Drop, charge, and lose the cords
- Average user rating: 2.5 stars out of 129 reviews Back to product review
- My rating: 0 stars
Full user review
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28 out of 29 people found this review helpful
4.5 stars
"Almost Flawless Performance"
Pros: All functions but one work perfectly
Cons: Call rejection feature does not work
Summary: Paired in 10 seconds to Sony Ericsson S710a with a simple click of the included stylus. Also paires through the menu but the stylus allows immediate use without with no knowledge of the menus (slick). All caller IDs work using the names assigned to the handset phonebook, otherwise the full 11 digit numbers appear and are archived in numbered order in the headset call list. Sure you can't see it on your ear but I can take it off, answer it and put it back on in the time it takes to open my phone case. The ring tones are nice and the vibrate mode is fun but unnecessary as the tones are inaudible by others. The tones can be combined with the vibration if you need a silent wake up call. The small display gets a 10 for appearance, settings, and numbers. Voice quality is better than the handset both coming and going out and the volume control is easy to find and operate. The answer/end call buttons are big and easy to operate and find with finger tabs so you can't miss them. Voice calling and call waiting functions work fine. The DSP chip does as it claims, raising the headset volume (on maximum setting)above all the noise I could create with a TV and radio blairing almost to max volume. I could clearly hear above all the noise. The flashing blue light on the mute/menu button is cool looking but you can turn it off if it's too cool. The earhook is very comfortable and I was abe to train the rubber to perfectly follow the contours of my ear. I forget it is on until my ear starts vibrating. As a pleasant suprise, there was a leather belt case included that is not even listed on the box! There is only one function that does not work. The call End button is supposed to reject incoming calls to voice mail but it completely disconnects the call and hangs up. Jabra tech support had no resolution to this problem however I can live without it by touching a button on the side of the phone which stops the ring and sends callers to voice mail. This problem may be specific to Sony Ericsson phones but has reduced my rating to a "9". This headset far excedes anything else on the market including the caller ID Sony model HBH-660 and new HBH-662. Unfortunately, the overall rating for the BT-800 has suffered from users of Palm phones which do not work with this headset. Palm phones probably comprise a minority of Bluetooth phones and for most people the BT-800 will transform their phone to the accessory. I love mine. I would much rather drop a $150 handset than my $500 phone, which will stay in it's case from now on.
- 2 replies to this review
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Come on, "flawless performance", when I wrote my comment on it, it took me over 2 minutes to think what to write on the PROS input box. This headset is the most expensive piece of junk never done before
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I've had my Jabra BT800 for a week now, and enjoy it immensely. Like Sammy, I also have a very sweet SE S710a, and had absolutely no problems pairing the devices (I used the menu rather than the stylus). Incoming caller ID does display names from your phonebook. I don?t understand why it can?t record that info in memory, rather than just the 10-digit number (perhaps than will be fixed with a firmware update)? It would be far easier to make outgoing calls from the call list if that were the case. Also ? the call list only displays numbers of incoming calls, not calls you?ve made from your phone! It would be nice to be able access your most frequent outgoing calls without having to pull your phone out. I could use my phone?s ?Voice Dialing,? but not if I want to use an mp3 file for a ring tone?.
In my opinion, the vibrating feature is essential. I don?t wear the headset on my ear all day, but rather keep it in it?s included holster (while my beautiful custom Vaja case is being built and shipped to me [www.vajacases.com; you can get matching phone and headset cases, and PDA or digital music player cases and more]). I can keep my phone on silent, and the headset on vibrate, and still know when I get a call ? without being intrusive to co-workers. The built-in ring tones are fine for people who do wear their headsets for extended periods (I like ?Blue? the best). I interpret ?From phone,? to mean that you will depend on hearing your phone?s ringer ? I set the headset to that, and enable vibrate. I can then turn my phone to silent, or not, as needed.
The ?Call End,? feature works just fine for me ? rejected calls go straight to voicemail. Note that the buttons have different functions based on how long you press them ? here?s an excerpt from Jabra?s BT800 support site:
To end a call
? A tap on the end button terminates the active call
? You can also reject an incoming call directly from the headset. Press the end button and the call will be rejected.Depending on the phone settings, the person who called you will either be forwarded to your voice mail or hear a busy signal
I suspect that Sammy just wasn?t holding the button down long enough ? but don?t hold it down too long! 5 seconds on the End button turns off the device.
The call quality is astonishing ? better than the wired headset that came with my phone -but not for music playback, where the stereo earbuds win
I attribute the call quality to the DSP circuitry. Finally, a few gripes (nothing is perfect, right?):
? Speaker volume is a touch too soft. It?s just adequate for me, and may be too quiet for users with hearing issues.
? The headset is ?floppy.? While it stays on fine, and is comfortable, it is not snug ? it should lay flat against the face and not move so much.
? The headset needs to go on a diet ? maybe I?m delusional. After all, there?s a lot of features, including good battery life, packed in here. However, looking at the SE HBH-660/662 makes me wish for a slimmer unit. It?s not the weight, but rather the width & height (length is fine). The jog dial should be smaller than a US quarter, rather than larger than a US half-dollar?.
? Proprietary charging/data plug is annoying. The custom charging port is the same size as a mini-USB connector, and is supposed to be used for firmware updates ? but I have to keep track of the supplied custom USB to Jabra cable, rather than using any old USB to mini-USB cable to charge/update my device!
I agree with Sammy?s summary ? this is the best device of it?s kind currently on the market (sorry Sony Ericsson)! I too would rather risk damage to this device rather than my S710a.
Jabra BT800:
