Customer Ratings & Reviews

Had the Backbeat 5100 for over a week and used it on a 6 hr flight journey and walked around the city taking calls. Plantronics backbeat 5100 lives up to its name when it comes to call quality. I can relate the call quality to the Plantronics bluetooth headset I use at work. Used it for 6 straight hrs without having to charge the headset at all. Had to update the software right out of the box, took about 20 mins. Paring was easy and the app has several customization options (settings icon on the top right) to configure the functions on the buttons, primary earbud, etc. Features 1) Compact design and very comfortable (find the right ear tip!) to wear it for long hours. I like the fact that it has buttons and touch sensors instead of just the touch sensors on the earbuds which can be annoying sometimes when handling the earbuds. The case has enough charge to get the earbuds going for 19 hrs. The app showed an hour listen time left after using it for approximately 6 hr. The app shows listen time left for on the left ear bud and the right. The backbeat 5100 supports the use of only one earbud (primary earbud - configurable to left or right) for calls, which I like when answering calls at work. Turning on for the first time was a little tricky, had to power on both left the right earbuds. The app has the user guide and video's on how to use it. 2) Call Quality - The call quality is amazing and didn’t have any issues using it in the noisy environments (airports, city streets, etc.). The call quality is on par compared to the 10 different earbuds that I currently own ($200- $300 price range) 3) Sound Quality (for music lovers) - I wasn't completely impressed by the sound quality and being an audiophile I would have to rate this as medium compared to the ones ($200 price range) I currently own. I rate it high on base, average on the mid tones, and average on the clarity/crispness. The earbuds need some breaking in before you can actual rate it on the sound quality - will have to use it for at least 25+ hrs to judge the real sound quality. I used these on my morning runs and didn't have any issues with sweat accumulating on the earbuds - rated IP54 Something that is different on these earbuds compared to the 10 other earbuds I own is the Smart Sensor function - this lets your route the calls from your phone to one or two earbuds as soon as you pick up and automatically pauses the music when you take any of the earbud off of your ear. Overall I rate it exceptional for call quality and good for sound quality (for heavy music listeners) and can definitely be compared with earbuds on the market that are in ~150+ price range. My only complaint is that the app doesn't let you configure the earbud's buttons to mute/unmute your calls, which I feel is important for people who spent long hours in meetings.

Setup: On first receiving the BackBeat PRO 5100, I removed the earphones from the case and the audio prompt said that the battery level was high. But after replacing them in the case and removing them again, the audio prompt said that the battery level was low. I suggest fully charging the case and earphones before first use. It took several attempts to manually pair the earphones to my phone. I later learned that pairing and use are more effective if the right earpiece is removed from the charging case first before the left earpiece. If you are only getting audio from one earpiece, replace them both in the charging case and remove the right earpiece from the case before removing the left. Note: There may be four Bluetooth devices that will appear in the list of available devices, two audio devices (“PLT BBPRO5100” and “PLT BBPRO5100_L”) and two low-energy devices (“PLTBBPRO5100BLE” and “PLTBBPRO5100BLE_L”). The audio and LE connections for the left earpiece have “_L” at the end of the device name. The LE devices require less battery and are used for data communications (e.g. volume control and firmware updates). Once paired with your smartphone, install and open the Plantronics BackBeat app. If the app cannot connect with the earphones, try replacing both in the charging case, remove the right earpiece before removing the left earpiece and try again. Once connected to the app, there will likely be an update to the earphone firmware that needs to be installed. Firmware is updated in the right earpiece and then the left earpiece over the LE connection and may take up to 20 minutes to complete. You do not have to keep them in your ears, but the earpieces must remain in close proximity to the smartphone (I recommend no more than one foot) and cannot be placed in the charging case. Only attempt a firmware update when the earpieces are fully charged. The earphones come with their volume level set to about 25% of their maximum. I increased them to 100% and thereafter used my source device to change the volume. Design: I like the completely wireless design with no cord to manage and no microphonics. The magnetic seating mechanism ensures that the contacts between the earpieces and charging case are aligned and in good contact. I would have preferred that the earphones not be sensitive to the order in which they were removed from the case. Taking the left earpiece out first turned out to be the reason for many of my setup problems. The separate Bluetooth connections for audio and LE communication with the left and right earpieces might prolong battery life, but the LE implementation limits the range over which control signals will work. The status light in the case goes off when the charge is complete. I would have preferred a pattern or color change (e.g. blinking to solid or red to green) when connected to a USB power cable. Operation: Earphone track controls, play/pause, volume, call answer/hang-up work fine but are limited in range since they use the LE Bluetooth connection. Microphone: The microphone worked well for calls and I could be clearly heard, but voices on the other end sounded tinny. Sound Quality: The sound quality on the BackBeat PRO 5100 is anemic. The frequency response was biased toward the mid-range and bass and treble were weak by comparison. This is unusual as most consumer-oriented earphones/headphones tend to have a “V” shaped sound signature. Equalization can help. Battery: Charging is fast for both the charging case and earphones if you use a USB port with at least 2.0 amps. Battery life is very good and can be checked with the BackBeat app. Overall: Setup was challenging because the order in which earpieces should be removed from the case (right first) is not documented. The use of LE Bluetooth channel for control signals limits the range for these features. The frequency response is biased toward the mid-range with weak bass and treble. The following albums were sampled during my review: • 2L Test Suite • Adam Harasiewicz: Chopin Nocturnes & Preludes • Antoine Dufour: Back & Forth (Sides A & B) • Bonnie Raitt: Road Tested • Calum Graham: Phoenix Rising • Don Ross: PS15 • Hoff Ensemble: Quiet Winter Night • Ian Ethan Case: Running Toward The Mountains • Joe Satriani, Flying in a Blue Dream, Unstoppable Momentum • Laurence Juber: Guitar Noir • Mike Dawes: What Just Happened • Miles Davis: Kind of Blue • Nora Jones: Come Away with Me • Sarah Mclachlan: Fumbling Towards Ecstasy • Yo-Yo Ma: Mendelssohn Piano Trios, Op. 49 & Op. 6

I have A LOT of headphones and earbuds...and over the last year and a half, the count of "truly wireless earbuds" in my collection has grown more than any other tech. I recently tested the Jabra Elite 75t earbuds, Jabra's update to the 65t, and was completely blown away. Even last year's 65t buds were great, and what was most exciting to me at the time was that they were as good as they were without being made by Bose, Beats, Jaybird, or any of the other frequently touted front runner brands (that also come with premium price tags). Also exciting to me was that it was Jabra, who I had become familiar with because of their incredible business-class wireless headsets which I've used at several of my jobs over the years. And in much the same way, Plantronics has been there for me in the past when I need to make clear calls at work—so a truly wireless offering from them was particularly compelling. The case itself is of decent size; it has a physical (mechanical) button that opens the case, and the buds are secured in the case by magnets. The shape of the buds is like many of the truly wireless buds being released now, designed to fit into the outer portion of your ear securely without the need for fins or hooks. The tips of the buds have silicone funnels that help with noise isolation as well as comfort, since they don't go too deeply into your ear canal. The case charges via micro USB (because it's not almost 2020 or anything...), and everything about the design of the case and the buds screams "understated." There are multiple eartip sizes in the case as well; most often, I comfortably wear the "medium" size of ear tips on new ear buds, but I had to switch these out for the large ones to help keep everything in place. Once that change was made, they were relatively secure. They are by no means the tightest fit I've experienced in buds, but they are held in my ears just well enough to remain comfortable for a long, long time: this is probably one of the best features of these earbuds. The buds also contain four exterior microphones to help with active noise cancelation...but more on that later. On to the sound profile...this is entirely, frustratingly, terribly vanilla. In most cases, I look forward to an earbud with a relatively flat sound profile, so that I can tweak and adjust with the companion app to my particular listening preferences (I find that bass-heavy headphones can become a bit unwieldly in the lower registers, and it's nice to leave it simple so each person can customize. But, with the unchanged, flat sound profile, not surprisingly, the lows are....there, I guess. It's more of a "heard, not felt" feeling for most bass heavy music; when I hear the bass, I know that's what the artist intended based on the sound, but I'm not entirely convinced. It's a very weird experience, to say the least, and unique to these headphones for me. It's not an absence of bass—but it's far from a convincing presence for sure. The mids and highs are just as plain; everything comes through clearly, but the sound is not exactly what I would call rich; the soundstage is kind of boring. For what it's worth, they get pretty loud, and the sound holds together remarkably well at max volume, but it's not an exciting experience. So I thought, maybe the app will help. Nope. The app is closer to a practical joke than it is a helpful tool. No equalizer or sound customization of any kind. No adjustments to the noise cancelation (pass through audio, no noise cancelation, etc). There is some customization allowed to the controls on the buds, for instance, you can adjust it from default to launch voice assistant or start a timer (because that's a super important function for my earbuds to support), a couple other uninteresting features (like changing the primary bud from one to the other....yes, these can be used individually), and that's it. The noise cancelation is OK at best. In quieter environments, you can very clearly hear a hiss, and in louder environments, you wonder if it even has noise canceling capabilities at all. And because there's no ability to customize the level of noise canceling, it's hard to really know how well it does. Honestly, with the included tips the passive noise isolation is quite good, but that's about the end of the "good" features. Typically, when I talk to others about wireless earbuds or headphones, I tell them they should buy them if they want great sound quality for recipients of phone calls...we're just not (yet) to a place where this is a great experience. But, because of the brand name, I had to try it out...but I was disappointed in that area as well: callers reported significantly more background noise when compared to using just my phone or a wired headset, and when compared side by side with the Jabra Elite 75t, callers indicated my voice seemed "farther away and quieter" on the Plantronics headset. So, at least they're cheap, right? Nope. At $170, they're right in the thick of their competition...but I don't think you're going to like these more than that competition, namely the Jabra Elite 75t which is only $10 more (but far, far better). I think more than anything else, I built these up in my mind to be another really great option for those looking to get into the truly wireless market, and maybe that wasn't fair. But, at the end of the day, I just can't recommend them over other options at a similar price point. Even on sale, last year's Elite 65t from Jabra outperform the Backbeats Pro 5100 handily.

I really can't say enough good things about the Plantronics Backbeat Pro 5100 True Wireless In-Ear Headphones. This is the first set of truly wireless earbuds I've owned. For years I have either made due with wires running from my ears to my pockets or with wireless headsets that wrap around the back of my head and have terrible Bluetooth reception and crackle/cut out all the time when I run. Enter the Pro 5100's. I didn't quite know what to expect, but I couldn't be happier. The packaging was excellent and protected the product well. It comes with 3 sets of ear fittings. That was important to me since one of my ear canals is slightly larger than the other. I ended up wearing the mid size on one ear and large on the other. They fit perfectly. Setup was very easy. As soon as I fired up the buds, my phone saw them and paired with no trouble. The 5100's worked perfectly even with my phone connected to both the buds and my truck at the same time. I highly recommend following the direction. They will instruct you to download their app and update the firmware of the headphones. This process took about 10-15 minutes. With this type of equipment, firmware updates are generally pretty important. The app itself is pretty basic. you can customize taps and clicks on the buds, but I don't really see myself needing to mess with the default settings. I suspect the real value of the app is in processing firmware updates from time to time. The headphones themselves have an amazing sound. I didn't realize that something so small could produce such a rich full range experience. I've never heard bass like this in earbuds. I listen to some pretty heavy rock while I work out and I can hear every instrument for the first time in a set of earbuds. My main concern was that they would slip out when running or weight lighting. I am thrilled to report that after 5 workouts, these things have never budged. I'm sure there are some activities that could jar them loose, but a normal run and weight routine was no match for these little guys. Even while sweating they stayed right where I put them. I was also somewhat concerned about them creating that plugged feeling in my ears and amplifies the pounding sound of my feet hitting the pavement. I really don't have that issue with these. At first I jammed them so deep into my ears that it was uncomfortable and very boomy when I ran simply because I was afraid they would fall out. But after playing with them a bit, I found that I didn't have to shove them in so far that they totally seal off my ear. Leaving them a little more out actually improved the sound quality and eliminated the booming steps. They felt like they might slip, but they don't. Now that I'm used to the feel, I don't think I could go back to jamming buds way down in my ears again. The mic works very well. I haven't tried them outside in the wind since it's too cold for outdoor runs right now, but they performed well indoors in a large gym. The people on the other end were able to hear me just find with minimal background noise making it through the noise cancelling mics. I haven't had a single drop in connection or glitch since I took them out of the box. Battery life seems to be very good. It says I'll get about 6.5 hours out of them, but I never wear them that long. They charging case ensures I'm always ready to go. I charge them in the case every few days just to make sure they are always ready to go. I would most definitely recommend these. They aren't cheap, and the app isn't anythings special, but they do what they should do very well.

I LOVE these earbuds! If anyone is looking for an Apple Airpod for an Android absolutely go with these. Call quality is excellent even in noisy environments. I work retail and if I ever have to take a personal call I step outside where traffic noise is pretty loud and despite my normal concerns every time I've been using these, the audio has been amazing. I've even connected them to my computer to listen to recorded school lectures and the ability to auto-pause when removing one from your ear is just phenomenal. Battery life is pretty amazing as well. If you're on Android and jealous that you can't get Airpods, get these. Or consider these instead of Airpods if you want to save a little bit of money as they are just as functional and high quality.

These have a really nice balanced sound, nothing is overly done. You get to hear lots of details. Sadly the price is far too high. Pros: Great sound Super light and comfortable Volume control Cons Micro USB No wireless charging Only ipx4 Price If they were $99 then they would be a 5 star.

So, after a long wait for these to come in stock, mine showed up today. I knew it wasn't going to be good, when it took me almost 10 minutes just to get the charging case to open; fortunately, my wife showed me how to open them, by pushing what appeared to be the BT pairing button...Anyways, when I did get the top open, and finally got the buds in and charging, I saw the old style micro usb connector, which is bad enough in late 2019, but its on the bottom of the case, making it even worse to charge. After getting them to charge up, I then tried to connect them to my brand new iPhone 11 Pro max, after downloading the app as per the instructions. That took several times to get the app to see them, and I was immediately told to download the new firmware; problem is, if you have a new iPhone, running os 13+, the app/firmware won't download and install; after trying it 5 times, I checked other online reviews, and sure enough, the current app will NOT do a firmware update with the newest version of IOS; plantronics is supposedly working on an updated app for iPhone users.. I just paired it manually it to the phone again, after getting unpaired a few times for no apparent reason, and listened to some music..sounded pretty good, so I thought I would make a few phone calls.. Everyone I called complained saying they couldn't hear me clearly, sounded like I was in a tunnel, lots of background noise, even though I was in my house in my office, so that was a major disappointment. Needless to say, I won't be using these until I am certain I can update the firmware, which, hopefully will fix these basic issues with these buds. I don't have any android devices to try these on, but, if you are on the latest iOS 13.+ I would look elsewhere for a wireless headphone solution, as for now, these do NOT appear to be ready for prime time if you own a newer iPhone .. BTW, I've owned dozens of BT headsets, both wired and wireless, so this was NOT a "rookie error"

First love how small and discreate they are, but the sound that they generate is amazing. Love the charging case, calls on bluetooth are clear, The only thing i dont like but has no effect on my review is having to push to drop valume or pause music, it creates some air suction in the ear.