Poly Voyager Free 20 Wireless Earbuds Review: Poly’s Consumer Earbuds Prove Better At Communications Than Listening to Tunes

Poly Voyager Free 20 Wireless Earbuds Review

Poly is settling in as an HP headphone brand alongside HyperX. The Poly Voyager Free 20s are the first consumer earbuds from a brand that primarily markets to business and military markets. The headphones sound great, but a few tweaks would take them to the next level.

What we like

Pros

• Comfortable for long-term wear.
• Long battery life (8-12 hours, depending on ANC usage).
• Fast charging.
• ·Effective noise reduction technology.
• Clear audio quality for voice calls, even in noisy environments.
• The open-ear design provides situational awareness.
• Solid performance for virtual meetings and calls.
• Multiple device connectivity.
• IP56 water and dust resistance rating.
• Physical buttons.
• Good sustainable packaging, though less would be more.

The $149.99 Poly Voyager Free 20s are a work in progress, and my experience with them reinforces that. The website is high-level, never getting into the implementation details of standard features like Bluetooth® (which is, thankfully, 5.4). The website feels unfinished compared to competitor sites that plunge into details about tuning and drivers, illustrating their pages with exploded audio electronics. The 10mm driver specification is good, but it doesn’t say much about Poly’s aural intentions.

[Note: I reached out the AR/PR team at HP Poly. They provided the following additional information on the Poly Voyager 20 earbuds:

Codecs: SBC, aptX Classic, AAC, and the new Bluetooth LE compatible LC3.

Supported Bluetooth Profiles:   A2DP 1.3; AVCTP 1.4; AVDTP 1.3; AVRCP 1.6; GAVDP 1.3; SPP 1.2; RFCOMM 1.2; HFP.]

As for ascertaining those intentions through using the earbuds, I found the Poly Voyager Free 20 audio quality a mixed bag, tailored more towards professional use than entertainment. For voice calls and virtual meetings, these earbuds offer clear and crisp audio, even in noisy environments. The noise reduction technology effectively minimizes background disturbances, ensuring that the user’s voice comes through clearly during calls.

When it comes to music playback, however, the Voyager Free 20’s performance is less impressive. The music quality isn’t noticeably superior to much cheaper alternatives, likely due to the drivers being tuned primarily for voice clarity rather than musical fidelity. The bass response improves with the Bass EQ preset.

The headphones offer a wide simulated stage, but the voice tuning makes music sound harsh. It didn’t matter if I was listening to Queen’s “Bohemian Rapsody” or Dido’s “White Flag,” the audio felt like it had clipped edges. Listening to music on the Poly Voyager Free 20s is like the audio version of over-applying a sharpening filter to a digital image. This tuning technique makes sense if the intention is good voice audio, which is Poly’s legacy. They must make their audio reproduction more expressive to compete effectively in the consumer headphone market.

The speaker-first sound profile, however, makes these ideal earbuds for those with Amazon Audible subscriptions or who like to download audible books from the local library system.

The comparatively priced 1More Evos (often discounted well below their $169.99 list price) perform just as well as the Poly Voyage Free 20s while offering other technology such as LDAC and Hi-Res audio—a wider range of EQ presets along with sound personalization, professional audio engineer tuning, and voice enhancement—not just situational sound awareness.

The HP Poly Free 20s are not positioned well against lower cost makes like Tozo and 1More or against the higher end like Bose and Apple. They should be clearly competitive with Sennheiser, Jabra and JBL, but all three of those companies offer some compelling differences that beat out the Poly Free 20s. Perhaps their superior voice and call quality is their superpower, and it should be given their communications-based heritage, but to compete in the consumer space, HP Poly must do more to reposition the Free 20s as a more cost-effective alternative to the Free 60+. That would mean making them fully Poly Lens compatible and getting them certifications for collaboration tools like Zoom and Microsoft Teams.

For what HP is trying to accomplish, however, I think the Free 20s makes sense as a consumer device, but HP Poly needs to be much clearer about their marketing between high-end HP Poly commercial offers and HyperX gaming headsets. HP Poly needs to improve music tuning, redesign Poly Lens for consumers, and create a more robust marketing play that competes against music-first earbuds. That’s a tall order for one earbud product in a swelling sea of competitors.

Here’s a deeper take on the list of Pros above.

Comfortable: The Poly Voyager Free 20 earbuds excel in comfort, allowing users to wear them for extended periods without experiencing fatigue or discomfort. I found the Poly Free 20s very comfortable to wear. The box includes four sizes of silicon ear tips, ensuring a customized fit for various ear shapes and sizes. Much like the Jabra Elite 10s, these are not rounded domes but rather oblong, demonstrating similar learning about ear shape and comfort.

Battery life: These earbuds boast impressive battery life, lasting 8 hours with active noise cancellation (ANC) enabled and up to 12 hours with ANC off. The total playback time with case recharges runs up to 28 hours, depending on use.

Fast charging capability: The earbuds feature impressive charging speeds. Charging the earbuds from about 10% to full took approximately 2.5 hours using the included USB-C cable and a standard power adapter—a 10-minute charge results in about 2 hours of playtime.

Noise reduction: The Voyager Free 20 earbuds incorporate HP Poly’s noise reduction technology, which performs relatively well. While it may not eliminate all background noise, it significantly reduces unwanted sounds, such as computer fans and background conversations. That said, the open design does leave room for audio seepage.

Audio quality for calls and meetings: One of the standout features of these earbuds is their ability to deliver clear voice quality during calls, even in challenging acoustic environments. Call participants can hear callers clearly, even in areas with significant ambient noise. The six built-in microphones combine to reduce noise and enhance the speaker’s audio. They perform equally well in virtual meetings across various collaboration platforms such as Microsoft Teams, Zoom, and Google Meet.

Situational awareness: The Voyager Free 20’s open-ear design balances audio immersion and environmental awareness. This feature is particularly beneficial for city dwellers or those who work in shared spaces, as it allows them to remain aware of their surroundings while enjoying audio content. Be it around the house or walking through a city on a crowded convention floor, the situational awareness features allow the environment to sit at the edge rather than being completely masked by active noise cancelation (ANC). I put this on the Pros list, but those traveling on airplanes would probably not choose the Free 20s as their earbuds for drowning out jet engine noise.

Multi-point connectivity: The Voyager Free 20 earbuds offer seamless connectivity with multiple devices—the earbuds, sometimes after a fashion, connect to iPhones and Macs. Adding paired devices is as easy as pressing and holding a button.

Water and dust resistance: With an IP56 rating, the Poly Voyager Free 20 earbuds are safe for dunk or dust.

Physical buttons: The physical buttons limit the learning curve and provide tactile feedback on the employed options. I like that HP Poly went with mirroring the functions on the earbuds, making it easy for owners to master the tap functions.

Sustainability: Poly did a great job with their all-paper packaging, though less of it would be better.

What could be improved

Cons

• Music playback comes with sharp edges.
• Case cover and earbuds are a little too sleek.
• Limited equalization options in the app.
• Noise cancellation doesn’t eliminate all background noise.
• Poly Lens app brings too many bugs and strange design choices.

Music playback quality and driver tuning: As noted in the introductory analysis, the Poly Voyager Free 20 earbuds excel in professional communication scenarios, but their music playback quality, while adequate, places a hard edge on tunes. At this price point, music and call audio quality should be of equal interest to the sound engineers. HP Poly leaned too heavily on their voice legacy, neglecting the subtleties required for quality music reproduction.

Sleek physical design concerns: A practical issue with the Voyager Free 20 earbuds is their overly sleek exterior. Both the earbuds and their charging case have a smooth finish that, while aesthetically pleasing, may pose handling challenges. This slickness could lead to accidental drops or difficulty in securely gripping the earbuds, especially in fast-paced or high-movement situations. Users with particularly active lifestyles or those who frequently need to adjust their earbuds might find the choice of finish frustrating. The case, when placed in a pocket with keys, will pick up visible scratches that matt cases or the fabric case of the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 4 earbuds would sluff off.

Limited equalization options: The HP Poly Lens app offers disappointingly limited equalization options. Users are restricted to just three EQ presets: Bass, Flat, and Bright. This lack of granular control over audio settings may be frustrating for those who prefer to fine-tune their listening experience. The inability to create custom EQ profiles or make more nuanced adjustments to the sound signature limits the earbuds’ versatility, especially for users with specific audio preferences.

Noise cancellation and ambient sound: While the Voyager Free 20’s noise cancellation technology is effective, it doesn’t completely eliminate all background noise. The open-ear design, while beneficial for situational awareness, can sometimes allow too much external noise to intrude, potentially affecting the listening experience in very loud environments. Users seeking complete auditory isolation might find this aspect of the earbuds less than ideal, especially in consistently noisy work environments or during travel.

The app: HP Poly provides the Poly Lens app for all platforms, but it has several issues. On the Mac, Poly has yet to reengineer the back end to remove access notifications from MacOS, a minor but annoying issue that persists in updated versions. Most support app developers have fixed this issue for macOS Sonoma.

Poly Lens supports many headphones, headsets and earbuds, including the Poly Voyage Free 60+ earbuds we reviewed previously. For the Poly Voyager Free 20, the company made the odd choice of supporting the case but not the earbuds. On iOS, the earbuds must be paired through the app, not via Bluetooth settings, to be recognized by the app. Pair through Bluetooth, but the app will fail to see the earbuds.

During the initial pairing, the app also failed to communicate with the left earbud. After placing the earbuds in the case and reestablishing the connection, the app could see both earbuds, but that is an odd bug that needs to be quashed.

The app also needs a single-screen dashboard with most of the features readily available. While a single click does go to an overview display with the settings, the app does not present as a good user experience. Too much hunting is required to determine what features can be controlled and where those features live.

Poly Voyager Free 20 Wireless Earbuds: The bottom line

The Poly Voyager Free 20 True Wireless Earbuds present a mixed bag of features that cater primarily to professionals engaged in frequent voice calls and virtual meetings. Their strengths lie in comfort, battery life, and call clarity, making them a solid choice for those prioritizing work-related audio needs. The multiple device connectivity and fast charging capabilities further enhance their appeal for busy professionals. However, these earbuds fall short in music playback quality and customization options, which may disappoint audiophiles or those seeking a more versatile audio experience.

The sleek design makes handling the case and the earbuds a challenge. The open-ear structure, while beneficial in some scenarios, may pose challenges in others. Ultimately, the Poly Voyager Free 20 earbuds are best suited for users who value clear communication and all-day comfort in their professional lives and are willing to compromise on music performance and advanced audio customization features.

HP provided the Poly Voyager Free 20 Wireless Earbuds for review. Images courtesy of HP unless otherwise noted.

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