Hear and be heard. When you get right down to it, those two things are what a professional headset are supposed to do for you. The new EPOS took that mantra to heart with its new IMPACT 1000 Bluetooth headset. With adaptive ANC, it's designed to help you hear what's coming through the ear cups, and integrated EPOS AI noise cancellation is designed to help you be heard by coworkers as well as AI assistant programs. So, how does it perform?
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At 6 ounces, this is not the lightest headset (the EPOS IMPACT 500, for example, weighs in at 5 ounces), but it doesn’t feel heavy. It’s also not a “small” headset, though it certainly smaller than a pair of studio cans. That said, I particularly appreciated the build quality—very solid.
Controls and Charging
Red lights on both cups indicate when the headset is in use (yes, you can turn them off). The IMPACT 1000 sports familiar EPOS controls, with power and Bluetooth pairing switch above the volume toggle, which doubles as a pause button when listening to music. The USB-C charging port is next to the volume control. The other cup only has the ANC on/off button.
The boom mic rotates about 270 degrees, so you can use it on either ear. A dedicated button on the boom mic picks up, disconnects, or rejects calls. Double tap that button to put a call on hold. To mute, press the volume toggle or tilt the boom mic.
Taking the headsets with you? EPOS provides a soft carrying case that includes a mesh pocket for storing a USB-C charging cable and the USB dongle (complete with USB-A adapter) that pairs your headset to your laptop.
The box was surprisingly weighty for a lightweight headset. That’s because it shipped with a sturdy charging stand that comes with its own storage bag.
The base of the charging stand is a roughly 4x5-inch rounded trapezoid, and you need about 9 1/2 inches of height clearance, plus additional room on the sides to hang the headphones. The IMPACT 1000 headband has a notch in the center of its padding (no, it doesn’t impact comfort) to accommodate the charging stand.
Other headsets offer flat charging bases that require you to fold your headphones and sort of balance them on the base. I generally abandon those charging options pretty quickly and just plug the headset into the USB-C cable I keep at my desk.
Granted, the IMPACT 1000 charging stand takes up a chunk of workspace real estate, but it’s a dedicated home that keeps the headset very accessible and always charged. I could see myself using this base for the life of the headset. However, if you forget to hang up your headset, the IMPACT 1000 has a fast charging feature that’ll get you about 90 minutes of listening time on a 10-minute charge.
For a little more control over your IMPACT 1000, download the EPOS Connect app for your laptop. From the app, you can adjust the ANC level, sidetone (how loud you hear yourself), check battery status, get firmware updates (EPOS told me native Bluetooth is coming soon), and more. I'm hoping this headset will be added to the mobile app soon.
Real-World Tests
To review its ANC capabilities, I took the IMPACT 1000 on the ultimate test drive: air travel. Whether I was listening to music or watching a movie, it did a good job keeping out much of the engine noise as I journeyed to InfoComm 2026. I won't say it's the best ANC I've tried, but it should be more than adequate for office work and the occasional trip.
EPOS is really pushing the IMPACT 1000 as a headset for folks who rely on AI transcriptions and the like, so I opened a lonely Google Meet with myself and started talking. I began by reading a short passage from Better Off Dead, a Jack Reacher novel by Lee Child and Andrew Child. Perfect.
However, the Google Gemini transcript started taking hits with Shakespeare. "Dromio" became "Romeo," "within" became "whenin," and "traders" became "traitors." Hate to be the bearer of bad news, people, but AI transcription still needs some help. The Comedy of Errors, indeed. That said, I'm not blaming the headset, as Google Gemini was obviously hearing what I was saying, and it even captured my random mumblings before and after reading the test content.
Now, let’s talk talking. The IMPACT 1000 has EPOS AI noise cancellation, so I went outside to have a conversation. There was a breeze, not necessarily a strong wind. I was told by someone who has been on the receiving end of more of my headset tests than should be allowed by law that this was the best sounding headset I’ve ever used. Can’t really offer better feedback than that.
Pricing for the IMPACT 1000 starts at $249; the model I tested—double-sided with ANC, dongle, and charging stand—lists for $449. You can save a little if you skip the dongle. The charging stand only added $30 to the price, so if you expect this headset to take up at least semi-permanent residence on your desk, it’s probably worth the extra bucks. Note, the lower-cost, single-sided model doesn’t offer ANC and isn’t compatible with the charging stand.
Yes, this is pricey headset. You’re paying for the premium EPOS experience that’s certified for Microsoft Teams, Zoom, and Google Meet. If you don’t rely on your headset for everyday communication, there are less expensive options out there from EPOS (and other manufacturers). But if your workday starts and ends with you on a headset, that extra investment might pay for itself in short order.
