HP Poly SAVI 8420 8L7F5AA#ABA

The ANC is the only highlight here, landing in the 77th percentile, but it's completely overshadowed by a 2nd percentile comfort score thanks to an 816g weight. Sound quality is disappointing and battery life is one of the worst we've seen. This is a call-center specialist that punishes you for trying to use it for anything else.

The ANC is the only thing keeping this headset from being a complete write-off. At the 77th percentile, it's strong enough to hush a noisy open-plan office, which is exactly what you'd want from a dedicated call center tool. But the moment you try to use it for anything else, the wheels fall off. The sound profile is thin and lifeless, landing in the 25th percentile, so don't expect to enjoy music or even a video's audio track. The microphone quality is strictly middle of the pack at the 54th percentile. It gets the job done, but it won't make you sound like a podcast host. Connectivity is also mediocre, sitting in the 42nd percentile, which means you're getting a basic wireless connection without the range or stability of leading options.

Stacked against the competition, the SAVI 8420 looks lost. The Bose QuietComfort Ultra will obliterate it on comfort, sound, and ANC performance while weighing less than a third as much. The Sennheiser MOMENTUM M5AEBT offers a sound profile in a completely different league for music and media. Even the Razer BlackShark V3 Pro, a gaming headset, provides a far better balance of mic quality, comfort, and wireless performance. The only reason you'd pick the Poly is if your IT department mandated it for a specific phone system, because no one would choose this based on the numbers alone.

We don't have a current price to calculate a strict value ratio, but the listed price of $834.49 is a tough pill to swallow. You're paying a premium for a single trick: decent ANC for calls. The build quality is underwhelming, the sound is disappointing, and the battery life is one of the worst we've seen. For this kind of money, you're deep into territory where you could buy a top-tier pair of consumer ANC headphones and a standalone professional microphone, and still have cash left over for a much more comfortable experience.

Let's get the big number out of the way first: the HP Poly SAVI 8420 scores a 15.3 out of 100 for calls, which is its one and only bright spot. That lands it in the 77th percentile for ANC, meaning the noise cancelling is well above average and does a solid job of keeping your voice clear on the other end. But for literally everything else, this headset is a mess. The sound quality sits in the 25th percentile, which is a polite way of saying it's disappointing for anything beyond a conference call. And at 816 grams, it's one of the heaviest headsets we've ever tracked, putting comfort in the 2nd percentile. That's not a typo. It's dead last in comfort.

Anyone who values comfort or sound quality should skip this without a second thought. The 2nd percentile comfort score is a dealbreaker for long sessions, and the 25th percentile sound makes it a poor choice for any media consumption. If you need a headset for a mix of calls, music, and general use, look at the Bose QuietComfort Ultra or even the JBL Live 680NC. You'll get far better battery life, a sound profile you can actually enjoy, and a headset that doesn't feel like a brick on your head.

The HP Poly SAVI 8420 is a single-purpose tool that fails at almost everything outside of that narrow lane. If your entire workday is spent on calls in a loud room and you never, ever plan to use these for music or comfort, the ANC might just barely justify the hassle. For everyone else, the abysmal comfort score and disappointing sound make this a non-starter. There are simply too many better, lighter, and better-sounding options out there to recommend this to anyone spending their own money.