Recommend me a bluetooth handsfree

[moomooCow]

I was looking at the Plantronics Voyager 855's. They look pretty nice and they can convert from a regular mono bluetooth headset, into a stereo bluetooth headset. This way, you can listen to your music when you want to!

[slammer111]

Used a Jawbone (1st gen) and the thing kicks. Upgraded to OEM BT this year. It was not cheap, even when buying used parts and installing myself. That's the biggest drawback by far.

There is absolutely NO substitute to voice dialing while driving. I can't even imagine fumbling through my phonebook anymore.

I'm wondering why they don't make BT MANDATORY here as opposed to Optional. Pretty much 90% of drivers out there have a cell phone.

[TOS'd]

^ Not everyone likes the fact that anyone in the car can listen and partake in the conversation.

[Tim Budong]

Give the Blackberry HS-500 a try
its cheaper than the Q1 and the Prime

comes with a microUSB car charger
has a very good noise cancellation system as well!
Not the most stylish looking thing, but if your wearing the headset strictly in the car, then save some dough and go for the HS500

The Jawbone is like the pinnacle of BT headsets, stylish and amazing. but the cost is a factor that scares people away.

The Q1 might not look as sexy, but having the option to use two lines at the same time makes it special vs the rest.

Its sad that the consumer cannot demo the piece b4 buying for health purposes tho.

The best part with these 3 headsets is that it comes with enuff pieces to fit big and small ears, where as some of the nokia and motorola ones are terrible for big ears.

[Cossack]

I got the Plantonics Voyager the best sound quality I've ever had. I think it has better sound the the headset itself!!!


Very pleased with Plantonics!!! FTW!!!

[124Y]

Originally Posted by mx555

JAWBONE FTW. except they like to fall out.

Werd. I have the Jawbone Prime and it works and functions amazingly!! The only part I don't like is that it's hard to push the earpiece into the ear without pressing the buttons, so if your earpiece is falling out when you're in the middle of a call, you may accidentally hang up the call.

[Gh0stRider]

Originally Posted by darthchilli

Give the Blackberry HS-500 a try
its cheaper than the Q1 and the Prime

comes with a microUSB car charger
has a very good noise cancellation system as well!
Not the most stylish looking thing, but if your wearing the headset strictly in the car, then save some dough and go for the HS500

The Jawbone is like the pinnacle of BT headsets, stylish and amazing. but the cost is a factor that scares people away.

The Q1 might not look as sexy, but having the option to use two lines at the same time makes it special vs the rest.

Its sad that the consumer cannot demo the piece b4 buying for health purposes tho.

The best part with these 3 headsets is that it comes with enuff pieces to fit big and small ears, where as some of the nokia and motorola ones are terrible for big ears.

That one is like the Jabra BT530.

[Eff-1]

Originally Posted by SolidPenguin

Motorola T505. Not a headset, the sunvisor clip type. Its awesome

planning to pick that one up myself. amazon.ca seems to be cheapest at $100.

[SolidPenguin]

I got mine refurb on ebay for $45. works great

[bsftong]

Originally Posted by 124Y

Werd. I have the Jawbone Prime and it works and functions amazingly!! The only part I don't like is that it's hard to push the earpiece into the ear without pressing the buttons, so if your earpiece is falling out when you're in the middle of a call, you may accidentally hang up the call.

Just picked up a Prime, tried it out on two seperate occasions but both times the other party said they could hardly hear me. Is there a way to fix that? Or is it a faulty unit?

[nightkid]

i have the plantronic 975. it's actually rated higher than the prime. plus it has a charger with battery inside.

[TOS'd]

Originally Posted by nightkid

i have the plantronic 975. it's actually rated higher than the prime. plus it has a charger with battery inside.

picked it up too, but i wasn't a fan of how it fit in my ear (probably just me though). so i gave it to one of my parents and bought myself a Q1.

[nightkid]

i used the smallest one and the fitting is alright. anyways, it's loud and clear. one more thing, u can leave it on when u charge it. u never have to disconnect it from ur phone.

[TOS'd]

I think its just me. I never could fit those apple headphones properly. Honestly the only way for those earbuds to work for me is if reverse the Left and Right ones.

I am now using the Q1 with a medium size sony ericsson in-ear silicon bud. And its pretty amazing.

BTW, for ppl signed up for the Best Buy Rewards Email thingy. They just sent a newsletter thing out, there's a 15% off code for any bluetooth headset/device that is over $69.99 regular price.

[124Y]

Originally Posted by bsftong

Just picked up a Prime, tried it out on two seperate occasions but both times the other party said they could hardly hear me. Is there a way to fix that? Or is it a faulty unit?

Hmm that's weird. When I first started using it, I've tested it out with my friends and they could all hear my pretty clearly. They even had a hard time believing I was on the skytrain when I told them.
Are you wearing it correctly so that the white Voice Activity Sensor is contacting your skin? Maybe the angle you're wearing it has something to do with that?

[124Y]

BTW Jawbone has just released their newest product - the Jawbone ICON.
http://us.jawbone.com/

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5450435/aliph-jaw...th-celebutante

Look, we can hate on Bluetooth headsets all we want, but the fact is, they're both practical and popular among a certain set—and Aliph's new Jawbone Icon is a solid choice, though barely changed from previous versions.
The Price

$100
What's New?

There are no major audio enhancements here; the company's made tweaks to its NoiseAssassin noise canceling tech, but I compared it to the last new Jawbone product, the Jawbone Prime, and neither I nor the person I called could hear a difference between the two. That means it sounds fine, not noticeably worse than normal phone use, although I did notice that the volume was a little bit low, even at its highest settings. But even standing on a busy street, calls were pretty clear on both ends. One really nice addition is volume equalizing—if you're in a conference call with a loud talker and a soft talker, it'll even them both out to a comfortable level. Basically, it sounds fine, which is about all you can ask for from a Bluetooth headset—but I would definitely have liked to see some kind of major improvement to warrant a whole new product.

Physically, it's shorter and more squat than the Prime, as well as lighter (though it's not like the Prime was weighing down your ear). It also comes in six different colors and patterns, each of which is named after a broad stereotype (The Hero, The Bombshell, The Rogue). Each caricature has its own appropriate voice actor to read notifications (the Bombshell sounds like Jenna Jameson, the Rogue sounds like Batman; all are hilarious, possibly unintentionally), though you can choose which one you want in the MyTalk app store (more on that later).

You'll be hearing those voices a lot, since they've replaced the previous Jawbone's bleeps and bloops with vocal notifications ("Incoming call," "You have four hours of talk time remaining," things like that). It's not a bad system, but most of the voices are so laughably cheesy that it can be more distracting than a simple "beep boop." Also, while it does read caller IDs, it only reads the number, not the name—pretty much useless, since who memorizes phone numbers anymore?

There are some minor design changes as well; the Icon charges by standard microUSB instead of a proprietary jack, it has an actual on/off slider (instead of a hidden button), the position of the LED is moved to be less ostentatious, that kind of thing—all of those changes are welcome. Oh, and a bonus for iPhone users (and only iPhone users): The Icon's battery life gets its own little icon, right next to the iPhone's, which is convenient.






The Unnecessary App Store

Aliph also created what's essentially an app store for the Icon, called MyTalk. Why? Fuck if I know. They've only got a couple language packs and some simple stuff like one-touch Free411 calling in there at launch, because a Bluetooth headset does not deserve an app store. I pressed Aliph for some details on where they thought MyTalk might be headed, and they didn't share any ideas beyond the omnipresent Twitter. They may not actually know what to do with it—they seemed unwilling to commit to anything complicated or cool like, say, a Google Maps app.

For now, it works mostly like a firmware update (which makes sense, because firmware updates are a major part of MyTalk right now). You plug in your Jawbone, log into the website, and choose which app you want. Then another program, the Jawbone Updater, loads the apps onto the headset. The apps themselves are triggered with a long press on the Icon's only button, which brings up the most salient point about why a Bluetooth headset doesn't need an app store: It doesn't really do that much. It only has one button, it has no interface to speak of, no screen, and connects only via Bluetooth. So I'm not really sure how they plan to flesh out the store—they mentioned Twitter, but it's unclear exactly how that would work.

As it stands: This is a bridge too far, you guys. What's good for the goose (the goose being smartphones, obviously) is not good for the goddamn Bluetooth headset. Kill it, Aliph. Update firmware some other way.
The Verdict

It's probably the best Bluetooth headset on the market—it does the job, it's cheaper and smaller than its predecessor (the Prime was $130), and sound quality is still tops in the category. Of course, it's also gotten oddly silly since the last generation; the designs are pretty tacky (they may look cool in photos, but they're very plasticky in person), the new voices are a big old pot of savory fondue, and the app store is ill-conceived but easily ignored. All that considered, if you're looking for a Bluetooth headset, I don't have any hesitation about recommending the Icon—just don't expect any huge changes.

[bsftong]

Originally Posted by 124Y

Hmm that's weird. When I first started using it, I've tested it out with my friends and they could all hear my pretty clearly. They even had a hard time believing I was on the skytrain when I told them.
Are you wearing it correctly so that the white Voice Activity Sensor is contacting your skin? Maybe the angle you're wearing it has something to do with that?

Which phone are you using it with? I wonder if its just a compatibility issue for my BB Tour. I tried a second unit and got the same results. I think I was wearing it right. The VAS was right where my sideburns are though, would that have such a huge affect?

[124Y]

Originally Posted by bsftong

Which phone are you using it with? I wonder if its just a compatibility issue for my BB Tour. I tried a second unit and got the same results. I think I was wearing it right. The VAS was right where my sideburns are though, would that have such a huge affect?

Well I'm using the Sony Ericsson C902. Is the VAS contacting your skin, or your sideburns? If it's contacting your sideburns, it probably won't sense the vibration of your speach...

[SSM_DC5]

.

[DC5-S]

Originally Posted by SSM_DC5

Does anyone who works at Best Buy or Futureshop know when the Jawbone Icons are going to arrive in stores?

and i dont see it on any online stores, besides ebay