There is no such thing as the perfect BT headset, is there?

[Carlos]

I have tried on A LOT of headsets now, and actually purchased three of them. Here are my notes, if anyone finds it useful, and I'd love to hear about other brands I haven't tried. (I only tested the first three with the phone, the others I just tried for fit.)

Jabra 250
Good: Excellent belt holder, the best of the bunch. Doubles as the charger. Stunningly good sound quality on my end unless you turn it up too loud.
Bad: Huge, uncomfortable. Some have complained of wind noise. Takes a lot of effort and time to put it on, especially while trying to answer a call.

Motorola HS810
Good: Small, light, sleek-looking, comfortable. Somewhat easier to put on, but still takes some fiddling. Good sound quality, loud.
Bad: Loose-fitting, so when you turn your head quickly while driving it tries to fall off. Huge, queer-looking belt case. Folding boom disables the headset, which saves battery, but you can't answer calls until about 4 seconds after you open the boom. Lousy for incoming calls if you're not already wearing it.

Gold Lantern G-Lite
Good: Extremely light (.3 ounce/10 grams), very small, sleek and attractive, comfortable. The tiniest unit of all, surprisingly half the size of the already-small Motorola. Fits in the ear with no over-the-ear holder so you can put it on instantly to answer a call. Excellent charging and battery status lights, the best of the group.
Bad: No belt carrying system at all. Does come with a neck lanyard, but hey, I got Bluetooth precisely so I wouldn't have cords dangling around my neck and body! Range is extremely short; you get plenty of noise at

Logitech
Good: Neat design that clips over the back of your ear quickly. Comfortable. Folding boom microphone.
Bad: Freakin' huge. The storage case/charger is monstrously large.

Plantronics
Good: Nothing
Bad: Expensive, ugly/boxy, uncomfortable, a major challenge to put on.

Bluetrek
Good: Cheap
Bad: Big, hard to put on, not particularly comfortable, ugly.

There were a number of others I checked out, and most sucked. I forgot to note all the brands and models. I'll do that when I go return the Motorola and Jabra units.

[cbrow51]

I tried the Moto HS 810 and had the same issues, so switched to the SonyEricsson HBH 200.

This is a unit that clips onto your shirt or pocket and has an ear bud and mic on a short lead. I found it has a few nice features/advantages.

1. Built in mute (NB the XDA WM2003 mute does not work in BT headset mode)

2. The unit has an adjustable independent ring tone, which is helpful when you are away from the phone itself.

3. The ear bud and mic is on a standard plug, so you can pair it with other standard noise reducing headsets. Handy for the car...

4. The unit supports caller ID and call back, except the XDA BT stack is not that clever, at least not yet...

5. You don't look like Madonna or Brittany Spears when you wear it :-)

Disadvantages.....?

You don't look like Madonna or Brittany Spears when you wear it :-) :-)

[Carlos]

I guess I don't understand the purpose of the wired BT headsets at all. I just want to get rid of the wires dangling around my neck. If I'm going to get rid of one wire only to replace it with another, very expensive wire...well, I'm sure you've found a reason for it, I just don't see it.

[cbrow51]

Carlos

A couple of reasons really.
1. I do a lot of conference calls where i need the mute. The problem with most of the over the ear headsets is that they either do not support mute, or you cannot tell when they are muted or not. The HBH 200 has a small display, that lets you know that.
2. The ear bud and mic are on a wire thats only about 8 inches long, so it does get tangled at all like a normal direct wired headset.
3. The ear bud is much less obtrusive than the over the ear headsets.
4. I have my xda in the cradle a lot of the time, and like that the headset has an independent ringer.

I guess its just a matter of choice in the end and what features and style are important to you.

Regards

Chris

[Carlos]

That does make sense. It's just different from my usage profile. I'll have to see if I can find one to check out.

[ID64]

I have tried on A LOT of headsets now, and actually purchased three of them. Here are my notes, if anyone finds it useful, and I'd love to hear about other brands I haven't tried. (I only tested the first three with the phone, the others I just tried for fit.)

Jabra 250
Good: Excellent belt holder, the best of the bunch. Doubles as the charger. Stunningly good sound quality on my end unless you turn it up too loud.
Bad: Huge, uncomfortable. Some have complained of wind noise. Takes a lot of effort and time to put it on, especially while trying to answer a call.

Motorola HS810
Good: Small, light, sleek-looking, comfortable. Somewhat easier to put on, but still takes some fiddling. Good sound quality, loud.
Bad: Loose-fitting, so when you turn your head quickly while driving it tries to fall off. Huge, queer-looking belt case. Folding boom disables the headset, which saves battery, but you can't answer calls until about 4 seconds after you open the boom. Lousy for incoming calls if you're not already wearing it.

Gold Lantern G-Lite
Good: Extremely light (.3 ounce/10 grams), very small, sleek and attractive, comfortable. The tiniest unit of all, surprisingly half the size of the already-small Motorola. Fits in the ear with no over-the-ear holder so you can put it on instantly to answer a call. Excellent charging and battery status lights, the best of the group.
Bad: No belt carrying system at all. Does come with a neck lanyard, but hey, I got Bluetooth precisely so I wouldn't have cords dangling around my neck and body! Range is extremely short; you get plenty of noise at

Logitech
Good: Neat design that clips over the back of your ear quickly. Comfortable. Folding boom microphone.
Bad: Freakin' huge. The storage case/charger is monstrously large.

Plantronics
Good: Nothing
Bad: Expensive, ugly/boxy, uncomfortable, a major challenge to put on.

Bluetrek
Good: Cheap
Bad: Big, hard to put on, not particularly comfortable, ugly.

There were a number of others I checked out, and most sucked. I forgot to note all the brands and models. I'll do that when I go return the Motorola and Jabra units.


It is perfect BT headset. It's called Motorola HS820

Excellent sound quality

Easy to put on

Large buttons to control

Long batter life 6 hours

Sleek looking

Relatively cheap

http://www3.sympatico.ca/igor.dertkin/CRW_0672_resize.jpg


Had before:

HBH-65, BTtrek G2.

This one beats them all

[Carlos]

Looks very nice. What sort of belt case/clip comes with it?

[ID64]

Looks very nice. What sort of belt case/clip comes with it?

Well, it was an OEM unit, and I got it without any accesories for it, however I am using it with my SonyEricsson (RIP) HBH-65 case and actually it fits i there better that HBH himself ;)

http://www3.sympatico.ca/igor.dertkin/cecase.jpg

http://www3.sympatico.ca/igor.dertkin/cecase2.jpg

http://www3.sympatico.ca/igor.dertkin/cecase3.jpg

There are retail packages are availble now as well, but I have no idea what kind of case it comes with.

[surur]

That looks very much like as remodelled bluetrek G2. Are you sure the innards are not the same?

Surur

[Carlos]

The G2 is MUCH lighter than the Moto unit, so probably not. The G2 is about 12 grams, where the Moto is 20. The G-Lite is about 10 grams.

The retail package description of the moto unit doesn't mention any carrying case at all. Back to the same problem as the G-Lite. I'd pay $200 at this point for a good BT headset/case/charger system.

[azbro]

Darn, paint is falling off from the sides of my Jabra Bt250.
I'm not sure if its sweat that made the paint discolor and crackin' off.

[Carlos]

Well, so much for the nice Jabra belt clip. I keep losing the headset, since the clip doesn't hold it tightly enough and my leg/jeans keep pushing the headset up when I sit down. Lukily I've always noticed it when it falls out.

[bigmac72]

My Hello II bt headset works flawlessly with my Oz O2 XDA II. No good with lots of ambient noise or wind but as far as working with the XDA II its great.

It's also light and comfortable to wear. Got to be the smallest one I could find. It's so small I have a habit of losing it.

[Carlos]

Got a link? Haven't tried that one.

Right now I'm using the HS820 headset most. The G-Lite is most comfortable and light, but has noise if you have the phone and headset on opposite sides of the body. Thus proving right everyone who ever said I was dense...

[CDTV]

Can someone help me on how to switch the BT (from headset HBH-65) back to phone? I don't have the headset symbol since I've installed the BT tools, plus I've done a couple of upgrades to the rom but am at 1.60 still but can't remember how to switch from the headset to phone only...like when I run out of battery power on headset for example...Thanks!

[edsub]

The link (googled around):
http://www.hello2.com.tw/03_products/index1.asp?menu=3

BTW has anyone experience with the BTH808 BT headset?
I read somewhere it is a 'Globalsat', but not sure.
Is it compatible with the MDAII?
Quality?
The sell at very low prices at ebay.

[Carlos]

That looks a lot like the G-Lite, as far as how it goes in your ear. How does it sound? What's the range without any static? Does it work without static or dropouts if you have the phone on your belt and the headset on the opposite side of your head?

[bigmac72]

Sorry, I should have posted a link...

The Hello 2 doesn't give me any static. We've now bought three of them in the office. I can walk around the office and leave the XDA 2 on the desk. It goes through walls quite easily so I would say that I must be getting 10m range at the least. You know when you've gone too far because it starts to crackle.

As for through the body experience - sometimes I do get some crackle but sometimes I don't. Maybe it's doing it when the battery is draining - I haven't really looked into it.

I had an M3000 with my X70 which was great sound but left my ear feeling very warm and 'fat' if I wore it too long. I can wear this wall all day, even while having a light jog and the only side-effect is I look like the Borg!

[Carlos]

That's how comfortable the G-Lite is, but it crackles (what I meant by static) very easily. Opposite side of the body will do it every time, and while it will work very far, it gets crackly at about 3 meters.

The HS820 is good without noise for probably close to the rated 10 meters, but is not as comfortable. Not terrible, but can't wear it literally all day like I can the G-Lite.

Does the Hello 2 use some sort of ear clip, or is it just in-the-ear? The G-Lite comes with a clip, but it's not needed. It will go in the ear and stay there.

[edsub]

Just received my BTH-808 headset.
I was suprised by its lightness and quality.
Works flawlessly with the MDAII.

It can be used with and without hook around the ear. It fits my ear without the hook :D
It is acompanied by a usb-charge-lead and 220V-usb-socket charger.

This headset is also sold under the Globalsat brand.


Bought it for approx 40 euros (incl shipping) from eBay