EPOS IMPACT 500 Review

By June Ramli

The new EPOS IMPACT 500 is a game-changer for professionals who live on calls and value comfort as much as clarity.
Marketed as the first Teams Open Office–certified headset with a forthcoming software update to support Teams, this headpiece delivers exactly what it promises — seamless connectivity, exceptional voice pickup, and fatigue-free all-day comfort.

Our hands-on take
In testing, pairing was near-instant with Apple devices — a refreshing change from the hit-and-miss experiences we’ve had with other headsets. The on-ear fit stayed comfortable during long sessions and felt far safer and more stable than earbuds which too often slip out.
Callers heard us clearly in open, noisy spaces, and the headset never asked us to “repeat that” the way many do.

Call clarity and noise control
Three adaptive, beamforming mics working with EPOS AI keep your voice front and center while intelligently lowering ambient noise — the sort of “it just works” experience you notice the moment a loud background fades but your voice stays natural. Hybrid ANC helps you stay in the zone between calls, and the Talk-Through mode lets you quickly chat with someone nearby without taking the headset off. EPOS BrainAdapt noticeably reduces listening effort over long days; we ended calls feeling less drained than usual.

Connectivity and reliability
You can run it true-wirelessly over native Bluetooth or with the pre-paired BTD 900c dongle; we appreciated the flexibility. Multipoint keeps two devices connected say, laptop and phone, and Swift Pair speeds Windows setup. Range with the dongle is rated up to 30 m/98 ft, which matched our real-world roaming around a home office. Future software support will add Teams over native Bluetooth for a fully dongle-free workflow when you want a clean, port-free setup.

All-day work features
Battery life is rated at over 36 hours of talk time, and the little details add up: a single-sided busy light to reduce interruptions, intuitive boom-arm call control down to answer, up to mute, on-headset call buttons, and a mute LED that flashes if you start talking while muted. EPOS ActiveGard, EU Noise at Work Limiter (average 85 dB over a workday), and Australia G616 Acoustic Safety protections show welcome attention to hearing safety. Packaging is plastic-free and FSC-certified, and you get a carry pouch and USB-C cable in the box; certain variants add the dongle and USB-C to USB-A adapter. EPOS Manager/Connect software simplifies fleet updates and personal tuning, and the warranty is two years.

What we think
The IMPACT 500 nails the basics and the polish: instant pairing, stable native Bluetooth with a dongle option, strong beamforming mics, ANC that helps you think, and comfort that actually lasts. After long stretches, our ears and brain felt less fatigued than with typical earbuds or cheaper headsets. If you spend much of your day in conversations, this is the rare headset that improves both sides of the call — and how you feel after it.
Highly recommended for hybrid workers who want a safer, more stable, and more intelligent alternative to their earbuds,

Editor’s Note: EPOS supplied a complimentary review unit. The IMPACT 500 is available this month, with MSRPs starting at €199 / $249 / £169 / AU$325. Find more information at www.eposaudio.com