Black Friday, Motorola HS805 Bluetooth Headset

For Black Fridays, I usually go to CompUSA since they usually have better deals than BestBuy and other electronics/computer stores. Since I didn’t have much to spend, I sprung for an item that would be both useful and low-priced: a bluetooth headset.

I got the Motorola HS805 (SKU# 319547 at CompUSA). Normally $50, I got it for $20 ($21.19 after tax) with a $20 eRebate in tow. After all is said and done, I’ve payed $1.20 for a headset. I especially like eRebates, since all this involves is going to erebate.compusa.com and filling out some standard personal information + receipt number, store number, time of transaction, and it’s all done. They send you a check roughly a month later after they’ve confirmed that you didn’t return the product.

Intended Use

I don’t intend to use this headset with my phone, since it isn’t bluetooth enabled. My laptop, however, is – so I can use it for wireless listening in one ear (perfect for podcasts which are mostly talking anyway), and perhaps as a mic for recording screencasts. I’ve found the integrated mic in my laptop has slightly better sound, but the headset is a lot more convenient and isolates my voice against the static better. I already have a cheap $8 wired headset with a mic that I got ages ago, so I may end up using that instead since it eliminates the static problem and is definitely better than an integrated mic.

Batteries

A nice feature of this headset is that it uses a AAA battery instead of a standard internal rechargeable Li-on. It’s a little bigger than most of the fancy $80+ headsets, but it means that I can switch out batteries when it dies, versus having to wait for it to recharge if it were an proprietary internal battery. I already have several rechargeable Li-on AAA’s anyway, so this is a definite value-add for me.

I have yet for the first battery to die – they gave me an Energizer in the package – so I can’t say much for battery life. Supposedly it will last for ~20 hours talk time and ~16 days standby.

Specs, General Opinion

There’s virtually no formal specs/detailed information on this model anywhere on the web as far as I can tell. The most detail I’ve found is at CompUSA’s profile of the product:

• Compatibility with Bluetooth 1.2 and 1.1 enabled mobile handsets and PCs
• Includes the latest Bluetooth 1.2 standard for better call quality, less interference and faster connections
• Superior competitive talk and standby times against other basic headsets: Up to 22 hours of talk time and 16 days of standby time.
• Removable earhook for placement on either ear
• Unidirectional microphone to pick up the user’s voice clearly
• Green LED light to provide a visual cue of headset status
• Multi-function button for placing, receiving or ending a call with ease
• In-demand features including voice dialing, call hold and 3-way calling
• Compatible with any Bluetooth-enabled mobile phone including the Motorola A845, V600 and V710 phones.

As far as playback audio quality goes, it’s roughly equivalent to radio. Headphones are typically enabled with a profile that uses compressed mp3 streaming – headsets use a codec that emphasizes voice, so this headset doesn’t play music well. It’s just fine for listening to my podcasts wirelessly while I walk about the house!

Audio quality is prettty good when you’re right next to the transmitting device (typing away at a blog post, for example..), though static does start to add up when I walk around the house. Audio is still intelligible at a distance w/ walls between transmitter and the headset, but quality does degrade some.

I’ll post samples of the mic recording, as compared to my $8 mic, and the integrated Tecra M7 mic at some point. I’ll have to figure out something interesting to read aloud first!

Overall, I’m very pleased with this buy – it’ll hold me over until those i202’s go down in price some! $110 is a ridiculous amount to pay for some headphones…