Introduction
As you know, I love my gadgets. Having ordered this headset from Mr Gadget
, I held high hopes for this latest accessory. As the new owner of an O2 XDA II mini, I was sorely aware of the hassle of having to hook up a hands-free kit every time I got in the car. I was also conscious of the fact that I usually had to take the PDA out of its (standard) case if I wanted any chance of knowing who is calling.
Features
Then I saw the BT 800. It’s a completely wire-free Bluetooth headset, the latest from one of the big names in such devices, Jabra. This headset seems to have the works in terms of features. Let’s run through a few of the physical ones:
-
Internal rechargeable battery
-
Micro-USB port for charging said battery
-
Blue LED Backlit, 2-line LCD display
-
”Jog dial” (which is actually an up/down switch)
-
Accept/”Yes” button
-
Reject/”No” button
-
Menu button with built-in funky blue “Look-at-me-I’m-a-Bluetooth-device” LED that really only shows that it has power
-
In-built DSP (Digital Signal Processing) for noise reduction
-
Recessed button for forcing Bluetooth bond
Some of the non-physical features include:
-
Vibrate function
-
5 in-built ring tones or the ability to get the ringtone “From the phone”
-
Caller ID display for incoming calls
The LED display shows, in Standby mode, the headset brand and battery level – up to 4 blocks when full. The Menu button brings up, at least when paired with my mini, an initial menu of a whopping TWO items – Call List and Settings.
The Call List shows the REGISTERED Caller IDs of recent callers – no timestamp and certainly no indication of the number of calls from “Private” numbers. While not a big issue for me, the lack of time of call may be an issue for some people. However, given the complexity of updating clocks and the like, I can understand why it was left out.
The Settings menu lets you select:
So that may all be well and good, but what is it ACTUALLY LIKE?
The unit itself is a squat, square-looking boom about 2.5cm long and 1.5cm wide, (the boom is about 0.5cm thick), with a round section a little smaller than 2cm wide that has the jog dial and flashing blue LED. There is a complex three-axis, over-the-ear clip made of nice grippy plastic. The LCD display is on the inside of the boom, but as it is a short boom, you won’t have a chance of seeing it while wearing the headset – you’d have to see through your cheek!
Wearing the headset is rather disconcerting. The three-axis clip can be remarkably difficult to get around your ear – just when you think you’ve got it, you realise the speaker is nowhere near your ear! The speaker itself is a non-invasive one, different from a number of other Jabra models. This makes it difficult to get a snug FEELING fit, but the speaker volume itself is fine. I had no problem hearing the other person in all situations bar having my car window open and stereo on!
As I mentioned, after getting the headset ON, I must comment that I didn’t feel that the device fitted particularly well. I am a fairly large frame person, but I don’t have a freakishly large head (or so I am told…) but I still felt that the headset was going to fall off, which it never has no matter how much I shake my head, and the unit DOES “flap around” a bit if you tilt your head. Again, as I said before, you never actually can’t hear the person, but the uncomfortable sensation of a loose headset takes some getting used to.
As far as clarity goes, the DSP makes a big difference. My fiancée didn’t think I was driving, even though I was doing 80kph on the Eastern Distributor! Another friend reported the odd bit of crackle, but couldn’t say if that was from the mobile signal (which was mid-strength) or the headset. No one else reported crackle though…
A feature I was looking forward to using, that I find is not officially supported by my phone, was the ability to get the “ring tone from the phone”. This plays the songs through the speaker, which I can only imagine would allow you to screen callers while the headset in on your ear by the song it plays. If they release support for the XDA II mini, I’ll let you know how it goes…
Conclusion
Overall, I am happy with the purchase. The rechargeable battery has quite a long standby time (over 4 days so far, with usage!) and the package comes with both a wall-charger and a USB charger. Something I WOULD like to see though is the ability to change the Bluetooth PIN – almost ALL BT devices use “0000” as the PIN, and I do NOT want to have to try to find out why my device suddenly stops working while the tech guys down the hall are laughing at me!
KevinL gives the Jabra BT 800 a very sturdy 7.75 out of 10.
© 2005 Kevin Lurie. Use or modification of content in any form without written permission prohibited.