Yamaha UC YVC-200 Review

It is natural for users to expect plenty from the Yamaha YVC-200 speakerphone. After all, Yamaha is best known for the professional audio gear they’ve been making for decades now. And luckily, this heritage of acoustic excellence is reflected in the YVC-200.

Because when it comes to on-call audio performance, the YVC-200 certainly delivers excellent audio quality. Moreover, the YVC-200 exhibited the best two-way acoustic performance out of all the other compact speakerphones tested (including speakerphones by Jabra, Polycom, Sennheiser, Poly, and Yealink).

At a Glance

The YVC-200 is intended for personal use or small conference calls with up to 4 people.

If you need a speakerphone for more participants, a better choice would be Jabra Speak 710 or Jabra Speak 810. Notice that Jabra Speak 710 can pair with a second Speak 710, so the number of participants can be doubled.

The YVC-200 comes in two colorways – black or white. It should be pointed out that the white version has a more evident business aesthetic.

The YVC-200 comes with an included carrying case. It is a puffy zipper case with a small pocket for the USB charger at its back. It is handy for on-the-go, although a sturdier case would have been even more reassuring.

Nevertheless, the YVC-200 itself appears to be well-built. Also, the YVC-200 is an extremely lightweight device. It weighs just over a pound, which makes it easy for users to take it anywhere.  

Its lower part has ports, indicator lights, and rubber buttons. The buttons help the device remain stable when placed on a wooden table or other furniture.

3.5mm headphone jack, USB port, battery indicator, Bluetooth connectivity indicator, and stabilizing buttons.

User Experience

The YVC-200 is pretty easy to use. It has 4 touch-sensor buttons for basic on-call operations. These include Mute, Answer/Hang-Up, the volume adjustment buttons, and right in the middle – a speakerphone button. When the speakerphone is activated, the buttons light up in green.

Learn more: The complete YVC-200 User Guide (HTML)

Connectivity

Users can link to other devices via USB and the built-in Bluetooth 4.2. Moreover, users can connect the YVC-200 to various devices via USB and Bluetooth.

More specifically, the YVC-200 can be connected to a single device via the USB and paired with 2 others via Bluetooth.

However, remember that Bluetooth connectivity is not the most reliable call option. The difference between using the YVC-200 with Bluetooth and USB will be further discussed in the next section.

Audio

This is perhaps the most important aspect of a product like the Yamaha YVC-200. And in the case of the YVC-200, it is also the most developed one.

When tested in multiple scenarios, the YVC-200 always delivered superb on-call audio. And in both directions, too. One can tell the YVC-200 is a speakerphone that is specifically optimized for the human voice.

Of course, the YVC-200 can be used for music as well. However, during calls is when Yamaha’s acoustic capacities shine. The excellent voice quality can be attributed to Yamaha’s crafty sound processing system.

You can think of the sound processing system as a sifter that lets in certain signals while preventing others from entering; Technically, users can use the YVC-200 with headphones and will still take advantage of Yamaha’s sound processing system.

The YVC-200’s sound processing system is equipped with many voice-enhancing technologies. One of those is the in-built adaptive echo cancellation system.

As the name suggests, it aims to detect and cancel any echoes. And as the practical testing proved, it does that successfully.

Another important feature is the noise reduction system. This is also quite self-explanatory. It reduces undesired background noises. All business speakerphones must have one such system in check. The YVC-200 one is fairly solid.

Lastly, the HVAD (Human Voice Activity Detection) system separates human speech from other sounds. This way, any sounds other than speech remain isolated. In effect, the human voice is heard ever more clearly.

Yamaha’s excellent hardware complements this sophisticated sound processing system.  

On the receiving end, the full-range speaker delivers truly a life-like speech quality. This is because ‘full-range speaker’ means that the speaker covers the entire range of the human voice. This way, speech from the other part is transmitted fully.

As for the in-built microphone device, it is an omnidirectional microphone. This means that it can pick up voices coming from all sides. Also, its pick-up range is 6.5 feet. The YVC-200 would be a perfect fit for a small round table.

The microphone exhibited such excellent quality that people on the other side found it hard to believe we were using a speakerphone.

The YVC-200 is the perfect fit for a small round table.

Once again, use the YVC-200 with a USB cable for the best call quality. True, USB does not allow the flexibility of Bluetooth. But on the other hand, the USB allows the call connection to remain stable. Users can forget about signal dropouts with USB connectivity.

The same cannot be said about Bluetooth pairing, though. It is very inconsistent for calls; therefore, it is generally unreliable. Such is the inherent weakness of Bluetooth technology.

Yet, Bluetooth can still be employed for other purposes, such as playing music or listening to podcasts. When used for music or podcasts, there are few to no interruptions.

The takeaway is using the YVC-200 with USB connectivity for an optimal call signal. A good signal and connection enable the YVC-200 to fully deploy its unique audio system.

Software Integration

Besides the spectacularly good call quality, the other great thing about the YVC-200 is its compatibility.

However, in this case, ‘compatible’ means more than that the speakerphone can be used as an audio outlet. Instead, it also means that the YVC-200’s sensor buttons directly communicate with applications on the connected device. In its turn, such capacity positively impacts every user’s workflow.

And so, the YVC-200 is compatible with the biggest remote conferencing systems (such as Zoom, Microsoft Skype for Business, Cisco WebEx, and Slack). Users can adjust all the in-app call options directly from the YVC-200. Thus, users can focus more fully on the contents of the conversation.

And, of course, users can be reassured that the Mute button works perfectly with all the conferencing platforms. 

Charging & Durability

The YVC-200 is powered by a rechargeable Lithium-ion battery that lasts 10 hours. The speakerphone is charged via the included USB 2.0 cable. The included USB cable is 1 meter long (3.3ft), which ensures enough positioning flexibility while charging.

The power adaptor switch, on the other hand, is not included. Therefore, potential users will need to obtain one. Fortunately, most households have an abundance of those nowadays.

A full charge takes approximately 4 and a half hours. However, Yamaha states that the charging time can be extended to 6 hours. This is a lot of time.

In comparison, the Yealink CP700 or CP900 models take only about 3. The Jabra speakerphones from the Speak series (510, 710, 810) take just 2 hours.

Fortunately, the YVC-200 can be used during charging. This makes the lengthy charging time slightly less of an issue. The YVC-200 also has an energy-saving mode that only gets enabled when the speakerphone is not charging.

Warranty

The YVC-200 comes with a 2-year warranty (only applies to authorized resellers).

Final Words

Even if it is not the best all-around speakerphone, the Yamaha YVC-200 certainly is the one to deliver the best on-call experience. Also, the YVC-200 integrates well with all the major conferencing platforms. These two qualities alone make it a stand-out choice.

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