Sony Ericsson HBH-DS220
The DS220 is a more restrained and businesslike version of the Jabra BT3030. Like the BT3030, it consists of a small Bluetooth adaptor, along with a separate set of earphones that plug into an ordinary 3.5mm audio jack on the body of the adaptor. The DS220 is a little more expensive than the BT3030, but the bundled earbuds provide better audio quality – though their tendency to fall out on a fairly frequent basis meant that we were still inclined to plug in our own headphones instead. There’s a built-in microphone as well, so you can easily switch between music and calls when you need to.
Price £50
Available from Sony Ericsson
Reg Rating 80%
Philips SHB7100
They’re don’t have the street cred of the Jabra BT3030, but Philips’ SHB7100 headphones work well and are currently available for a knock-down £35 from Amazon. Like the BT3030, the SHB7100 consists of a Bluetooth adaptor that you hang around your neck or clip onto your clothing, along with a separate set of earbuds that plug into a standard 3.5mm audio jack on the adaptor. The earbuds supplied with the SHB7100 produce very good audio quality, with a nice balance between upper and lower frequencies. However, they tended to fall out quite easily so we’d be tempted to switch them for our normal headphones fairly quickly.
Price £35
Available from Amazon
Reg Rating 85%
Ten of the Best... Bluetooth Stereo Headphones
COMMENTS
Can someone please explain to me..
Can someone please explain to me the point of the bluetooth headsets that have wires?
Forgive my simplistic views but a Bluetooth headset, when compared to just a pair of headphones, have the disadvantage of requiring power, the added weight that power requires, and potentially poorer sound quality for the price (e.g. my £20 Senheisser PX100's sound better than my £21 Jabra BT260s). The ONE advantage is the absence of wires.
So, the ones WITH wires have all the disadvantages of bluetooth headphones whilst forgoing the one advantage. If someone can explain, please do.
Incidentally, whilst a bit big and Ugly, the Jabra BT260s, at £21 incl delivery from play.com, sound just as good as the s9's and a lot better AND louder than the Nokias and also come with one of those iPod thingies - handy if you happen to be one of Steve Jobs' soulless minions. The battery also lasts nearly 10 hours - a lot better than most and a major consideration for bluetooth headsets that this group-test seems to have ignored.
HP with active noise cancellation; Philips hi-fi
As I feared, this list omits a new contender: Hewlett Packard's GW470AA, a stereo BlueTooth 2.0 headphone with active noise cancellation. I just bought a pair. I can't vouch for the BlueTooth sound quality, for I can't get it to work with my HTC 6800 (Verizon XV6800). But wired, it sounds decent. Haven't yet tried the noise reduction. I bought it in the U.S. for a bit over $100 shipped.
The best-sounding of all may be Philips' new top-end entry, the SHB9000. It was promised for the Spring 2008 and is available in Europe. But in America, it's nowhere to be found.
Wires ? No thanks
For me the whole point of using Bluetooth is for those times when the wires get in the way and a dongle round the neck negates this. Most phones/mp3 players are small/light enough that they can be worn round the neck with wired phones that are usually better quality and cheaper. I want true wires free while Im working so that Im not constantly catching a wire and pulling an earpiece out.
@Headset with wires
If you plan to do Kata or other exercise routines while listening to something that doesn't fit in your pocket it does have some logic to it.
Kinda like why have an adaptor to plug your mp3 player into your car stereo when you could get an in-car mp3 player.
jabra
I have the jabra 3030. Sound quality is excellent, though it could use a bit more volume (that could be the phone I was listening to the music from, though).
One other great feature that wasn't mentioned in the review. It supports two Bluetooth devices concurrently. Listen to music on one device, and if a call comes in on the other, it interrupts your listening to take the call. Excellent feature.
