SCN Hybrid Review: ClearOne Wants You Ready to Chat
Measuring almost 8 inches square, the ClearOne Chat 150 BT is not a small speakerphone. That’s because it’s designed to be a group speakerphone as opposed to a personal speakerphone. With its size and sophisticated design, the Chat 150 BT is a better fit for the executive office or conference room than the home office.
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Not every speakerphone is the same. The Chat 150 BT has some advantages over some of its more compact counterparts. Sure, it has a USB-C port, so you can connect and power it directly from your laptop or plug it into the wall with a charging block. But it also has an honest-to-goodness power input port, so you can have a dedicated AC power supply—and you don’t have to rely on an internal battery or USB-C.
The onboard controls are fancy—no raised buttons here, just icons. You can control the volume, mute, manage your Bluetooth connectivity, and answer or hang up calls (currently only available via USB but future functionality is in development). The presentation is very stylish, though the controls can attract fingerprints.
LED indicators for volume, Bluetooth, and mic status are slightly raised and certainly bright enough to be seen across the conference room table. Three LEDs (paired with the three recessed onboard mics) turn bright red instead of blue when you mute the mic, so it’s easy to know when you can speak freely.
Pairing the Chat 150 BT via Bluetooth is a simple matter of pressing the icon and pairing it when the LED flashes. It also remembers previous devices, so reconnecting to my iPhone was a snap. When paired, the Bluetooth LED turns blue; it flashes every five seconds or so when in use.
One of the perks of a speakerphone is that you can use it to listen to music. The audio on the ClearOne is good for a speakerphone, though it could use more bass. I played “Get Him Back!” from Olivia Rodrigo (yeah, I’m hip), which has a distorted bass line but sounds downright tame on the Chat 150 BT. The Bluetooth audio (of the same song) loses some of the fidelity, but it’s still perfectly acceptable for an office environment while waiting for a meeting to start.
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Just be careful with your sources. The Chat 150 BT was more than happy to play music simultaneously from my iPhone and my laptop, so make sure you know what’s been paired and that you only have one device in use during your meeting.
Remember, this is a speakerphone. It’s not going to mimic the audio quality of a headset mic or directional condenser mic. That said, the Chat 150 BT sounds … fine. Compared to other speakerphones, my voice sounded a bit flat and tinny. Certainly intelligible and plenty of range, but not as full as I’d prefer.
I have been known to put some equipment through unreasonable tests, and that tradition continued with the Chat 150 BT. If you want to test the noise cancelling intelligence of a speakerphone, I say you use it while there is demolition going on in the next room. I could barely hear myself over the noise—but no one on the other side of the videoconference could hear a thing. That was beyond impressive.
While the speaker and microphones are serviceable more than stunning, there’s plenty to like about the Chat 150 BT. The presentation is very professional (hey, looks matter), Bluetooth pairing is a snap, power options are much appreciated, and the noise cancellation capabilities are amazing.
