Entered CNET Catalog: 05/23/2007
SKU: BH-801_SILV/WHTE
Manufacturer: Nokia Corp.
Manufacturer description
The stylish look of the Nokia Bluetooth Headset BH-801 reflects its high quality and innovative design approach. Delicately simple, it connects to your phone via Bluetooth wireless technology and comes with an elegant neck strap and practical belt clip for keeping it handy when not in use. The headset is comfortable to wear on either ear, with or without the convenient optional earloop.Product summary
The good: The Nokia BH-801 has a compact and stylish design with a snug and comfortable fit. We liked the addition of the optional ear loop, the metal neck strap, and the belt clip.
The bad: The Nokia BH-801 has a tiny power button that is hard to press. Call quality was not so good in windier environments.
The bottom line: The Nokia BH-801 is a simple yet attractive Bluetooth headset with a comfortable fit and decent sound quality.
Editors' review
- Editors' Choice: No
- Reviewed on: 05/23/2007
Nokia has done a good job in the past year of releasing a slew of attractive yet functional Bluetooth headsets to accompany its cell phone line. We especially liked the Nokia BH-800, which earned a spot in our list of top ten Bluetooth headsets. This year, Nokia has released its successor, the Nokia BH-801. It's just as small and compact, with a few design refinements when compared to its predecessor. The Nokia BH-801 is also quite affordable at $99.99, and you can get it at most Cingular/AT&T stores. To find more accessories like this, plus tips on how to use them, please check out our cell phone accessories help page.
Decked out in a soft silver finish with chrome accents, the Nokia BH-801 is definitely an attractive headset. Just a tad larger than the Nokia BH-800, the Nokia BH-801 is 1.89 inches long by 0.79 inch wide by 0.39 inch deep, and weighs around 0.38 ounce. It has a simple yet stylish rectangular design with curved corners and a nice soft-touch surface on the back. The BH-801's multifunction button is sloped slightly inward to fit the curvature of your fingertips, making it quite easy to press. It has a tiny power button on top, which we thought was a little too small--we had to use our fingernails in order to press it in. On the left spine is a volume rocker in the form of a toggle switch, which was surprisingly easy to use even when the headset was worn on the ear.
The back of the headset houses the in-ear style earbud and a slot for an optional ear loop if you want added security. The earbud has a nice rubberized cover for a snug fit in the ear. As a result, we didn't feel a need for the ear loop at all. If you do want to use it, the ear loop can be positioned to accommodate both left and right ears.
Features of the Nokia BH-801 are fairly standard. You can answer, end, and reject calls, last-number redial, mute calls, switch calls between the headset and the phone, and voice dial. You can also pair the headset with up to eight different phones, but you can only connect to one at a time. The Nokia BH-801 also comes with a handy metal neck strap, which you can hook the headset on so that it hangs around your neck like a necklace. There's also a belt clip if you wish to clip it to your belt or shirt. This way, you have easy access to the headset without having to wear it on your ear all the time.
We tested the Nokia BH-801 with the LG VX8700 and were able to pair the headset with the phones without any problems. Call quality was pretty good, and we could hear our callers loud and clear and vice versa. It did diminish quite a bit in windier environments, however, with callers reporting quite a bit of background noise and not hearing us very well. The Nokia BH-801 has a rated talk time of six hours and a rated standby time of seven days.
User opinions
Select a User Opinion to view: 1 2 3 4 5out of 5 user reviews
Nice addition to my Nokia Phone
Pros: Battery backup good. Impressive voice quality. The Nokia trust. Noise reduction
Cons: None that I can come up with as of now...
out of 5 user reviews
Terrific sound for the price
Pros: Small, Pairs easily, great sound, good fit
Cons: On / Off button is too small, do not like the volume button operation
out of 5 user reviews
not that great
Pros: fit is good
Cons: sound quality issues, does not work at all in semi windy conditions
out of 5 user reviews
Important warning about this product...
Pros: Stylish, cool accesories
Cons: Sound quality inferior to the competition at this price, doesn't stay in ear, plastic ear piece easily lost
out of 5 user reviews
The is the best headset deal on the market!
Pros: great sound quality, comfortable, small size
Cons: absolutely none!
p.s. avoid motorola bluetooths: they are cheaply made and have static on every call! the h850 and h700 suck!
