If you’re looking for the best speakerphone and portable speaker in one, the Poly Sync 20 offers a rich audio experience that will keep getting better over time through updates via Poly software and remote management**** for your IT team. This sleek, compact device was designed with your life on-the-go in mind. With multimedia quality sound, it’s a music lover’s delight filled with smart features that keep work calls simple and sounding great. The audio and microphone quality are solid enough for video conferencing, but the Sync 20 doesn’t stand up particularly well if you want to play music. And while the smart aesthetic and small footprint allow the speakerphone to sit tidily on your desk, and there are a few handy features, performance quirks detract from the experience. Poly Sync 20: PC via USB, smartphone via Bluetooth. Poly Sync 20+: PC via USB or included BT600 Bluetooth adapter, smartphone via Bluetooth Poly Sync 40: PC via combined USB-A and USB-C cable; smartphone via Bluetooth. Poly Sync 40+: PC via combined USB-A and USB-C cable or wirelessly via included BT600 Bluetooth adapter; smartphone via Bluetooth In this blog I’ll cover the features of both speakerphones as well as I’ll mention the MSRP cost on them as well. General appearance

The Poly Sync 20 and the Jabra Speak 710 are both designed to work with computers, mobile phones and tablets. They both can connect to a computer via the included USB cable, or they can connect via a USB dongle. The Speak 710 comes with the dongle, where the Poly Sync 20 offers it as an option. Still, the overall sound profile is quite decent. The passive radiators ensure enough bass for casual listening, but do not expect it perform great at very low frequencies. As you can see in our pink noise diagram below, the Sync 20+ can reproduce distinct bass only from around the 52 kHz mark. That being said, the 40 mm loudspeaker augurs well for higher frequencies, particularly the mids and vocals. All these things degrade the signal because the signal must penetrate these obstructions. This leads to compromised wireless range. With a good deal of today's workforce increasingly opting for remote work, a good speakerphone that augurs well for collaboration has become essential to overcome limitations in conventional laptop and smartphone audio setups.Hopefully you found some value in this side by side comparison. Have further questions, or need some help? In this blog, I don’t intend to pour through the many personal speakerphone options you have. Instead, I’m going to compare two models from two companies on the list above. Specifically, I’ll be comparing the Jabra Speak 710, and the newer Poly Sync 20. The Poly Sync 20 comes in two different versions – the Poly Sync 20 and the Poly Sync 20+. Both versions include the ability to connect to your smartphone through Bluetooth and to your computer via an integrated USB cable. The Poly Sync 20+ includes the BT600 USB Bluetooth adaptor, which lets users wirelessly connect to their computer. 5 – Portability Meets Durability With so many Poly solutions certified by Microsoft Teams, it’s not always easy to make a decision about which device is best suited to you. We took this opportunity to breakdown some of the key benefits of using a portable speakerphone for your remote collaboration needs.

However, I feel fairly safe in saying that most people who use a product like this, aren’t in noisy environments. Still, good to know before making your buying decision. Talk time Overall, I enjoyed my experience with the Poly Sync 20 speaker. I was a bit skeptical at first, as many collaboration products promise to make hybrid work more collaborative, but this product genuinely surprised me with its simplicity, portability, and compactness. Another significant value-add is the ability to work with a wide range of platforms, including Teams and Zoom. With hybrid and work from home environments continuing to play a huge role in the working experience, the Poly Sync 40 and Poly Sync 60 are coming just at the right time. Poly seems committed to improving the work from home experience by launching collaboration devices, and the team is executing well. After using the Poly Sync 20 speaker, I look forward to testing the next round of Poly Sync devices soon. One very attractive feature of the Jabra Speak 710 is you can daisy chain two of the speakerphones together wirelessly. That provides you with two omnidirectional microphones as well as two speakers for a stereolike sound. This capability is extremely useful when you have a group of people assembled for a meeting. More microphone coverage, portability and superior speaker sound. The Poly Sync 20+ also doubles up as a neat listening companion to your smartphone or laptop. However, you will only get a monaural experience since the device sports only one loudspeaker. Poly confirmed to us that it is not possible to pair multiple Sync 20 units in stereo mode. To complicate matters further, Poly offers special Microsoft Teams versions of both the Sync 20 and Sync 20+, both with either USB-A or USB-C connectivity. This makes for a total of eight different SKUs.Freedom to Move – Don’t get us wrong, headsets are great. But everyone has their own way that they like to work and sometimes it’s necessary to have the freedom to get up and move around in the home office and not wear a headset all day. When it’s time for a change of scenery, the Poly Sync’s 20-hour battery life is in for the long-haul. And don’t worry, we made sure to make it dust and water-resistant, so you can get up and go worry-free – even if right now, all that means is moving to your patio. Streamlined and intuitive functionality are central to the Poly Sync 20’s design. Now you can switch between your favorite functions – such as play or pause music, last number redial, voice assistant, and more – with the touch of the programmable button. At a glance, Poly Sync’s highly visible LED light indicator bar lets you know the call status – even from a distance. 7 – Certified for Use with Your Favorite Platform If there were an advantage here, I’d say it goes to the Poly Sync 20 as it provides 25% more battery life even though it takes 25% longer to charge. Warranty Further, while it’s handy that the Sync 20 announces when it has connected to and disconnected from a device, and when it has powered down, the volume is set way too high, which can be rather startling if you’re not ready for it. It’s also unclear why the speakerphone isn’t configured to power down automatically as soon as all devices are unlinked. Both speakerphones are rated to provide up to 100 feet of wireless range. I, personally, think that’s a generous, correction, over generous statement.

There’s no denying the Poly Sync 20 offers superior audio performance to most business laptops, which means owners will benefit from clearer and richer audio during video calls. Those that struggle with minor hearing impairments will also find the speakerphone is loud enough to make calls a little easier.Both of these personal speakerphones have their strong points. The Sync 20 is a very attractive product with a modern technological look. It sounds good, it looks good, it’s priced right and it has a useful USB port to charge your phone. Poly Sync’s 20-hour battery life lets you work on-the-go all day. The speaker’s USB port connects to your smartphone, allowing you to stay charged up and ready for your next move.

Though both of these speakerphones look professional, I have to say that the Poly Sync 20 has a more refined look. It’s nicely appointed with a fabric material that covers a good portion of it. The rest of the device is reserved for control buttons. That said, looks will only take you so far, so let’s look further. Bluetooth Version Our rule of thumb is to take the stated range, 100 feet in this case, and divide it in half. That would put both of these speakerphones at around 50 feet of usable range. If you use this method, you’ll end up with a more realistic expectation when it comes to range. Connectivity But, before I get started, I wanted to let you know that I created a video on this. In my video, I compare these two models for their features and sound quality. Anyone who’s been working from home over the past several months can relate to the feeling that the lines between work and home life have blurred substantially. One area in which this is a good thing is with business-grade technology that can be seamlessly integrated for leisure purposes. The Poly Sync 20 is an all-in-one device that carries you from productivity to play. Its bass reflex system with dual-passive radiators ensures high-quality, natural-sounding voice while on calls and deep bass for jamming out to your favorite playlist between calls. 3 – Long-Lasting Battery Life and Device Charging Poly has also taken plenty of care to ensure the Sync 20 is extremely light (360g) and small (less than 20cm wide), and can therefore be transported easily using the case provided.Having more speaker sound can make a difference when you're wanting to hear well, or in those situations where you have a group of people on the call. In most cases, more available speaker volume is preferred over less. Hopefully that means something to you. For me, I just want it to work well and sound great. Whichever version of Bluetooth is used, is fine by me. But that’s just my opinion because different versions of Bluetooth could make a difference in the right situation. But that’s well beyond my pay grade. Wireless range You can’t go wrong with either of these models, as both are of high quality and manufactured by reputable companies. Determine what your specific needs are and then use the information brought out in this review, and others, to help form your buying decision. On the surface, the Poly Sync 20 seems to be the more technologically advanced, and potentially the better sounding conference phone. After all, it has three microphones that are “steerable” where the Jabra Speak 710 has a single microphone. Does this translate to superior sound? I did sound tests on both. Specifically, I did these tests: