Samsung SBH170 Bluetooth Stereo Headset review

We successfully paired the SBH170 with the Samsung Upstage (SPH-M620). The pairing process took no time at all and the connection remained strong during calls. Also, we were able to reconnect the headset instantly after we turned off both devices. Call quality remained decent on both ends; voices sounded natural and there was no static. On the other hand, callers had slightly more trouble hearing us at times, and voice-automated systems could understand us only when we were in a quiet environment. That can be an issue if you're calling your airline and you're, let's say, in an airport, but we didn't consider it an overall deal breaker.

We also used the SBH170 to listen to music, and we were generally satisfied with the sound quality. There was slight bass-heavy effect to our tunes, but it wasn't too bothersome. We had a bit of trouble when we disconnected the Bluetooth headset in the middle of a paused song. When we restarted the song, the Upstage was unable to play songs downloaded from the PC. The error message didn't clear unless we turned off the phone and started it again. It happened only once, but it's a still a point of concern and it could be due to the phone only.

Other calling features include voice dialing, three-way calling, call reject, and last-number redial. Voice commands on the headset worked pretty well but they performed better when we were in a quiet room. The Samsung SBH170 promises 10 hours of talk/music time and seven days of standby time.