Perhaps inevitably, the Bluetooth generation has come to the point of stereo headsets. And if you are thinking of buying a Bluetooth stereo headset, you have three considerations: cost, utility, and quality. Bluetooth stereo headsets are programmable from any music player containing stereo Bluetooth, including the iPhone.
If you like listening to music while you walk or work out and prefer your music to the radio’s, going wireless is probably your smartest option, but many stereo Bluetooth headsets have cut the wired look down to a very bare minimum.
Motorola’s Rokr S9 HD headset gets solid reviews for its audio quality even if it seems to get less-than-enthusiastic notices for its design, while the Samsung SBH-600 gets raves for padded earpads and likewise high-quality audio, qualities that have also garnered raves for the Sony Ericsson HBH-IS800. Jobra’s dogtag-styled BT3030 can be fitted with any 3.5ml headphones and got praises for guaranteeing top-of-the-line audio, while the same company’s Halo has all the convenience (you can fold it into a more compact unit) and little of the sound quality, according to several early reviews.
You can find the SBH-600 and Nokia’s BH-501 for as little as $20; the Rokr S9 HD set lists for $67 but can be found for several dollars less; the Sony HBH-IS800 lists at $179 but can be found for as low as $125. The Jobra dogtag-style model lists for $49.99 but can be found for $10 or more less, while the Halo lists as high as $149 depending on the model but can be found as low as $99.
Nokia also makes a noise-cancelling Bluetooth stereo headset, the BH-905, praised highly for the noise-cancelling features making it highly compatible to mobile telephony and portable digital music players that are popular for outdoor use. It is a pricy model—listing at $299.95, but available as low as $253—but most reviewers thus far like it.
The Cardo S2 is also a kind of fold-away set—there is a hinge above each earpiece letting you fold the set down—and a very adjustable one to your headsize, since the earpieces are bound by a rubberized, stretchable band. At an $89.99 list it is affordable enough, but some critics say it does not perform well in outside noise.
Another model to keep an eye on is the LG HBS-200, a behind-the-neck set that is compact and comfortable according to many reviews. By itself it lists for $129.99, but if you happen to have a Verizon Wireless cell phone package the HBS-200 is part of a music essentials kit the carrier offers which provides, among other things, a 4GB microSD card and a software CD. Like the Cardo S2, the HBS-200 folds to compact and uses a rubberized neck band to fit most head sizes, and while the control buttons on the right earpiece were found wanting for size by many reviewers the sound quality was not.
Whatever your need or desire for wireless stereo Bluetooth headsets, the just-as-good-news is that the prices have begun to fall as the sets and the technology together become more widely used and less of a novelty than just a decade ago.
For more information, visit www.bluetoothstereoheadsetguide.com
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