April 1, 2008 6:00 AM PDT
Motorola unveils the H690 Bluetooth headset
Motorola H690
(Credit: Motorola)Motorola introduced the Motorola H690 Bluetooth headset today, which is a successor to the Motorola H680 from last year. It looks almost the same design-wise, but the H690 boasts noise-reduction technology that was absent from the H680. It has dual microphones and echo cancellation, which promises better audio performance. The H690 also comes with "TrueComfort" ear buds for better comfort, as well as the usual headset features like voice dialing and a battery status indicator. The rated talk time is 5.5 hours and standby time is up to eight days. The H690 is expected to debut in Q2, though pricing is not yet known.
Nicole Lee is an associate editor for CNET, covering cell phones, Bluetooth headsets, and all things mobile. She's also pretty geeky--she likes World of Warcraft, comic books, and shiny gadgets. E-mail Nicole.
<b>Pros for the 690:</b> sound quality is better, nicer audio prompts for handshake, call connections and low battery.
<b>Cons on the 690:</b> battery life less than 680, does not come with multiple rubber earpieces and the nice pouch like my 680 did, the rubber earpiece it has is too big, over ear clip broke within a week, will not fit the 680 charger because the charge base has tapered sides and the 690 is fatter than the 680.
My biggest gripe is the crappy ear hook it came with. It's made of clear plastic which is much more brittle than opaque plastics. I had the 680 for well over a year and its ear hook never broke and I treated both headsets the same.
The ear hook is a very important piece to this headset. Without the hook the earpiece is very difficult to keep in the ear, also makes my ear sore because I have to shove it in there and it's too big. Very frustrating. I'm having trouble finding replacement hooks - figured they would be easy to find on Motorola's site at least, but they're not.
If I can find replacement ear hooks, and hopefully smaller rubber earpieces too, I'd say this is a great headset. Otherwise, you may want to look elsewhere. It's a shame, because these two items <u>should not</u> be the reason to avoid this headset.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Motorola-Ear-Hook-Loop-H12-H15-H560-H680-H681-H685-H690_W0QQitemZ110347731253QQcmdZViewItemQQimsxZ20090206?IMSfp=TL090206161003r10804
Good luck :)