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Solid headset
Strengths: Price, Comfort, Battery Life, Requisite blue LED isn't obnoxious, Battery Indicator
Weaknesses: Some static at range
Summary: This is a great headset for the price. I was looking around at a few headets and pretty much wanted two things: good volume and a design that would sit on my ear well without feeling like it was coming off or moving around. These two criteria pretty much excluded all Moto headsets which look cool but just dangle on your ear. Also, without a piece that actually enters your ear canal, it's practically impossible to get good volume out of a headset.

I narrowed my search down to the Plantronics 640 and Cellpoint Flamingo. I liked both because they sat in your ear canal which meant superior volume. I ended up going with this headset for two reasons: one, because I felt the earloop would add stability and two because it's priced at less than half what the others go for.


After using the headset for a while, i found other things I like. For one, since it has the earhook (which is not detachable like that of the Plantronics 640) this headset does not have an earpiece that you have to cram into your ear. There's just a little "spout" that leads into your ear canal without wedging itself in there. This makes it much louder than the Moto "sit outside your ear" speakers. And while it's probably not as loud as the 640 or Flamingo, it has to be a lot more comfortable. Also since the hook (and earpiece) aren't detachable, there's nothing to come off the headset while it's in your pocket, which is good for those of us that don't like to show off their headset all day. Just take it out of your pocket to take a call, and stow it when you're done. Speaking of which, it's very easy to take this thing on and off with one hand, which I forgot to mention as another feature I was looking for in a headset.


As for the multi-function button, you may hear some people complaining that they can't always get the button to do what they want, but I find it quite easy. In fact, I haven't had a single instance where I wanted to, say, raise the volume and I accidentally hung up the call. The button is sort of recessed into the headset so it makes it very difficult to hit it at the wrong angle accidentally.


Since it doesn't wedge anything into your ear canal, you can notice some movement of the headset but only when you shake your head violently. Also, when it moves the headset doesn't really move that much and it always comes right back to normal position, so I don't feel like it's slowly slipping off with each movement. It sits so well that I can go biking with this and not have any issues.


The lights on this thing are an added bonus. There are two LEDs: one red and one blue. Both are behind the outer plastic of this phone, so the light they emit is nicely diffused and therefore less obnoxious to others. Also, the red LED serves as a battery level indicator: when you turn the headset on, it blinks from 1-3 times to tell you how much battery power is left. Very clever and probably the only headset without an LCD display that has this feature.


Finally, as far as call quality, I have to say I'm very pleased. Others can't tell I'm on a headset and it puts out great volume. The only thing is that there is some range-related static. I can't get the advertised 10 meters out of this headset (at least not without direct line of sight), but I can't imagine there are many headsets that can do this either.


Overall, a great headset at a great price. Why spend more money than you need to?

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