Is the Sennheiser Presence Headset for You?
Clear communication is important when receiving calls on the road. Unfortunately, many of the Bluetooth headsets on the market are lackluster, at best. How does the premium Sennheiser Presence rate? It’s time to find out.
What Is It?
Presence is a series of premium Bluetooth headsets for mobile professionals for use in the car, outdoors, or at the office. The Presence UC features a carrying case and USB dongle. The similarly priced Presence UC ML works with Skype for Business and offers the same features and accessories as the UC model. Sennheiser provided us with a Presence UC ML model for this review.
The Bottom Line
Rating the Sennheiser Presence UC/ UC ML
Rating the Sennheiser Presence UC/ML
The Sennheiser Presence is one of the most durable and useful Bluetooth headsets on the market. The headset’s biggest selling point is the crystal clear sound it provides for both the caller and recipient. We are less impressed with the controls on the device, which are sometimes difficult to find when the headset is on. Bluetooth setup is a breeze, however.
Design and Hardware
The first thing you’ll notice about the Presence is its impressive build. This device is made to work in various weather conditions and operates even after accidental, minor, falls.
The mono Presence works with Bluetooth 4.0 standard and is compatible with all Bluetooth 1.1, 1.2, 2.0, 2.1, 3.0 and 4.0 devices with a hands-free profile (HFP), a headset profile (HSP), or an advanced audio profile (A2DP). The headset features an on/off power slide, a speaker, multiple microphones, and two volume buttons. It ships with a USB charging cable, a car charger, three different sized ear adapters with loops, and an adjustable ear hook.
The Presence is very comfortable on the ear. However, even with the ear hook, it doesn’t fit as securely on the ear as we expected. Mind you, the Presence doesn’t fall during regular use. Rather, the fit isn’t all that tight, no matter the ear adaptors size.
Another concern: As designed, the on/off power slide is difficult to change, especially when going from the off-to-on position.
On a postive note: The Presence provides 10 hours of use between charges thanks to the built-in rechargeable Lithium-Polymer battery. This battery life is impressive. The device takes around 80 minutes to fully charge, or approximately 10 minutes for a one-hour charge.
Sound
The Presence uses SpeakerFocus and WindSafe technology. The former means that your contacts will continue to hear your voice even in loud conditions. In other words, there’s no reason to shout or repeat yourself. WindSafe reduces wind noise to ensure the clearest possible sound.
Carrying case
Presence’s performance in loud situations is excellent. During our tests, we made calls in various surroundings, including a crowded beach, busy restaurant, and loud car. At no time did we experience sound drops and no one noticed a change in volume or clarity.
The Presence provides adequate, not great, sound quality, which is expected from a mono device. This type of headset shouldn’t be confused with dual earphones designed for music listening.
The Facts
Availability
You can find Sennheiser Presence headsets through various retailers for under $200.
