Mobile Phone Accessories Review

I have used Jabra Bluetooth Headsets in the past and they have all been excellent. They are a lesser known brand but really make quality electronics. This is a good value headset that means you drive or walk and talk at the same time, safely! The headset has a talk time of up to 8 hours and a standby time of a massive 360 hours. It is very lightweight and the majority hides behind your ear so people can hardly see it. If you spend a lot of time driving or you’re moving around a lot then it’s definitely worth investing in.

In the past, Bluetooth Headsets have been quite complicated to pair up to your phone and then haven’t had the best quality for conversations.  However, both of these things have been fixed on the Jabra BT2020. It has an auto-pairing up feature to enable easy set up as well as Bluetooth 2.0 with EDR and eSCO for crystal clear conversations. All in all, this is a great accessory that should definitely be considered when buying a headset. The talk time may not be as long as some of the others but it is a very good value for money headset at only around $25 from a great brand.

Bluetooth headset manufacturers and vendors multiply like bunnies, but the wizards at Apple still own the 3G market.  And  iPhone owners would be silly to settle for anything less than Apple’s own Bluetooth Headsets to go with their handheld miracle devices.  Apple Bluetooth’s perfect compatibility with iPhone and its amazing ease-of-use make it well worth the couple of extra dollars you invest in the brand name.

Just as the original Macintosh computer landed in the Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art’s collection of elegant twentieth century designs, so the Bluetooth headset’s packaging should end-up on display with its grand-daddy.  Post-modern minimalist and almost too cool for words, the package alone is a high-tech masterpiece.  The package clearly sets the tone for the elegance and simplicity of its contents.  Although the Apple guys thoughtfully included a user’s manual, their equipment pretty much explains itself.  Plug your new headset into its dock along with your iPhone, and the dock synchs and charges everything. 

Charged and ready, the Bluetooth headset runs on one single button.  To fire-up your headset, push and hold that magic button until three rising tones play.  Once it’s on, pushing the button plays a tone and lights a green LED, so that you know it’s ready for action.  Although some other headsets offer longer battery life for greater talk and stand-by time, they are much larger and heavier.  The Apple unit assures 5.5 hours of talk time, and it’s only 2” long, skinny as the Bic you always stick behind your ear.

You will pay $129 for the genuine article, but a few facts of iPhone life take the pain from the sticker shock.  First, you would pay almost as much for a comparable Bluetooth headset without the accessories; and, second, you would pay even more for the Apple accessories sold separately.  Most importantly, however, this headset perfectly matches and synchs with your iPhone.  Although the user’s manual includes cursory mention of how you could match the device to other types of phones, it’s obvious that Apple designed and built every feature to complement and optimize the iPhone’s capabilities.

With Apple products, two of the oldest rules from grandma’s guide to remorse-free shopping apply: You do get what you pay for.  And you really should accept no substitutes.

Searching for a Bluetooth headset tailored especially for women, we usually find the manufacturers assumed we meant we wanted it in pink. Not quite what we had in mind. 

Domestic CEO’s and Queens of the Carpools, we live in our cars and we keep our antennae tuned for late-breaking news about softball practice, the dog’s latest escape attempt, the status of our college applications, and other critical information that determines our plans. 

We don’t care about the color of the device, but we care a whole lot about what it will do. We demand an honest answer to just one fundamental question: How will our new, legally-mandated Bluetooth headsets actually make our lives just a little more manageable?

Finally, our friends at Blue Ant have delivered.  Wading through the techno-speak, we get to the one statement that matters: The manufacturer assures, “BlueAnt’s V1 Voice Controlled Bluetooth Headsets introduce the revolutionary BlueGenie™ Voice User Interface…It’s like your own personal help service right by your ear with all the controls in your hand.” 

Of course, the specifications matter.  Lightweight and comfortable enough for all-day everyday wear, the headset is fully voice-activated; more impressive, it’s also fully interactive.  Vendors insist, “the revolutionary BlueGenie™ Voice User Interface allows you to control most functions with the sound of your voice. And the headset itself will respond back to you. With just a push of a button, voice recognition technology gives you all the controls of the functions of the V1 just by simply talking to it.” 

At last, something that listens!  Neither the kids nor the dog respond so well. 

Still, manufacturers’ and vendors’ claims often contain some hyperbole, maybe some poetic license.  So we find huge reassurance from the fact that, in April, 2008, Laptop magazine awarded its top prize for Best Cell Phone Accessory to the Blue Ant V1, raving that it represents the future of cell phone and Bluetooth technology.  Presenting the award, the magazine’s editors and experts especially praised Blue Ant’s Voice Isolation Technology, and Reuters detailed, “Voice Isolation Technology(TM) uses advanced techniques to extract the user’s voice signal from all other sounds, enhancing and isolating all frequencies that affect voices coming into and out of the headset – resulting in outstanding noise reduction, echo cancellation and wind noise protection.”
Blue Ant representatives list the V1’s special features: Dual microphones enable crystal clear communication even in the noisiest environments; the unit pairs with up to eight Bluetooth devices, and it provides up to five hours talk-time or 200 hours stand-by.  The system allows three charging options–USB, car and wall chargers—perfect when we, like hummingbirds, seldom come to rest in one place.  And the earpiece, usually the most troublesome piece of any Bluetooth outfit, comes with Comply™ Foam Tips and rubber speaker gels plus two different over-the-ear hooks.
It’s just really a shame it doesn’t come in pink for women.