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CNET editors' review
-
CNET editors' rating:
stars
Very good
Detailed editors' rating
- Reviewed on: 05/09/2007
Kyocera may be better known as a maker of hip cell phones for Virgin Mobile such as the Marbl and the Cyclops, but it has also churned out a number of Bluetooth accessories in the past. Its latest is the Kyocera Wireless Stereo Bluetooth Headset with Pendant Controller, which is made to be used with a Bluetooth-enabled cell phone that has a built-in music player. Though it has a rather clunky around-the-neck style, it has excellent sound quality and easy-to-use controls. It's currently available for $41.99 from Kyocera Wireless. To find more accessories like this, plus tips on how to use them, please check out our cell phone accessories help page.
This Kyocera Stereo Bluetooth Headset consists of two parts: a slim and compact pendant, which contains the main hub of controls, and a lanyard with the two earpieces attached to it via two short wires. You are meant to wear the lanyard around your neck with the pendant hanging down against your chest. This arrangement felt a bit awkward after a while, as the pendant kept swinging back and forth if we moved around a lot, and this is even after we clipped the pendant onto our shirt. That said, it works just fine if you don't wear it for any rigorous activity such as running or jogging.
The pendant measures about 2.5 inches long, 1 inch wide, and 0.5 inch deep, and is quite lightweight at about an ounce. Dressed in a simple silver and black color scheme, it looks rather ordinary but not unattractive. On its face is a simple four-way joystick-like toggle that can be pushed up, down, left, and right, as well as inward. The toggle has a variety of functions and can be used to increase and decrease the volume, change music tracks, answer, end, and reject calls, and initiate a voice-activated call; it also has last-number redial. The toggle feels really tactile and was very easy to use. Rounding out the pendant's exterior is a hold switch on the left spine, an earphone jack on top, a clip on the back, and a charger jack on the bottom.
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