INTRODUCTION

   Although I’ve participated in quite a few online conference calls over the past years I’ve never actually paid much attention to related peripherals. However since as of late some of you have asked for reviews of such devices i started scouting around to see which manufacturers have them in their product lines. The fact however that most of you are not really looking to spend much on such devices gave me a hard time since finding something to fit that description without of course sacrificing quality was not an easy task. Luckily our friends over at Jabra don't only carry Bluetooth and wired earsets/headsets in their product lines but they also manufacture high quality professional/enterprise class VOIP (Voice Over IP) compatible products such as the SPEAK 410 USB Speakerphone we have here with us today.

   GN Netcom, led by the Jabra brand, continues to build on its standing as one of the world’s leading and fastest growing suppliers of hands-free communications solutions. With approximately 875 employees and sales offices around the world, GN Netcom develops manufactures and markets a broad range of wireless headsets for mobile users and both wireless and corded headsets for contact center and office-based users. GN Netcom’s business activities also include its original equipment manufacturing (OEM) business to a wide range of global customers including mobile phone, PC and PDA manufacturers.

   The Jabra Speak 410 is basically a compact speakerphone that looks a lot like a flying saucer (especially in the dark) and can be used both for conference calls and just as a portable speaker and/or a standalone microphone for your PC. It connects to your Windows or Apple based system via USB and but it also features a 3.5mm mini-jack so you have the choice of connecting it with a more powerful external speaker system. Some of you may also notice that Jabra sells two different versions of the SPEAK 410, the normal and the Microsoft certified one. Well as far as i can tell the only difference between both units is that the Microsoft certified version is optimized for use with Microsoft Lync an enterprise-ready unified communications platform by Microsoft with which you can start/join web conferences and/or make phone calls to your contacts. However although i don't have Microsoft Lync I’m pretty certain that both SPEAK 410 versions support it (besides it says so on the box) along with Skype, MS Office communicator, Avaya IP software/Agent, Avaya one-X® Communicator, IBM Lotus sametime, Cisco UC client, Cisco WebEx connect and with pretty much every VOIP solution out there. But compatibility aside is it really any good?

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

Jabra ships the SPEAK 410 inside a clamshell clear plastic box from which you can see the device itself and check its main features just by taking a look at the front.

The package contents are listed on the right side.

Over at the left side Jabra has listed the main features/benefits of the SPEAK 410.

At the rear of the box you will see a large product picture with all its buttons showcased and a product description in 20 languages.

There's a secondary box inside with installation instructions at the rear.

Inside the box you will find the SPEAK 410, a soft carrying pouch, 3 warning booklets (EU/Asia/USA), warranty paper, registration paper and the software mini CD.

THE SPEAK 410

As you can see i wasn't exaggerating when i said that the SPEAK 410 looks a lot like a flying Saucer.

The SPEAK 410 is quite small for what it offers and to show just how small it is i placed my LG Optimus 2X smartphone right next to it.

The Jabra logo is placed on the outer glossy ring.

There's a total of 5 buttons on the glossy ring, the answer/hang up buttons, increase/reduce volume level buttons and the mute button.

All buttons are touch/pressure sensitive so you only need to slightly tap them to work.

The 3.5mm mini jack is placed right beneath the mute button and can be used to output audio from the SPEAK 410 and onto another speaker system or headset.

The Omni-directional/noise filtering microphone is placed right beneath the Jabra logo.

Turning the unit upside down we see a smaller disc which is basically the base of the device.

The 87cm long USB cable can be wrapped in the area between the two discs.

USING THE SPEAK 410

As always you will need to access the Jabra support page to get the latest firmware and software updates.

You can perform a firmware update through the PC suite software (control center).

The firmware update is not very fast but it's very easy to perform (suggest downloading the firmware update file rather than performing an online update).

Jabra also allows you to enable/disable with which of the supported VOIP softphone program solutions you want the SPEAK 410 to work with.

Now exactly where the speaker grille ends Jabra has placed a total of 12 LEDs which light up when you use the SPEAK 410. Specifically the three placed next to the Jabra logo light up green when the device is being used (either to receive or send audio), all light up white to show the current volume level when you press the increase/decrease buttons and finally all of them turn red when you use the mute function.

CONCLUSION

   The SPEAK 410 by Jabra uses a wideband Hi-Fi DSP enabled speaker which actually performs very well when receiving calls from Skype and other VOIP suites, however it's not just as good when playing audio files which is not really surprising considering this is a speakerphone and not a dedicated media/portable speaker (although it still sounds a lot better than most low-cost portable speakers out there). The Omni-directional noise-filtering microphone also performed like a charm although during testing we did encounter some static on the other end, however that only happened twice and it could had been an issue with our internet connection. I would like to see a Bluetooth connection with the SPEAK 410 not only because that way you need not use cables at all times but also because let's face it, a portable speakerphone without Bluetooth does not seem like a product sold in 2013 (ok that's purely marketing but that means a lot to some people).

   At the time of its launch the SPEAK 410 by Jabra did not really come cheap, however today you can find it for just USD83.23 inside the USA (Walmart) and at around 85Euros inside the EU a price tag which is actually quite low for such a product (aimed mostly towards professionals and enterprise users). Certainly there are quite a few more complete speakerphones out there manufactured by some of the leading VOIP companies in the field but they cost many times more the price of the SPEAK 410 so i wouldn't recommend them for people on a tight budget. True the SPEAK 410 could have been better but if it was i doubt Jabra would offer it at the same price range. Overall the SPEAK 410 is a compact, low-cost VOIP speakerphone with good audio quality (for both ends) that basically performs as advertised and that's reason enough for us to give it our Golden award.

PROS

- Build Quality
- Size
- Design
- Audio Quality (Both Ends)
- Touch/Press Sensitive Buttons
- 12 LEDs
- 3.5mm Audio Out
- VOIP Software Support
- Price (For Some) 

CONS

- Wired Only