Telephone Freedom: Bluetooth Headset BT101

By Patrick Schmid, published on January 3, 2003
Source: Tom's Guide US | Keywords:
Contents

6. Telephone Freedom: Bluetooth Headset BT101

Note: The Bluetooth Headset BT101, while currently available in Europe for about 120 euros, has only very limited availability in the US. It is starting to appear here, priced at around $80US. THG found this link on eBay, for those of you dying to get your hands on it. (THG does not offer any endorsement of the seller) .

Starting a few months ago, the Bluetooth standard has enjoyed increasing popularity in wireless applications. Not only does it allow you to synch data between the PC and PDA, it also has lots of potential for voice activated features as well.

According to the manufacturer, it works with all of the standard Bluetooth mobile phones. We tried it out with an Ericsson T68, finding good ease of use and good voice quality at distances of up to eight meters (with no obstructing objects), or two to three meters from room to room. Here the range is a bit under what the manufacturer has claimed, but this is not as important in practice because typical users do no roam far from their mobile phones anyway.

The only thing that could use some improvement is the sound volume, which could stand to be louder. If you're in a car on the freeway, then the person that you are talking to needs to speak somewhat louder in order for you to understand clearly. Also, there is some usage limitation due to the life of the battery. The manufacturer claims three hours of talking and 100 hours in standby mode. This means that you have to charge up the headset simultaneously with the mobile phone. However, recharging time is short - in under one hour, the battery is ready to go once more.

Comments | Print | Send to a friend

Sponsored links

Comments

Comments are closed on this page.

Sponsored links