Plantronics Calisto Pro Series DECT 6.0 Cordless Landline/VoIP Phone with Bluetooth Headset Review

Well after having the Calisto out of the box and up and running for about an hour I am returning it.. I knew going in the reviews where not solid for this but I have been loving my PlantronicsPro bluetooth headset I figured I give the benefit of the doubt. Probably not the best idea.

First the overall quality is really poor for the cost. I really expected far better. It has a very "cheap" plastic feel to both the base, handset and headset. The headset itself I found a poor fit and sound quality not all that great. Interestingly I was able to pair my PlantronicsPro BT Headset (a product I think is simply amazing) to it which made the experience overall better but a cost that one should not have to be burdened with. The handset was surprisingly bulky.

In fairness it does work as advertised. I was able to get my landline, cell and skype working over it. The process to activate the headset is a little wonky. I also probably did not do my homework on the mobile side of this product but all it really does is act as a multipoint headset. You still need to carry around your mobile phone and the handset from the Calisto around the house if you want to take calls from either. You also need to initiate calls for Skype on your computer and then transfer to phone. Same for mobile. The big up sell was the idea on untethering you from the clutter but it really doesn't achieve that. You also can't switch between mobile and land/skype without having to disconnect. Again, it works and they probably don't make claims that it does anything other but I would suggest you have a clear picture on how you think you will use it and research fully.

The one other MAJOR issue for me was the current issue around the Software working on a Mac. They do not have a version that works with 10.6 and have made public statements that they have no plans to support the mac going forward. This really was troubling. I was able to get the software working just fine using Rosetta under 10.6 but in the end the idea that no further refinement is likely to occur for Mac users was troubling at best.

Given the Mac issue and the just overall poor fit and finish was enough to have me rethinking the high cost for this. I really think its a nice concept, PLantronics however would probably be better served if they made use of some of there really nice products, i.e. PlantronicsPro Headset.Get more detail about Plantronics Calisto Pro Series DECT 6.0 Cordless Landline/VoIP Phone with Bluetooth Headset.