The BlueParrott B450-XT Headset is a mono on-ear headset that can be worn on either ear, thanks to its flippable microphone. Its mic captures natural-sounding speech, even if you're talking in a busy call center. Voices on the other line also sound fairly clear and detailed. It has just about 24 hours of continuous battery life, and you can even pair it with up to two devices at a time. Unfortunately, it isn't the most comfortable headset, especially if you're wearing it for a full 9-5 shift. Some may also find the companion app is a little limiting. However, if you create a free BlueParrott account, you can gain access to features like Walkie Talkie mode which is designed to help improve communication via Microsoft Teams.
Our Verdict
The BlueParrott B450-XT is mediocre for mixed use. As it's designed for use in an office setting, it has mediocre portability and it doesn't isolate against any sound. Its mono-ear design also makes it less than ideal for listening to music, even though it delivers a balanced bass and mid-range. That said, it has a good boom microphone that captures natural-sounding voices, even in noisy environments. However, speech can sound dull and lacking in detail.
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Long continuous battery life.
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Multi-device and NFC pairing.
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Bad noise isolation.
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Fit can put pressure on the ear and become uncomfortable to wear.
The BlueParrott B450-XT is passable for neutral sound. It's not designed for listening to music but it has a surprisingly neutral and balanced bass and mid-range, although its mids are a little underemphasized. However, its treble is lacking, which results in an overall dark and veiled sound. Due to its on-ear fit, it's prone to inconsistent bass and treble delivery.
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Long continuous battery life.
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Poor passive soundstage.
The BlueParrott B450-XT is disappointing for commute and travel. It barely isolates against any noise like buses or ambient chatter and it can be hard to take with you on-the-go as it doesn't fold into a smaller form. Some users may also find it to be uncomfortable to wear, especially if you're on a long flight, as it feels a bit tight on the top of the ear. However, it has a long continuous battery life that should last you through multi-hour commutes.
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Long continuous battery life.
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Bad noise isolation.
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Fit can put pressure on the ear and become uncomfortable to wear.
The BlueParrott B450-XT is alright for sports and fitness. While it has a Bluetooth design which reduces the chances of it getting snagged while you're on the move and it has a decently stable fit, it can be fatiguing to wear them for long jogs in the park. Its headband can also put a bit of pressure on the top of your ear, which can be a bit uncomfortable.
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Long continuous battery life.
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Fit can put pressure on the ear and become uncomfortable to wear.
The BlueParrott B450-XT is disappointing for office use. Some may not find it comfortable when worn for long periods. However, it can be used on either ear as the mic is flippable. It also has a long continuous battery life that can easily get you through your shift without dying and it has handy controls for taking phone calls at your desk.
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Long continuous battery life.
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Multi-device and NFC pairing.
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Bad noise isolation.
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Fit can put pressure on the ear and become uncomfortable to wear.
The BlueParrott B450-XT isn't recommended for wireless gaming. This headset is Bluetooth-only and isn't compatible with PS4 or Xbox One. While you can use it with any Bluetooth-enabled PC or mobile device, the latency may be too high for competitive gaming.
The BlueParrott B450-XT is a Bluetooth-only headset that can't be used wired.
The BlueParrott B450-XT is alright for phone calls. Its flippable boom microphone has a decent recording quality, capturing voices that sound natural although thin and lacking detail. It does a better job of separating speech from ambient noise, though, which is handy in crowded environments like a busy street. That said, the headset's noise isolation performance is bad as it lets in most sound. However, some users may prefer this design as it lets you hear your voice as you talk.
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Long continuous battery life.
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Great noise handling mic.
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Bad noise isolation.
- 6.0 Mixed Usage
- 6.1 Neutral Sound
- 5.8 Commute/Travel
- 6.9 Sports/Fitness
- 5.8 Office
- 5.3 Wireless Gaming
- 5.1 Wired Gaming
- 6.7 Phone Calls
- Updated Sep 22, 2020: Review published.
- Updated Sep 03, 2020: Early access published.
- Updated Aug 27, 2020: Our testers have started testing this product.
- Updated Aug 26, 2020: The product has arrived in our lab, and our testers will start evaluating it soon.
- Updated Jul 28, 2020: We've purchased the product and are waiting for it to arrive in our lab.
Differences Between Sizes And Variants
The BlueParrott B450-XT is the updated model of the BlueParott B450-XT Classic. While at first glance, the Classic design has a slightly different-looking control scheme, BlueParrott advertises that the newer model has improved comfort and now boasts an IP54 rating, although we don't currently test for this.
If someone comes across a BlueParrott B450-XT Headset that's different from ours, let us know in the discussions and we'll update our review.
Compared To Other Headphones
The BlueParrott B450-XT is a mono headset. Its flippable boom microphone has a decent recording quality, even in noisy environments, and its continuous battery life is enough to get you through a long shift at the office. Unlike other mono headsets such as the TaoTronics TT-BH041 Bluetooth Headset, it comes with a companion app so that you can button remap. There are also some features available such as Walkie Talkie mode which works with Microsoft Teams Walkie Talkie for push-to-talk communication. If you're looking for more headsets, check out our recommendations for the best Bluetooth headsets for phone calls, the best office headphones, and the best earphones with a mic.
The BlueParrott B450-XT Headset is a better headset for phone calls than the Plantronics Voyager 5200 Bluetooth Headset. The BlueParrott has a more balanced sound profile and its boom microphone has a better recording quality. It also has a longer continuous battery life and you can use it while it's charging. However, the Plantronics Voyager is more comfortable and since it's an earbud headset, it's also more portable. Its microphone is better at noise handling, which is handy if you need to take calls on the road from your truck.
The BlueParrott B450-XT Headset is a better headset for making phone calls than the TaoTronics TT-BH041 Bluetooth Headset. The BlueParrott has a better-balanced sound profile as well as a significantly better-performing boom microphone. Even though its continuous battery life isn't as long, the BlueParrott also has a standby mode to help conserve battery life. It has a companion app to give more functionality with Microsoft Teams, and it supports multi-device and NFC pairing. However, the TaoTronics is more comfortable and feels significantly better built.
The BlueParrott B450-XT Headset is a better headset for making phone calls than the Plantronics Voyager Legend Bluetooth Headset. The BlueParrott has a more balanced sound profile and its boom microphone has a significantly better overall performance. Its continuous battery life is longer, it has NFC pairing, and its latency across PC, iOS, and Android is lower too, although some apps and devices seem to compensate for lag differently. However, the Plantronics is significantly more comfortable. As it's a mono in-ear, it's more portable and stable.
The BlueParrott B450-XT Bluetooth Headset is a better headset for making phone calls than the Jabra Steel Bluetooth Headset. The BlueParrott is more comfortable and has better controls. Its sound profile is better-balanced, and its boom microphone does a significantly better job of recording voices, even in noisy environments. The BlueParrott has a longer continuous battery life, and you can still use it while it's charging. However, the Jabra is an earbud, which makes it much more portable than the on-ears BlueParrott.
The BlueParrott B450-XT Bluetooth Headset and the Sennheiser SC 160 USB-C Headset are similarly performing headsets for phone calls but you may prefer one over the other. The BlueParrott is a mono on-ear headset with Bluetooth wireless and great battery performance. It feels significantly more stable on the head and it leaks less sound. Its companion app also offers more features when used with Microsoft Teams, which some users may like. However, the Sennheiser is wired-only, which means you don't have to worry about battery life, and it also has a more neutral, less dark sound profile.
The BlueParrott B450-XT Bluetooth Headset is a better mono on-ear headset than the Mpow Pro Trucker Bluetooth Headset. The BlueParrott has a more stable fit and a more balanced sound profile. Its continuous battery life is longer, and its microphone has a better recording quality and noise handling performance. That said, the Mpow is more comfortable and better-built.
Test Results
The BlueParrott B450-XT is a mono headset with a plain look. It has an asymmetrical headband that sticks out of one side more than another. The ear cup has its control buttons that are visible and easily accessible. There's also a customizable button with the manufacturer's signature blue parrot on it.
This headset is adequately comfortable. It puts a bit of pressure on the top of the ear which can hurt if you're wearing it for long conference calls. On the upside, it can be used on either side if you need it as its mic can rotate 180 degrees.
This headset has adequate controls. There are four buttons: the first button is the Parrott button which acts as a mic mute. However, you can remap it to something else if you prefer. There's also a power button that doubles as a pairing button, as well as a volume up and down button.
The BlueParrott B450-XT has mediocre portability. It's a bit bigger than the TaoTronics TT-BH041 Bluetooth Headset and it can't fold into a smaller size. The microphone isn't detachable and it can snag on something if you need to put it in a bag.
The BlueParrott B450-XT doesn't come with a case or pouch.
The BlueParrott B450-XT's build quality is okay. It has a mostly plastic build with some silicone and a metal plate inside the headband to keep it rigid. There's faux-leather padding on the ear cup but it can be changed to cloth padding if you prefer one material over another. It's also IP54 rated for dust and water resistance, although we don't currently test for this. Unfortunately, everything feels kind of loose and its ear cup feels particularly flimsy.
This headset is decently stable. If you're making calls from your desk, you shouldn't have any problems keeping it on your head. However, it may fall if you're wearing it during physical exercise, although it's not designed for this use.
- BlueParrott B450-XT Headset with leatherette ear cushion
- Foam ear cushion
- Microphone windscreen
- USB-C charging cable
- Auto (DC) adapter
- Manual
The BlueParrott B450-XT has a slightly dark sound profile. While voices sound clear, they're a bit dull and veiled.
This headset has a mediocre frequency response consistency. Due to its mono on-ear fit, it's sensitive to fit, seal, and positioning, so bass and treble delivery may vary. You may also have to slightly adjust it on your ears to get the same sound reproduction each time you wear it.
This headset has excellent bass accuracy. It's fairly balanced and neutral across the range, resulting in a thumpy, punchy sound. However, you may experience a drop in bass delivery if the ear cup isn't flush to your head.
This headset has great mid accuracy. However, the low and mid-mid are both slightly underemphasized, resulting in thinned out vocals that are nudged into the back of the mix.
The BlueParrott B450-XT has terrible treble accuracy. It's underemphasized across the entire range, which results in veiled vocals as well as dull sibilants such as S and T sounds.
This headset has unremarkable peaks and dips performance. There's a bump across the bass range, which results in a slightly punchy and boomy sound. However, another peak in the high-mids keeps vocals clear and detailed in relation. The dip between the low treble dulls and weakens vocals in this range.
The BlueParrott B450-XT is a mono headset and has no stereo imaging.
This headset's passive soundstage is poor. It isn't spacious, accurate, or natural and sound is perceived as coming from inside your head, rather than from an area in front of you.
This headset doesn't have any virtual soundstage features.
This headset has an alright weighted harmonic distortion performance. There's some distortion present at moderate and at max volume, located in between the high-bass to low-mid as well as between the low-treble to mid-treble range. However, this shouldn't be noticeable for most people.
Note: We were unable to reach 100dB volume while testing this headset as its max level is 97dB. Therefore, the '100 dB' score was tested with the headset at this volume and the '90 dB' score was set 10dB lower.
These are the settings used to test this headset. Our results are only valid when listening using these settings.
As this is a mono on-ear headset, it has a bad noise isolation performance most likely on purpose, so that you can hear your own voice as you speak.
The BlueParrott B450-XT has a good leakage performance. If you're taking calls in an office setting, your colleagues shouldn't notice your audio unless you're listening to content at a high volume.
This headset has a flippable mic with a windscreen.
The microphone's recording quality is decent. Your voice sounds natural but a bit thin and lacking detail.
The BlueParrott B450-XT's boom microphone has great noise handling. It's able to separate your voice from ambient noise, even in busier environments like on a city street and you should have no problems being understood by those on the other line.
This headset has a great battery performance. It lasts just over a full 24 hours, which should be more than enough to get you through a couple of long days at the office. When not in use, it goes directly into standby mode, which helps to conserve battery. You can even use them while charging, but you still need to be connected to a Bluetooth device to work.
The BlueParrott B450-XT has a disappointing companion app. The BlueParrott App allows you to change the mappable button as well as access firmware updates or check the user manual. There's also a couple of other features such as Walkie Talkie mode but you need to have a BlueParrott account to use these features.
This headset has excellent Bluetooth connectivity. You can pair it with up to two devices at a time, which is handy if you're taking calls from your phone one moment, and then need to join a video call from your laptop. It also has NFC pairing right above the BlueParrott button, even though it's not indicated on the headset. Its latency is a little high if you're streaming video on PC, but it does much better on Android and iOS. However, apps and devices compensate for latency differently, so your real-world experience may vary.
The BlueParrott B450-XT is a Bluetooth-only headset.
This is a Bluetooth-only headset that can't be used wired. It comes with a USB-cable for charging.
This headset can only connect to Bluetooth-enabled PCs but it offers full audio and microphone support. It's incompatible with PS4 consoles, though.