Review: EPOS ADAPT 165 II USB Headset (Microsoft Teams certified)

Brandnew USB Headset with Microsoft Teams Certification from EPOS has arrived at my desk: ADAPT 165 II (Amazon Affiliate)

Target Group are employees who work in the office but also travel and work flexible / mobile as well. The new normal?

Now Spring has arrived, temperatures here in Germany are climbing up to 25 Celsius. I won\’t use a massive over-ear headset in my garden and at my desk like in the past where I was on planes and trains every week. How about your experiences? I prefer very light headsets now.

EPOS ADAPT 165 II is not completely new in this niche of budget priced headsets for Business users. Sennheiser SC 100 series is established in the market. Why is this series now called \”II\”? Only a re-branded EPOS headset with just a new logo?

Improvements and modifications for 2nd generation:

1) Microsoft Teams Button
2) Microsoft Teams Certification
3) larger and more comfortable ear pads
4) EPOS Branding
5) Noise Limiter (AU G616 Limit + EU 85dB)
6) ANC models available
7) more ergonomic in-line call controls (can be disabled as well)

let\’s dive deeper and look into the most important aspects – for me (and hopefully for you as well):

Microsoft Teams Button for In-Line Call Control

I prefer these controls which are part of the cable and not buttons of a headset: much easier to use and LED colors and signals show me (and others) when I am on mute and busy. Red light indicates that I am currenly on mute, see here:

Comfortable soft large ear pads

Ear pads are quite large, very comfortable to war and soft. EPOS states that pads passively help to reduce background noise which is not wrong but don\’t expect too much. When I was sitting on my balcony I could clearly hear my neighbour vacuuming her car and I went inside.

High voice quality thanks to microphone boom arm

now let\’s listen to my short voice sample. I am quite impressed about microphone quality – thanks to the boom arm

please listen to my voice samples of other headsets in the EPOS Adapt Series and how you like 100 Series compared to the higher price range:

3,5mm Audio Jack + USB-C/A for more flexibility

flexible for many different usage scenarios: Headset can be used with 3,5mm audio jack with older smartphones, tablets or music players next to USB connectivity. In my case I have tested it with Fiio mobile DAC Amp to get best sound quality with many details. I listed to these songs which are rich of details and complex sound overlays:

22 new models now offered to make sure that headset fits according to personal needs:

Naming conventions explained:

Naming of these 22 models looks like a secret but is easy to explain:
my model is called: ADAPT 165 T USB-A II which means: double sided (monaural would be called 160), made for Teams (T), no ANC, USB-A (no USB-C) and 2nd version (II):

Summary

If you are currently searching for wired Headset which is certified for Microsoft Teams and includes call control and Microsoft Teams buttons with very good microphone quality – and needs to cost < 100 EUR, then EPOS Adapt 100 series is a very good choice. Don\’t expect too much from passive noise canceling through large soft ear pads, active noise canceling is only available for dedicated models. They are very comfortable to wear and are designed for easy plug+play experience without need to care about battery life or Bluetooth Pairing. I was surprised how well they sound when listening to music and how comfortable and light they are.

Good choice for spring / summer 2021 when you are working from home without background noise and ANC is also not needed! Amazon Affiliate Linkhttps://geni.us/E70OPQ