The Bottom Line: This is the simplest of the simple, if you are looking for high tech and don't have patience for little things than this is not for you.
ace3502's Full Review: GN Netcom Jabra® BT150 Bluetooth Headset
I received my Jabra Bluetooth with my LG VX9800 phone back in December of 2005. It came as part of a rebate plan, if I got the car charger, Bluetooth, and leather case I got a rebate that covered the head set. Now I had a headset for my old phone which actually fit into this one as well. It was the old fashioned plug in kind with the one ear piece that was a little uncomfortable in your ear, so I was ready for a change..oh and of course it looked cool!
Operation
Setup was relatively easy. The entire thing only has 3 buttons. Volume up, down and power on/off. Once you have it charged you turn it on by holding down the large silver button in the middle of the head set for 4 seconds, you do the same to turn it off. Once on it beeps to indicate it needs to connect, you go through the menu in your phone to search for it, give it a name, and it is connected. Once it's connected for use you have to train the commands. It asks you to say a series of numbers and commands which take just a few minutes to get through. If the head set should become disconnected (it's never disconnected during a conversation for me but only while I am not using the phone) you simply press the large button again and it searches and finds the phone again.
Ease Of Use
The head set is really very simple. I use it the majority of the time while I am driving which keeps my hands free to be on the wheel, eat, etc. The battery lasts about 5 to 6 hours of talk time, which like any battery, dwindles down by little bits the more you use it. I've had mine for over a year and a half and can still get a strong 4 hours out of it at the absolute least. Once the head set is connected you simply press the button once it and it asks you what you would like to do. (If you hold the button down for more than 2 seconds but less than 4 it will beep once to indicate what it's doing and it will call the last number dialed on the phone.) From the head set you can:
Call Someone - which simply is saying the persons name, which it repeats back to you to make sure it's correct.
Digit Dial - You can actually read a phone number to the phone and it will repeat it back to you before it dials it, this is a very handy feature which I use frequently.
Voicemail - Call your voicemail.
Missed Calls - It will read off your missed calls and what time they occurred and ask you if you would like to call them back.
Messages - It will let you know if you have any new text messages and who and what time they were from.
Time & Date - It simply reads off the time and date for you
Now granted you may not use all of these features but call someone, digit dial, and missed calls are ones I use on a regular basis while I am driving, it saves me from searching through the phone for names or messages, and lets me read off a number from a piece of paper to dial it rather than having to pick up the phone.
Comfortability...Here's Where It Starts Going Down Hill
The head set itself is no longer or wider than my thumb. I don't have abnormally large hands but it is as tall as a stick of Chapstick and just a little bit wider as it gets to the top. There is a clip for your ear, which is adjustable, on the back of the head set and it can pivot all the way around and flip back and forth so you can adjust it to put on either ear. All good qualities. However, the clip for your ear HURTS! I thought I had a bug bite on my ear the first time it started hurting me, it never dawned on me that it could be the head set. After two or three times of extended use (over an hour) I finally figured out it was the clip. For whatever reason, as its holding on to the ear it irritates the back of it and the front where the speaker actually fits into your ear. This was annoying to say the least. I would have to repeatedly adjust it and move it from ear to ear in order to keep the conversation going and not have my ear hurt too much. But at least it felt like it was on there solidly.
Can You Hear Me Now?
The sound quality is sub par. If you are in a quiet room it is great, no other interfering noises. But driving in my car, where I predominantly use this, that was a tough one. Even with all the windows closed (forget about driving with them open and talking on it the wind creates a wind tunnel effect on the mic and the other person can hardly hear you, so I'm told. But even with the windows closed the head set still is too quiet sometimes. You can adjust the volume on the phone and on the head set. Turning it up does help a little but on some calls you can hardly tell if it's going up while on other calls it distorts the caller so much that THEY become almost inaudible. Now I am not overly picky, this wasn't a huge deal with me, but that's because I realized I used it for the majority of the winter months and not the summer. See, I don't have air conditioning in my car so leaving my windows closed while driving on a 90 degree day is not an option for me. But during the winter this wasn't as much of an issue.
The microphone on the head set is extraordinarily sensitive. It picks up the smallest sounds and amplifies the largest ones. People on the other end often ask where I am or what is going on behind me that there is such a racket. The mic is so sensitive in fact that if the volume is turned up too loud in a quiet place, the person can actually hear themselves echoing, the mic picks up the sound coming through the speaker into my ear and relays it back to them.
Durability
The durability is surprisingly good. I've dropped it countless times and never had a problem with anything breaking. I think part of the reason for that is because it is so light, that even being dropped from high up, it isn't heavy enough to do damage to itself. But I will give it kudos here, it has taken a licking and still keeps working.
Odds And Ends
The connectivity of the head set is temperamental. Walking into a Verizon store where numerous other people are using head sets, forget it. It disconnects because it is overwhelmed with the data from the others, it's not sure which one to connect to. Reconnecting is easy, just press the large button and it takes a moment or two but it finds it. I found that the magic distance is about four feet. Anything more or less than that it can become disconnected frequently, oddly enough more so when you are too close to it than when you are farther away.
Now there has been an odd glitch that has happened to me two or three times. While trying to connect to it, my phone flashes the connected / disconnected screens back and forth very quickly and it freezes up the phone. I have to shut the head set off and turn it back on to reset the problem. I'm not sure where this comes from but it is a very infrequent occurrence.
Another oddity is when the battery runs down. The light flashes red on the head set (instead of the normal blue) to let you know it is running low on battery, and it beeps in your ear. If you stay on it until the battery runs down, ONLY the person you are speaking to will hear a loud (what I've heard described as a truck horn) sound for 3 or 5 seconds before the head set shuts off, but the user of the head set doesn't hear this. Odd, I know, and very annoying to my friends who have to listen to it on occasion.
Overall I really cant say that I hate this head set. I'm not very high maintenance and this gets the job done for me just fine with what I need it for. If you are demanding anything more than the utmost simplicity than this is not the head set for you. With that being said that's why I had to give it two stars. One star is just about garbage for me and this is just not there. It's by NO means great, but I'm simple and it's simple so we fit ok together. I can deal with it not connecting on occasion and I'm just patient with it. But if you are looking for something that is 100% fail safe and guaranteed to work steer clear of this one. Well at least it's cheap. When I first got it, it was retailing for $50 (thank God I didn't pay that for it because I wouldn't be as gracious talking about it as I have been), but I have seen it in various places for as low as $25 now.
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