Logitech Mobile Traveller Headset

Logitech's new Bluetooth headset makes the grade in terms of comfort but fails to wow when it comes to style and ease of use. The Logitech Mobile Traveller Headset boasts decent audio quality, feels comfortable on the ear, and handles conference-call, voice-calling, and call-muting duties. Unfortunately, it suffers from a bulky design and awkward controls. While the Mobile Traveller is affordably priced at $80, our money is still with the Jabra FreeSpeak BT250, CNET's current Editors' Choice.

Minus the plastic ear loop at the top end, the Logitech Mobile Traveller looks a little like a small silver and gray lipstick with its hard, porous plastic mic cover. A long, thin Answer/End control runs along the length of the earpiece, while a round, beveled button on the ear-loop end acts as the volume up/down rocker. Measuring 3.3 by 1.8 by 0.8 inches and weighing just 0.5 ounce, the Mobile Traveller is a bit large compared with other Bluetooth headsets we've tested, but it fits easily into a jeans pocket, especially if you rotate the ear loop inward. We initially had trouble hooking the ear loop on our ear; you have to turn it just the right way for a snug fit, which took some trial and error on our part. Once we figured it out, however, the Mobile Traveller felt comfortable and secure, even when we shook our head; you can also flip the ear loop to fit either ear. That said, the bulky headset jutted noticeably from our face, so don't expect to make unobtrusive calls with the device.

We had little trouble mastering the Logitech Mobile Traveller's simple controls, although actually pressing the buttons tended to be awkward. The long Answer/End control was easy to find, but we were annoyed with the fact that you could press only the top end of the button; we kept pressing the wrong side while trying to answer a call. Sitting right above our earlobe is the circular volume control, which was a tad small for our fingertips. This was particularly evident when we wanted to mute a call, which entails pressing both sides of the round rocker at once. Once you get the hang of the controls, though, the Mobile Traveller can handle a variety of call-handling chores, including last-number redial, call muting, voice dialing, incoming-call reject, and three-way calling.

We paired the Logitech Mobile Traveller with the RIM BlackBerry 7100g; the pairing process was a snap, and we were quickly chatting over the headset. Aside from a few dropouts, we could hear our callers loud and clear. Logitech claims that the odd-looking mic cover is designed to reduce background noise in blustery conditions, but in our tests, we found that wind noise was still a problem, although not any more than with any other Bluetooth headset we've tried. Logitech promises 7 hours of talk time and 12.5 days of standby time from the Mobile Traveller. In our tests, we managed 10 days of standby time on a single charge.

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