HP EncorePro 310

The HP EncorePro 310 is a wired USB headset built for call center work, and it nails the one thing that matters most: the mic. At the 89th percentile, it's one of the best voice-capture headsets we've tested, and the 104g weight keeps it comfortable all day. Sound quality is average and tuned for voice, not music, so this isn't a general-purpose headphone. Pricing runs $64-70 in the US and €46-64 in Europe, with the best EU deal at €46. Buy it if you talk for a living, skip it if you want to enjoy music.

The mic is the star here, and the numbers back that up. At the 89th percentile, it outperforms most headsets in our database when it comes to capturing clear speech. The uni-directional pattern means it focuses on what's in front of it, your mouth, and ignores the chatty neighbor or the hum of the office HVAC. The noise-cancelling mic is a real feature, not a marketing checkbox. For call center work, that's the difference between a customer saying "what?" three times and a smooth conversation.

The audio side is more modest. The 30mm dynamic driver handles the 50Hz to 8kHz range, which is fine for voice but leaves out a lot of the low end and high end you'd want for music. The 32Ω impedance is easy to drive, so you won't need an amp, just a USB port. The ANC score lands at the 73rd percentile, which is decent but not class-leading. It'll take the edge off background noise, but don't expect the kind of silence you'd get from premium consumer headphones. The wired USB-C connection means no battery anxiety, but also no wireless freedom.

The JBL Tune 670NC is the obvious alternative if you want something that can do double duty. It's a wireless consumer headphone with ANC, and it'll sound better for music. But its mic won't touch the EncorePro 310's, and it's not Teams certified. If you're on calls all day, that mic difference matters more than the music difference. The TOZO HT3 and Soundcore Life Q20 are both budget wireless options with decent ANC, but again, they're built for listening, not talking. Their mics are afterthoughts.

The Sennheiser ACCENTUM Plus is the interesting comparison. It's a step up in price and build quality, with better sound and ANC. But it's still a consumer headphone first. The EncorePro 310 beats it where it counts for call center work: mic clarity and Teams integration. If your job is talking, the HP is the better tool. If your job is listening, the Sennheiser wins. The Anker Soundcore Space D1402 is another budget wireless option that'll sound better for music but won't match the mic performance.

Pricing is all over the place depending on where you shop. In the US, you're looking at $64 to $70 across two listings. In Europe, the spread is wider, from €46 to €64 across four listings in Germany, Spain, France, and Italy. That €18 gap is worth paying attention to. If you're in the EU, it's worth checking which store has the €46 price before you click buy. The CAD 95 and GBP 56 prices are single listings, so you don't have much room to comparison shop there.

For a certified Teams headset with a genuinely good mic, even the higher end of that range feels reasonable. Call center headsets from bigger names often run well past $100, and this one delivers the core feature, clear voice capture, better than most. The trade-off is that you're not getting much in the way of music performance or premium build materials. The build score is solid at the 76th percentile, but this isn't a luxury product. It's a tool, and the price reflects that.

The HP EncorePro 310 is not trying to be your next pair of music headphones. This is a contact center workhorse, built for people who spend entire shifts on calls and need the person on the other end to hear them clearly. It's a wired USB headset with Microsoft Teams certification, which means it's been tested to play nice with the platform a lot of offices live in. The on-ear design and fold-flat earpieces suggest HP knows call center agents don't always have a lot of desk space or patience for bulky gear.

What makes this interesting is the focus on the microphone. The uni-directional noise-cancelling boom mic sits at the 89th percentile in our database, which is genuinely impressive. That's the kind of ranking that tells you this headset was designed around one job: making your voice cut through background noise. The 104g weight is also a big deal for all-day wear, and the comfort score lands at the 87th percentile, so it's clearly doing something right there.

But this is a specialized tool, not a general-purpose one. The sound score sits at the 49th percentile, right in the middle of the pack, and the frequency response is tuned for voice, not bass-heavy music. If you're looking for something to enjoy Spotify on between calls, this probably isn't it. If you're looking for something to survive eight hours of customer conversations, it might be exactly what you need.

If you're buying a headset for personal use, music, gaming, or travel, this is not your headset. The sound quality is average at best, and the narrow frequency range means music will sound thin and lifeless. The ANC is fine but won't block out a plane engine or a loud coffee shop the way a dedicated consumer headphone would. You'd be paying for a great mic you'll never use to its full potential.

Instead, look at the JBL Tune 670NC or the Sennheiser ACCENTUM Plus. Both are wireless, sound better for music, and have ANC that's more suited to everyday noise. They cost a bit more, but you're getting features you'll actually use. The EncorePro 310 is a work tool. If you're not working on calls all day, it's the wrong tool for the job.

If you spend your day on Teams calls, especially in a noisy office or contact center, the EncorePro 310 is an easy recommendation. The mic is the best part of this headset by a wide margin, and that's the part your customers actually experience. The comfort is also a real strength, which matters when you're wearing it for eight hours straight. The wired connection is a feature, not a bug, when you never have to worry about a battery dying in the middle of a call.

But if you're buying this for yourself, for a mix of calls and music, or for travel, look elsewhere. The sound quality is average at best, and the narrow frequency range means your playlists will sound thin. The ANC is fine but not impressive. This is a specialized tool for a specific job. If that's your job, buy it. If it's not, the JBL Tune 670NC or Sennheiser ACCENTUM Plus will serve you better.