EPOS Impact 1060 ANC Review
ANC on-ears for the hybrid office environment
Verdict
Not just merely competent, the EPOS Impact 1060 are a reliably consistent pair of on-ear headphones for the work and home office. The noise-cancellation reduces distractions, and the call quality is clear and detailed, though some will baulk at the asking price.
Pros
- Well-built
- Good clarity and detail with calls
- Robust Bluetooth connection
- App support
- Solid noise-cancellation
Cons
- Expensive
- Reserved bass performance with music
Key Features
- Adaptive Hybrid ANCSupport for adaptive noise-cancellation
- EPOS BrainAdapt™ technologyClaims to feature “industry-leading” voice pick-up
- Microsoft Teams Open OfficeCertified to be used with Microsoft Teams
Introduction
The pandemic changed how we work, but with companies looking to bring people back to the office, it’s worth investing in a pair of headphones for an increasingly noisy office.
And for all those Zoom (or Teams or Webex) calls, the priority is a pair of headphones that’ll provide a good means of communication. A pair of AirPods Pro might be good to hear what others are saying, but not always best as soon as you start speaking.
Step forward the EPOS Impact 1060 ANC, headphones made for the office but can be used at home as well; a pair of on-ears that support noise-cancellation to keep the busy chatter away and the focus on your calls.
Design
- On-ear design
- Anonymous looks
- Comes with a carry pouch
There’s a call centre vibe about the Impact 1060 ANC, attired in an anonymous black colourway, the only noticeable branding is the EPOS name highlighted in silver on the headband. They’re certainly not flashy PC gaming headsets but they’re well-built.
The EPOS is also an on-ear pair of headphones, a design that brings a few caveats in terms of comfort. But there’s soft pliable padding on both earpads as well as the underside of the headband that alleviates pressure – my ears do warm up after a few minutes but not to uncomfortable levels.
Though the frame is plastic it is sturdy enough with some bend in the headband to fit different sized heads. There doesn’t seem to be a left or right orientation for the earcups, which seem to work irrespective of how you put them on. There is a single sided variant of these headphones available.
The boom mic is retractable and can be flicked from one side of the earcup to the other, furthering my impression that you could wear these headphones however you like.
Controls include sliders for power/Bluetooth and volume control (which goes up or down in increments of 10 or so), a button on the boom mic to accept/reject calls, and on the other earcup is the ANC/talk through button. Initially I found it a bit difficult to orientate myself, but eventually I remembered the placement of the buttons/sliders.
There’s also a soft carry pouch, surprisingly, for keeping the headphones safe during transport. I can’t imagine much carrying to and fro unless you work from home and the office, but it’s a nice gesture to include one.
The design and operation are all very functional – it gets the job done with little fuss.
Features
- Hybrid ANC support
- 19-hour battery life
- Microsoft Teams Certification
The headphones come with a Bluetooth (BTD 800a) dongle that can be connected to a computer through USB-C or via the USB-A adapter. You can charge the headphones with the packaged USB-C cable or the charging stand – more on that later.
Set-up is quick, a case of connecting the dongle and powering on the headphones and (at least on a Windows PC) letting the OS download the necessary drivers before getting the a-ok. The downloadable EPOS Connect app (Mac, Windows, and mobile) adds further means of customisation of ANC modes, sidetone volume, TalkThrough settings as well as downloading firmware updates.
Wireless connectivity is Bluetooth 5.3 and allows for the Impact 1060 ANC to be connected to multiple devices at once – three in fact – for those busy multitaskers out there. The strength of the connection is strong, I’ve walked from downstairs to upstairs with audio playing and have not experienced a dropout yet.
The Impact 1060 ANC carries noise-cancellation, something of a surprise for a pair of on-ear headphones. In theory it shouldn’t be able to clear as much noise as an over-ear design, and in practice that’s on the money.
The ANC diminishes rather than fully suppresses sounds. Using them at home I can still hear noises faintly in the background; the sound of the washing machine (not on full spin I should add), radio, noise from upstairs, and even the sound of the wind outside recedes to become background noise rather than overt disturbances. I don’t think it’s strong enough to cancel out lots of loud noises in close proximity, but it’s enough to provide focus on what you’re doing. An over-ear ANC pair such as the Poly Voyager Surround 80 UC would provide more conclusive noise-cancellation.
There’s also a TalkThrough mode – in effect a transparency mode that lets sound in for greater awareness. It does offer more awareness and clarity, but the microphones can sound a little noisy when TalkThrough is engaged, and the mode alters the sound quality just a tad, with a looser, airy tone to audio.
There’s auto-pause and the headphones instantly recognize once they’ve been taken off. The dongle will show different colours for different modes – mute is a red/purple for example – and you’ll also get an audio confirmation. Start a Zoom call and it’ll automatically mute as you enter the session. Lower the boom mic and it’ll unmute.
Battery life is 19 hours, which I’d surmise gets you a few weeks of moderate use and perhaps several days for hard users. Speaking for myself, with short team meetings every day mixed with a few longer calls now and then, it’d take me a few weeks to run down the battery, if not more.
You can charge them through the USB-C cable or purchase the variant of these headphones that comes with a charging stand. Like the headphones the aesthetics are purely functional, but the stand has a perch to charge the headphones on. It takes 2.5 hours to wirelessly charge the Impact 1060 ANC compared to 1.5 hours with the USB-C cable.
Finally, the headphones are certified for Microsoft Teams, and meet the Microsoft Teams Open Office specifications for the best Teams experience. They can be used for Zoom Meetings and phone calls, as well as with Google Chromebook devices, but certification for those devices is pending.
Sound Quality
- Clear call quality
- Consistent and reliable performance
- Reserved bass
Using these headphones for team meetings over Zoom and response was nearly uniformly positive. Most commented on the headphones’ voice pick-up sounding fine and clear, and on one call a member of the team mentioned I came across clearer than someone using their AirPods Pro.
There was an occasion where someone mentioned I sounded sound “ever so slightly muffled” but that’s been the worst criticism of the headphones so far. It’s a step up over my laptop’s microphone, which at times is very muffled and unclear.
I haven’t encountered any issues hearing what others have to say. Everyone sounds clear, and most importantly other people on the Zoom call sound like themselves – there’s a precise, neutral tone to calls when using the Impact 1060 ANC.
And I imagine they’ll be those who’d like to listen to music on these headphones too, in which case the Impact 1060 ANC brings that same neutrality to music as it does to online calls. The EPOS provides clarity throughout the frequency range, especially in the midrange where voices sit, as well as the high frequencies. There’s also not the sense of either calls or music sounding hemmed in – it’s a spacious performance.
They do exhibit a reserved sense of bass, which isn’t unexpected for either a pair of on-ears or a headphone predominantly used for calls. The focus for office headsets in reproducing audio is from the midrange and upwards, so while you could use these headphones for music, you’ll find that bass is lacking that thump and depth to it.
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Should you buy it?
For a pair of headphones for the office and home
The EPOS Impact 1060 ANC are reliably good for call quality, with decent comfort, and solid ANC. They’re better than the much cheaper Tribit CallElite 81
The expense
£220 for the base model and £365 for the model reviewed here. While they’re good for office calls, they’re not the most versatile for general use such as music, with a reserved bass performance
Final Thoughts
There’s no doubting the EPOS Impact 1060 ANC are a solid pair of headphones for the task required of them. The call quality is clear and detailed, the noise-cancellation is effective enough to ward off minor distractions, and they’re comfortable enough to wear for an on-ear pair of headphones.
You can mix and match the configuration, but the variant I’ve used for testing is expensive – £365 / $429 is the quoted price for the Impact 1060 ANC and that includes the charging stand, with £220 / £289 the blanket MSRP for the most basic model. In either case the lump sum asked for is considerable.
The performance you get is reliably good, and it gets a recommendation from me. I don’t think anyone using these headphones for professional/office use will be disappointed. However, the asking price is a cold splash of water to the face for those after a reasonably affordable pair of office headphones for the hybrid era.
How we test
We test every set of headphones we review thoroughly over an extended period of time. We use industry standard tests to compare features properly. We’ll always tell you what we find. We never, ever, accept money to review a product.
Find out more about how we test in our ethics policy
Tested with real world use
Tested across several weeks
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FAQs
There are certain configurations of the Impact 1060 ANC that come with the charging stand, but if you go for the basic configuration then the stand is an optional extra.
Full specs
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
