Opera S5+
Opera’s S5+ headphones use the Kleer wireless technology rather than Bluetooth. They also include a dongle that plugs into the dock connector on an iPhone, iPad or iPod. The results are impressive – if only for the sheer volume, which far outguns any of the Bluetooth headphones in this group. The audio quality is good too – it’s a more solid and robust sound than I’ve heard from most Bluetooth headphones. The only minor problem was that I found it necessary to jam the fiddly little earbuds quite tightly into my ears, or else the lower frequencies would lose strength.
Reg Rating 85%
Price £85
More Info DIP
Plantronics Backbeat 903
Getting the Backbeat’s rubbery earpieces successfully hooked over your ears and plugged in is a bit of a struggle, but they do work well and their light, portable design is suitable both for sporting activities and for simply jamming into your pocket when you’re travelling. The audio quality is very good, with a rich full sound and plenty of detail, and there’s a bass boost option to give things an extra kick as well. There’s a decent size microphone for phone calls, and you can also fork out another £20 for the Backbeat 906 model, which includes a Bluetooth dongle that will work with any device that has a standard audio jack.
Reg Rating 85%
Price £70
More Info Plantronics
COMMENTS
Whaaaat?!?
"promotional pics of a bosomy blonde in a sports bra"
And we only get the shot of the (somewhat garish) headphones?!?
This is not The Register which I know and love...<shakes head sadly>
You've let yourselves down.
iPad
Which, if any of the headphones with a mic can work with the iPad?
It would be useful for VoIP if they were compatible.
I would be interested in:
Bluetooth headphones with noise-cancelling, seperate batteries rather than built-in and foldable.
It seems that the only ones that offer this are the Nokias, and they are very expensive for headphones.
I use the buses, underground and trains a lot, so the noise-cancelling is very useful - even if the noise-cancelling is not the best it will make a big difference to my volume level and hence comfort.
The bluetooth is so that I don't get the cable caught on people and things.
I would also like them to use normal AA or AAA rechargeable batteries and to fold down to fit in my bag when I am not using them.
Please :-)
ttfn
Still a shockingly poor selection.
So no decent around-the-ear ones listed? That just leaves the Sony DR-BT50 as the only option I've yet to find that offers real comfort along with decent sound quality. Shame they have a shit build quality, mine broke in under a year of careful use.
The Etymotic in-ear ones not listed? ety8 I think. A friend of mine just highly recommended them to me. Quite an old model now though and look a bit funky.
The market for bluetooth headphones is still frustratingly poor and largely empty of choice.
Plantronics....
Based on the review (and other good reviews) I got myself the plantronics backbeat 903.
They turn out to be pretty useless. If this is the best one can get these days, then usefull bluetooth headphones are still some time off.
For example: as soon as I put my mobile in my pocket (pants), and start driving my bike, signal drops occur very frequently.
