businessinfomag.uk magazine 16 ON TEST: The Poly Sync 10-M In today’s business environment, clear communication is essential. Whether you’re leading a meeting, collaborating with remote teams or catching up with clients, poor audio quality can reduce productivity and create a bad impression. My laptop has pretty good speakers. Even so, I prefer using it with headphones when I’m in the office, where there’s a lot of extraneous noise, but not in my home, where it feels odd to be cut off from my surroundings. There, I tend to make do with the laptop’s built-in speakers, despite a nagging suspicion that the audio quality is not what it could be. Which is why I was very interested to find out about the Poly Sync 10-M, a high-performance, Microsoft Teams-certified, portable speakerphone for rooms of up to 3 x 3 metres. Unlike standard laptop speakers, which can sound flat and muffled, the Poly Sync 10-M delivers rich, immersive audio thanks to a two-microphone array, which focuses on the user’s voice and eliminates background noise, and full-duplex audio, which supports simultaneous conversations, ensuring everyone on a call is heard. And it’s not just great for calls. With enterprise-grade, hi-fi audio, the Poly Sync 10-M can also be used to listen to webinars, podcasts and music. The speakerphone is as easy to use as you’d expect, from its plug-and-play USB connectivity to its call status light and touch-sensitive controls for Microsoft Teams, call answer/end, volume control and mute. It is also IP64-rated for dust and water-resistance, providing reassurance that it will be able to cope with the knocks and splashes that are bound to be inflicted upon it, especially if you intend to move it around your home or office or carry it between different locations. At around £60 (inc. VAT), the Poly Sync 10-M is an affordable alternative to laptop speakers. However, it is an entry-level model and, as such, it doesn’t include Bluetooth but relies on a wired USB connection. If the flexibility of wireless connectivity is important to you, for an extra £10 you can upgrade to the Bluetooth-enabled PolySync 20 Speakerphone. Overall, I wouldn’t describe the Poly Sync 10-M as a gamechanger – I will still use headphones in the office – but it is certainly a useful (and versatile) addition to my home office set-up. It’s good as it is, but a Bluetooth model would be even better. Product Reviews by Jeff Root REVIEWS ON TEST: The HP Envy 6120e The Poly Sync 10M is not the only new addition to my home office. I have also been testing an HP Envy 6120E wireless inkjet all-in-one. This stylish device is very much aimed at home users, from its price tag of £59 (inc. VAT) to its compact design – it measures just 430 x 360 x 135mm – and recommended print volume of 100 to 400 pages per month. Users with higher volume print and scanning needs may be better served by a faster device with lower running costs. That said, as an HP+ device, it can be integrated with HP cloud services, giving users the ability to make savings of up to 50% on ad hoc cartridge purchases and enjoy the convenience of automatic delivery of replacement ink cartridges by subscribing to HP Instant Ink. Another useful HP+ service is cloud connectivity, which enables users to print from anywhere they can get an internet connection. Despite its size, the HP Envy 6120E offers paper-saving automatic two-sided printing, print speeds of up to 10 pages per minute (black) and 7 ppm (colour), a maximum resolution of 1200 x 1200 dpi (for printing and scanning) and useful photo printing features like borderless photo printing, ‘true-to-screen’ photo printing, 4x6 double-sided photo and card printing and 5x5 and 4x12 panoramic photo printing. As an all-in-one, it also offers flatbed scanning (inc. scan‑to‑email and scan to HP Cloud), copy and mobile fax (send only) features, easily navigated via the device’s 2.4-inch colour touchscreen and the HP Smart app. This provides all the drivers you need to print and scan from a computer, tablet or smartphone, as well as device management capabilities. The printer is equipped with USB 2.0 connectivity and Wi-Fi (including 5GHz support), which enables wireless printing from a laptop, smartphone or tablet, and a 100-sheet input tray and a 25-sheet output tray. The HP Envy 6120E is probably designed with consumers in mind, but for hybrid workers with limited printing needs it is definitely worth a closer look.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NDUxNDM=