Tik Tech: We tested the Sync20 speakerphone from Poly -
20 Minutes
The sudden development of teleworking due to Covid-19 is boosting sales of office equipment: computers, keyboards, screens and accessories.
With Sync 20, the Poly company offers a
speakerphone
, a speaker dedicated to smartphones, easy to use and with very real performance.
At the same time, the device sold for 159 euros can serve as a classic Bluetooth speaker, but also as an extra battery for a smartphone.
Test, alert, protect and… telework!
With the health crisis, telework has experienced a phenomenal expansion.
For 10 months, sales of laptops, monitors, office headsets and even office chairs have soared.
Those of accessories to increase productivity and comfort at home are developing in parallel.
New to this universe: the
Sync 20
speakerphone
from Poly.
This small speaker dedicated to conf-calls and other
meetings
on Zoom, Google Meet or Teams wants to make our
home office
work easier
.
Sync 20 charges directly via USB on a computer.
- POLY
The end of headsets with microphones
Supplied in a carrying case, the object is unlike anything known.
Measuring 182 x 95 x 34 mm and weighing 350 grams, Sync 20 combines recycled plastics in its base, aluminum with sensitive keys on the front, and Scandinavian-style fabric on the top.
Under its non-slip base, a USB cable winds discreetly.
The device can thus be connected to a computer or run on battery power.
In Bluetooth, we connect a smartphone, PC or Mac.
Sync 20 has a speaker and three microphones.
Thanks to them, it is possible to talk to a correspondent without a headset or a telephone fixed to the ears.
The end of the bulky headset, as long as you are alone behind your desk.
Tested for a week, the device which has become a real extension for our smartphone, has found a place on our desk, at our home.
Placed between the keyboard and our computer screen, it allowed us to have many audio and video conversations in excellent conditions.
At home, Sync 20 is simply placed in front of the keyboard of your computer.
- POLY
While we are naturally used to turning up the sound a little for the virtual professional interviews which are now part of our daily lives, we have seen that Sync 20 has a real talent for 360 ° capture.
It is therefore not necessarily worth being right in front of the enclosure to converse.
Standing up to two or three meters is enough.
Questioned, our interlocutors assured us that they heard us perfectly, without echo.
In return, Sync 20 offers more than adequate sound.
Its single speaker, located under the surface of the product, delivers a warm and natural audio reproduction.
A customizable touch
At the same time, we appreciated the sensitive keys on the front of the speaker: pick up / hang up;
mute;
volume +/-, as well as a customizable key on the left.
For our tests, we paired the latter with the personal assistant of our smartphone.
Therefore, nothing could be simpler than touching the dedicated key of the Sync 20 to make a phone call with a simple voice command.
You can also assign other functions to this button, such as the one for playing / pausing music.
With its rocket-shaped pictogram, this sensitive key can be personalized.
- CHRISTOPHE SEFRIN / 20 MINUTES
So the device also acts as a Bluetooth speaker.
Of very respectable quality, but cannot be listened to at high volume at the risk of saturating, the sound of a
playlist
, a radio or a
podcast
can thus accompany a day's work.
If a call comes in, pressing the "pick up" button of Sync 20 and the music stops.
A battery that lacks capacity
Unexpected purpose of the
speakerphone
: it also acts as a power
bank
.
We regret that the capacity of its battery is a bit restrictive.
With only 3,200 mAh on board, you can recharge a smartphone that is not too greedy, but not a state-of-the-art smartphone whose battery has now crossed the 4,000 mAh mark.
In conversation mode, Sync 20 provides, according to its manufacturer, up to 20 hours of autonomy (charging time: 4 hours).
Given our use, combining calls and listening to the radio for several hours daily at moderate volume, we had to recharge the device every 2 days.
The USB socket is used to recharge the speaker but also to connect a smartphone to it to be recharged.
- CHRISTOPHE SEFRIN / 20 MINUTES
Regret: Poly could have taken the concept even further and equipped its small speaker with an induction charging base.
The format lends itself perfectly to this.
Another idea for Poly: associate Sync 20 with a support for watching videos on the screen of our smartphone and transform the small accessory into a miniature soundbar.
And once the pandemic is behind us, the device will be complete and truly ready for 100% nomadic activity!
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Covid 19
Confinement
20 minutes video
High Tech
Coronavirus
Teleworking
Tik Tech