Cons: Bulky. Finicky about outside noise when dialing. Can cause soreness of the ear.
The Bottom Line: Go to a cellular store that has them on display and find one that has a better speaker/ear interface and is as light as possible, then buy at Best Buy.
tiura's Full Review: Motorola H3 Bluetooth Headset
***Updated,4-26-06***
*After checking other Epinions on the various headsets available out there, it seems that the cons on this unit are in line with, and no worse than, most of the better headsets available. The bulkiness is not something that cannot be lived with. The outside noise problem when making calls from the car or other noisy environments appears to be universal, as I suspected. The soreness of the ear, which really only happens because I wear glasses at the same time, CAN be dealt with. I felt it necessary to update this review because I don't want to mislead readers. From what I read about others' experiences with Bluetooth headsets of all kinds, this one's not so bad. I stand by my assessment that it would serve anyone well to experiment if you have the chance to do so, but I will say, in the interest of fairness, the the strong points of this unit seem to outweigh the weak points. I am not on the phone all the time, but read where some have to recharge their headsets daily. Standby time on the battery is exceptional at worst, excellent at best. Sound volume seems to be a problem with every unit I read about as well. Perhaps Motorola will change the way the earpiece sits on the ear and increase the amount of sound reaching the ear canal. I sincerely hope that my lack of initial exploration hasn't caused any readers undue trouble. I have changed my recommendation, from "No" to "Yes", and from "Average" to "Above Average", based only on those merits mentioned above. Any areas where I have changed my initial opinion on anything of significance I have noted with an asterisk (*) after the initial remark, and added a new remark in parenthesis and in bold type. I would have rewritten the entire Epinion, but thought it better to do it this way because it emphasizes just what Epinions is all about; peoples opinions being shared with the Epinions community, their willingness to do some research, and the importance of the well-stated Epinions out there to affect change and enlighten others. It also shows some of the shortcomings of the Bluetooth technology for those totally unfamiliar with it and thinking of trying it out. Again, sorry for any inconvenience. That said, on with the original assessment.*
With Bluetooth headsets I'm reminded of the endless old anecdotes like; "Why do they call it a Hot Dog, it doesn't bark?", or Why are they called a pair of panties, there's only one?", or scissors, or pants... Why do they call a single unit earphone a headset? I guess because calling it the "H3 RAZR Handsfree Head Unit" might cut into sales. (All obvious puns notwithstanding...)
I digress. I've owned my H3 for almost a month and am still unsure as to whether or not I'm going to keep it. In fact, I'm pretty sure I'm going to return it and try another style.* (I think I WILL keep it! I can't find anything reviewed by the savvy Epinions crowd that is better.) My main objections to this unit revolve around its usefulness. The first thing to consider when buying a Bluetooth headset is its overall effectiveness. Is it going to do the job?
The job of a Bluetooth phone headset begins with its ability to provide a way for you to talk on the cell phone without using your hands to hold the phone. As a result, you get to focus more on driving, washing dishes, etcetera while keeping your hands where they are doing you more good, like steering or flashing a friendly signal to drivers who feel more entitled to your lane than you... things like that. With that in mind, one must consider a few other facets of the Bluetooth unit to get the bigger picture on its ability to do the job.
The H3 (the only one I've used personally, so far) has a couple nice features. It looks nice, kinda cool. Like the RAZR phone. It is made to go with the RARZ phone, so it hooks up without a hitch. The function buttons are few and simple to use. Those are really the main pluses.
But unless you're looking for a hottie to impress the stud-football-players-from-high-school-gone-flabby-complacent-insurance-salesmen at your 25th reunion, looks alone don't do the job! (Even then, once she opens her mouth, your cover's blown.)
That's the problem I'm having with the H3. It looks good, but it's not necessarily good in conversation.
The main drawbacks I'm finding are these. First, it doesn't like any, and I mean any, outside noise when making a call. (For those unfamiliar with just how Bluetooth headsets make a call, it goes like this: you record a voice dial name for those who you want on your voice dial list in your phones phonebook. When you want to call Joe Schmoe, you push the call button and then say "Joe Schmoe". It checks the memory of voicemail names you've recorded and with any luck at all, plays back the recording for Joe Schmoe, then dials the number. Simple, right?) The H3 does do a fine job of matching what you say to the voice names you've recorded, unless there's background noise, such as wind from an open car window or traffic in the background, a radio on in the car, etc.
Now let's face it, most people want these things for driving, even though they're extremely useful for the above mentioned tasks as well. Once you use one you'll end up keeping it on most of the time. Therein lies the genesis of some of the other problems, but I shouldn't get ahead of myself. Without the ability to make calls without any background noise, the efficiency of the unit is diminished a good deal because you now must pull out your phone and manually bring up the number you want to call and push the send button, then you can close the phone and put it down (or in its pouch or whatever) and continue the call handsfree. Still helpful, but hardly the total solution you were looking for. You're taking at least one hand off what you were using them for and your eyes off the road. You'll be surprised at how much of the time there is background noise around you that you don't notice until you buy a Bluetooth headset that doesn't like background noise!
Granted, I just have experience with this model, so far, but just the nature of the inner workings of this type of technology leads me to believe that most headsets will have somewhat the same trouble. It has to hear your voice and discern which of the recordings sounds most like the one you've spoken on any given call. Other noises are bound to interfere. I have found one way to combat this problem, at least to a modicum of satisfaction; repeat the name several times. Speaking louder does not necessarily circumvent the problem because apparently the unit does not like loud any more than cluttered noise. But a slightly louder, repeated voice name will sometimes work, depending on the outside noise present. Sometimes, however, when I say "Kits cell" a few times I will hear "Murph", and although I try to hang up before it dials, I always hear a ring before it actually hangs up. (Murph is probably wondering just why I keep calling him and hanging up...) So that's one problem with this unit. (Oddly enough, outside noise does not seem to interfere at all with the person on the other end hearing your voice... strange.)
As mentioned before, having the headset on all the time has its drawbacks as well. The H3 seems somewhat heavy and will work free from a snug fit with just a minor jostling of your head.* (Some other reviewers say that the units they reviewed feel that way all the time. Not so with this unit. It can be snugly fit and will only feel wobbly if you jerk your head a bit.) It doesn't fall off unless you really have a lot of movement (such as my wifes head at a Montrose concert) but it is noticeably looser on your ear and can be mildly annoying. If you wear glasses, the area behind your ear where the headsets holding arm sits is now accommodating not only your glasses earpiece, but the headsets as well. This can cause some soreness after hours of the two competing for what little real estate is available there. One or the other gets jammed in behind the dominant (we'll call it the "Alpha") earpiece. The only solution to this is to change from one ear to the other often, which is done easily enough. But if you're like me, you'll have a favorite ear to wear the thing on and it will be sore until you either develop a callous or you throw the unit out the car window. Either way, hardly the panacea you were looking for.
On the brighter side, in all fairness, I must say that the sound heard on the receiving end of this units calls is very good. My wife told me she thought it was excellent for a headset so I called my home recorder and left myself a message and it did sound surprisingly good. But... (as Pee Wee Herman said "there's always a big BUT!") the sound from the earpice when trying to hear over outside noise leaves a LOT to be desired. The volume is simply not sufficient for conversation in moderate to loud environs, and the design of the speaker/ear interface is less than adequate in my opinion (or should the be "epinion"?) I have seen other designs that incorporate a flexible cup-like ring around the speaker that seem as though they might do a better job of seating on the ear and keeping outside noise from entering into what you're getting from the speaker. The unfortunate thing about the packaging on almost all of these types of headsets is that it is very hard to tell what type of speaker/ear interface is used while in the package, and they don't open unless you destroy the packaging.
I bought mine at Best Buy and have a 30 day money back guarantee. I think I am going to take it back and try another brand/style.* (I will, as stated above, be keeping this unit.) I seem to remember seeing one style that had an earbud-like earpiece that sets inside the ear canal a bit, which I would think be ideal for the sound part of the problem, but I can't find one other than Plantronics (I think) and I don't like the tubular style, and have had trouble with the quality of Plantronics stuff before.
The people at the Cingular store close to my house would not let me try any of the units on, but did have all their available units out so you could see the type of ear rests offered. But then they told me that they would not allow trade-in once the unit is worn. Best Buy doesn't care, at least yet, so I suggest buying there after finding the one you want to experiment with at your cellular store and if you don't like it, take it back and try another.
Battery life on the H3 is excellent! It looks very nice, if not a bit large. They have the right idea and, I think, with a little primping and preening will have a competitive product. But I think it needs improvement.
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