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Bluetooth Headset Roundup
An anonymous reader writes "Here is an interesting comparison of four of today's best Bluetooth headsets. These devices are becoming increasing popular, both as a gadget and accessory, but despite how stylish they get, performance and comfort are still serious issues. Joe Selim takes a look at four very different products, two from Jabra and two from Plantronics, in order to make some sense of things."
It appears to be down. Here's the coral cache:
h p?option=content&task=view&id=642
http://www.xyzcomputing.com.nyud.net:8090/index.p
I looked at all of these models and my Motorola was more comfortable in addition to having better clarity. I would love to see some of the higher-end Motorola offerings thrown into the mix for comparison.
Keep the faith, share the code
Too many companies go with in-the-ear type styles... these won't work with most hearing aids, thereby limiting their potential audience. Only one of the headsets shown has even the remotest potential of being useful to that demographic group, and I'm still not convinced.
I own a Treo 650 and even though it is a great phone there are very few BT headsets that work well with this phone. I have used both Jabra Headsets. The Jabra JX10 is the only one in which all features worked with my phone. Leightweight, Stylish, Great sound and clarity make this BT headset the best I have tried. At Best Buy it retails for 175 $. for a MUCH MUCH lowerprice check out treonauts.com. BTW Jabra has great customer service. The detachable earpiece for my headset broke. I emailed customer service and asked where I could buy more and they shipped me replacements free of charge. You can't beat that. GET THE JABRA JX10 You will not be dissapointed. P.S. Check out the tv show "24" all the bad guys use this one !!!
I bought a Nokia NS-26W bluetooth headset about a month ago. It clips around the back of the ear rather than over the top. It's reasonably comforable when I'm wearing my sunglasses.
I paid $69 Australian from Organiser World. If you're in the US, you can get it from Amazon.com.
I know what I speak of. My wife and I play online games, and we like wireles devices. I did the research into what is involved to use these sweet looking devices with our machines (and usb->bluetooth adapters). As of last week, I've managed to find homes for our past flirtation with these things (2 sets of 2 bt headsets).
The real failure, of our flirtation, was mostly due to the bluetooth drivers and the way they configure the system to channel all sound. Microsoft did something *really* silly with their audio. The article links to a plantronic headset that got a "B", however, they did something quite special: they provided a solution for long term use with an aux battery. brilliant. But still, don't do it.
The linked product you refer to is what we both wear, and obviously does not support the headset profile, because... wait for it... it's a *USB* device. Basically, I've found that these bt devices are fantastic for cell phones, but they just aren't great for wearing all the time *or* using with your computer. It's a fact... and I'd like to save any fellow /.'ers from the same mistakes ($$) I made. However, that might be a huge leap of faith on my part for the reader [you] to connect the headline of my post against the subject of the article.
Normally Bluetooth headsets use the Headset profile for transmission of audio data over low latency isochronous links and is mono only, but these boys are using the newer "Advanced Audio Distribution Protocol" (A2DP) which operates over rfcomm (emulated serial) links and is not well supported in cell phones as yet.
In fact, the first link you posted said that the only phone that supports it properly is only available in Asia, though I saw on Nokias website recently that a few of their newer models will be supporting it (eg 6125).
Hi,
I have used a couple of Southwing's headsets, the best one being the SH305, and I can tell you it's the most comfortable one I have tried. Besides, it's the one that supports most handset models, as they follow the Flash-based firmware model, meaning their software is V2.4, each revision adding fixes and support for new phone models. Firmware cannot be updated by the user however. Most manufacturers burn a ROM mask onto the Bluetooth chip with their firmware, but this means that making changes is anti-economical (around $100k for a new mask!).
As for security, the reason it has a bad name is that it has been very poorly implemented by some vendors (some very first-rate) and caused a lot of hubbub. Yes, it was possible to snarf the phonebook off a Nokia 6310i, but Nokia learned the lesson - security is much tighter nowadays...you can't cure (L)user stupidity however. If they say 'yes' when they receive some unknown file over OBEX or FTP, and install it...well.
Cheers,
Mother
That's because people can send you a Vcard with a funny message/picture if you've let your phone be visible. Some imaginative soul has named this 'bluejacking' and now suddenly everyone is scared to death of BT.
Of course, anything that requires real security would apply it's own encryption/identity management on top of BT, which makes this point moot.
X.
Security people don't like it because it's totally insecure.
Awhile ago, they'd figured out how to hijack the 'introduction' process between two devices, but it only worked during introduction, so it wasn't a terribly useful attack.
But then someone else discovered how to force a reintroduction at will. Between the two holes, Bluetooth has no security whatsoever, unless something pretty dramatic has changed in the last six months.
Be sure to read replies, as I've not been paying close attention to this. But as far as I know... don't send anything over Bluetooth you care about.
The Bluespoon headsets have been the masters of battery life and sound quality for years, but have been really expensive. Their budget headsets (first the AX and now the AX2) however are great as well. It has a USB charging socket. That means that while at home I plug it in to the wall charger that came with it and on the road I just pack a USB cable. I love that for travel. It has a replaceable watch-battery sized LiIon battery. Replaceable is good. Finally, it can be pared with up to 8 devices. Whatever device it talked to last will be the one it talks to when you hit the button. So I can have a nice Skype call on my Mac with it and then if I originate a phone call from my phone the headset is then pointed at the phone.
I'm not saying that now this is the only headset with these features, but that feature set combined with the Bluespoon rep and the $70 price tag has made me a happy camper. So if you're comparing I suggest you take a look.
"Where quality is like a dead stinking rat - you just can't miss it."
Because they suck ass.
:p.
You can only use the stereo mode while not using the mic, and it's still suboptimal sound quality. And they're quite buggy.. Not a buy I would recommend anyone
Google around for WIDCOMM + Motorola + HT820 and you'll find that half the net is full of people with problems with motorolas solution.
Unless you need Bluetooth specifically (as in, you want to use it with a mobile phone in addition to the base station) then I'd tend to recommend forgetting about Bluetooth and using a traditional encrypted digital wireless headset. They generally have longer range, better battery life, and aren't susceptible to Bluetooth's security issues (as mentioned in the early comments to this story). They also usually have handset lifters, as you mentioned.
For example, the Plantronics CS-50
Don't buy it directly from Plantronics, though. It's far less expensive to get it from a separate store, like Buy.com or somewhere.
(Strangely enough, at the moment at buy.com, buying the CS50 + the handset lifter separately is $10 less than the two bundled together.)
I haven't used the PSTN version or handset lifter, but I've had a CS50 USB, the USB-connection version of this same model, for about a year now and been very happy with it for VOIP.
Plantronics certainly isn't the only manufacturer for headsets like this, though, so you may want to Google around for a bit and see what looks good.
One of the most major things about any headset is noise cancellation. If you only talk with your headset in quiet environments, then this review is a decent one.
If you ever talk in you car, this review is totally off in its conclusions.
I recently bought all of te headsets in this review, + 4 more, and took them home, took them for a drive in my car, and called my computer and recorded the sound incoming and subjectively rated the speaker.
This totaly turned the tables on the review.
I had the Jabra bt800 winning in quiet environments, but when I placed calls in noisy environments, the jabra bt800 ate itself: th same noise-cancelling software that was so good in quiet environments clips your outgoing voice in noisy areas so every second syllable disappears.
The winner in my test was one of the cheapest: the Plantronics voyager 510. It looks a bit wonky, but for intance in my car test, transmitted car noise when I first placed the call, then after I started to speak, the outgoing noise from the car disappeared throughout the rest of the recording, with just my clearly audible voice present.
The Jabra bt800 is unusable in a noisy environment for outgoing voice quality. You're much better off with a BT250 from jabra.
The sad thing is that companies like Shure or jabra don't make a bluetoth boom-mike solution (there's a guy on the web making these himself out of parts from a shure and a nextlink headset http://www.barjohn.com/Custom_AX2.htm ), because with a boom close to the mouth and another mic close to the ear you can do very good noise cancellation indeed.
Basically, don't trust any bluetooth headset reviews that don't test in a really noisy environment, and there are good reviews out there that have sound files you can play to hear for yourself.
Bottom line: this review's winner is a loser in my car.
Has anyone taken a good look at the iMuffs?
http://www.wi-gear.com/products/imuffs/
I love the idea, and they'd work perfectly with my iPod.
Neutiquam erro
My biggest problem with Bluetooth isn't the appearance factor. It is that the claimed 10 meter range is severely reduced when I wear my tin-foil hat with the headset...
Whenever Mrs. Fitch breaks wind, we beat the dog.
If I understand correctly, someone with some technical chops can remotely point an antenna at your Bluetooth device in use, force a reintroduction (which would probably cause a brief interruption of service), and by eavesdropping that introduction, snoop on all subsequent traffic. It's apparently not even that hard to do.
I suggest, therefore, not typing critical passwords on Bluetooth keyboards, and not saying incriminating things on Bluetooth headsets.