones that came with the phone to fit. I just have a non-standard ear I guess….
The unit comes with two over the ear clips and I am still fiddling with them to get the headset to sit properly and comfortably.
So when I pulled the phone from the dock all looked good. I paired the two devices really fast (with QuickPair technology, the unit stays discoverable for about 10 minutes and makes pairing a snap.) I made a voice call and the call quality was great- some background noise but better than I was expecting.
But to my surprise when I played music it didn’t play through the headset. I consulted the manual to no avail. I went online to a few sites and quickly determined that I need to restart the phone. Oh yeah! After this I turned the headset off then back on and then off to the races. Stereo music with no wires!
As I write this, I am wearing the unit and its so light I forget I have it on. I have had to experiment with different earbuds and I think I will investigate if I can get custom ones made to fit if I can find a source. So far no luck but I’ll take any leads/suggestions.
And the best part? I got it on Amazon for about $100 off! It came from an Amazon store called shopcell.com and they shipped it out same day. With shipping it came to about $42 which is fantastic and I am looking forward to more testing. Stay tuned!
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I’m only getting sound from the earbud with the controls on it. Nothing from the other one. Finally called Plantronics and they r sending me a new stereo cable earpiece to see if that works…..
HEY SO YOU CAN LISTEN TO MUSIC ALREADY STORED ON YOUR IPHONE THROUGH THE 855
@bo- Good to hear that Plantronics is sending out a new earbud. Still on the lookout for custom earbuds for me tho’!
I have just ordered a pair of Plantronics 855. I got it from buy.com just for 29.99 each including shipping + nominal tax… after reading this review I guess they work pretty well.
@iPheonix- that’s a great price! I am really pleased with everything about the headset- light, soundquality, ease of use. Except still fiddling with the fit. (But that’s just my ears – can’t get any earbuds to fit properly ;>)
I excitedly ordered these, also for around $35, to use with the iphone 3gs. However, the audio during music playback has many stutters and pauses. They are all tiny, and sometimes will go for 5 minutes without one, but sometimes it will happen 5 times a minute. Does anyone else share this problem? Do people just overlook this as typical ‘bluetooth’ performance? I don’t understand why more people aren’t complaining about it, unless I have a bad unit. Anyone else?
I found the same thing when listening to a podcast, but it was close to being out of battery power, so I assumed that was the cause. I will try to keep listening to find out if this is a recurring problem.
Thanks!
Just charged mine up fully overnight, and although it definitely seems worse when not fully charged, I’m still getting pauses/stutters at a rate of about 2-3 times per minute, even when the iphone is 1 foot from the headset.
This is depressing, I don’t mind rare interruptions, but this is consistent.
UPDATE:
After reading a few more websites, I tried turning off the Wifi, which apparently uses similar radio frequency/bandwidth(?) and this cleaned up my problem very well. It is somewhat annoying to have to switch Wifi off specifically for the BT, but I guess it will drain my battery a bit less than having the Wifi/BT combo sucking it all out. Guess I won’t return these headphones after all!
Mat: Good fix for the problem! I found another thing that might help: today even though the phone’s bluetooth was on, and paired, I couldn’t get any sound through the headset. What I ended up doing was charging the headset again and when I turned it back on, it worked. I will try the WiFi fix you mentioned as well!
I have been using the 855 with my I phone for a long time. I am able to listen to music and answer calls. I did not do anything special other that pair the two. I don’t have any of the problems that others have stated. I actually have 4 855 which have all been tested and working properly. Let me know if you need anything else
I’m having trouble paring the 855 to my iPhone 3GS. I have BT ON, WiFi OFF. The phone identifies the 855 (8xxPlantronics) within 1-2 seconds, but after 10 minutes, still isn’t paired. To initiate the process, I am turning on the BT setting on the phone and holding the Call Button on the earpiece until it flashes Red/Blue. Phone displays the activity icon after the word Devices-next line: 8xx Plantronics Not Paired-next line: Now Discoverable. What am I doing wrong? I’ve tried turning both devices OFF, then back ON, and trying again. Same results. I found that I have to hold my finger on the iPhone screen to keep it from going to sleep. I appreciate any help you can provide. Nice review by th way. I got mine through an Amazon promotion–end price $5, after $30 rebate!
@Mary
I have an iPhone 3G (with the 3.0 update) and did the initial pairing without even clearly reading the instructions. I just charged the headset for a few hours then turned it on and when the iPhone found it typed in 0000 as the code.
Not sure if it’s a 3G vs 3GS situation but occaissionally still I have to restart both devices ( as you described) because the headset loses connectivity.
Sorry I couldn’t be of more help but has anyone out there had issues getting the device to sync?
Admin: Thank you for trying. Maybe someone else on this forum will be able to help. I’ll also post my question on macrumors iphone forum. Thanks again
Hey everyone, I got 855 about 1 month ago. Paired it no problem. Initially I had control of play/pause button on the headset along with volume control. However over the past week I have lost the p/p control. Anyone else have that problem and any recommended fix, I have tried “forgetting” the device and re-pairing to no avail. Any help would be appreciated
Figured it out. All I had to do was a soft reset of the iPhone (press and hold both home and sleep button until the phone shuts off). Hope this helps anyone out there with this problem
Raider…thanks for the soft off tip..that fixed my 855s pause/play buttons not working problem.
When I see some people liking something and others not (complaining of stuttering) with the iPhone 3g/3gs, I always want to ask two questions:
If they’ve jail-broken their iPhones or not?
Is it an iPhone 3g or 3gs?
Thanks!
Gary
@Gary- I have a 3G (not jailbroken) and have had far fewer problems since the 3.1 upgrade
Still have the occaissional glitch such as when the phone won’t connect to the headset even when I turn on Bluetooth. I just power phone off then next time it usually works
OK heres the deal with pairing an iphone with a voyager 855. I tryed all of your ideas but nothing worked. It kept saying it wasnt paired. Then I happened to touch the icon on the phone that said “plantronics”, it immediatly paired and asked me for my code, which was 0000.
I appreciate all your posts to this forum. I use a plantronics headset 655 (i think) and also used a motorola sd9 for stereo sound but the sd9 recently died. Been looking to find something else that will play stereo and will now search for a deal on the 855.
Thanks
I have the same problem as Mat. Works well when I hold the phone in my hand. But when I put it in my pocket it start to glitch. Solution anyone?
I have iphone 3G and iOS4.
I also have the iPhone 3G, but haven’t upgraded to iOS4 yet. My problem is that if I use the phone after a call, the blue tooth doesn’t reestablish a connection to the headset, so the next time a call comes in, it rings on the handset but there is no connection to the headset. Maddening!