iLounge reviews Apple Bluetooth Headset

You can, its easy

Just a followup to my previous message...

I restored my phone and my Apple Bluetooth Headset now works. I guess it wasn't bad hardware, it was a software glitch that was easy to fix. Hooray!

Now what would really be cool is if I could pair the headset to both my Mac and my iPhone. I have a Quad G5 with no microphone for iChat voice, it would be nice if I could use the same headset for both phone calls and iChat without having to pair and unpair all the time.

Destro: "And the Apple headset looks like it won't stay seated in the ear very well"

It actually stays in the ear pretty good. Unlike the Nokia BH-800 that I had and lost in less then 24 hours as it didn't stay in very well and I couldnt' tell when it was in my ear or wasnt' due to the lack of weight to the thing.

I have several BT headsets. The jawbone is by far! the best in a really noisy environment - works flawlessly. However, it's very average in low background noise situations. The new apple one is a nice evolution of the bluespoon/samsung/jabra/plantronics/etc. small form factor earpiece. I llike it's styling and it's cohesive integration with the iPhone. It's not best in any category; just another highly priced, well designed, well integrated piece of kit from my favorite hardware maker, Apple. I recommend it to anyone who doesn't care about paying for style and simplicity. There are many cheaper options that work well or better. Happy iPhoning.

I have several BT headsets. The jawbone is by far! the best in a really noisy environment - works flawlessly. However, it's very average in low background noise situations. The new apple one is a nice evolution of the bluespoon/samsung/jabra/plantronics/etc. small form factor earpiece. I llike it's styling and it's cohesive integration with the iPhone. It's not best in any category; just another highly priced, well designed, well integrated piece of kit from my favorite hardware maker, Apple. I recommend it to anyone who doesn't care about paying for style and simplicity. There are many cheaper options that work well or better. Happy iPhoning.

Yes, the Jawbone is not all it's cracked up to be. And the Apple headset looks like it won't stay seated in the ear very well, plus it costs way more than the best headsets available.

The new headset to look for is the BlueAnt Z9. Apparently, it one-ups the Jawbone on noise canceling, voice quality, size, and price. Hope it isn't too good to be true.

http://www.blueantz9.com/

I ordered an Apple Bluetooth Headset early, and waited about 3 weeks for it to ship. The design and function were absolutely brilliant. Then after a few days, the audio started to "stutter" like I had bad radio reception, and then it totally died, it will no longer pick up calls. The phone sees that it's paired, but you push the headset button and nothing happens, the iPhone menus don't show the headset as an option when you switch audio sources during a call. Oh well, it's not surprising that there are a few DOA units, particularly since this is such a microscopic device, it must be hard to build. I talked to Apple iPhone Support (the phone rep had a thick Indian accent, must be an outsourced support deal) and they promised to FedEx me a replacement overnight.. IF I reformat and restore my iPhone and it still doesn't work. Haven't gotten around to that yet. I'll do it today and see what happens.

WTF that's my comment from before? Sorry to seem to repost. E-mail screwed me up.

My new comment was all about how I just use the bundle white earbuds, and look crazy and like I'm talking to my iPod. They work fine, and didn't cost extra. And don't have a battery.

The jawbone, like every other bluetooth headset, fails in one key category: it still makes you look really freaking stupid.

The minimalist apple headset makes a little sense and I'm interested in it ... but I don't have my iphone yet, nor do I think I'll have another 100$ lying around when I do.

I had a Jawbone, and was extremely underwhelmed with everything BUT the noise canceling. The build quality was mediocre at best, the ear clips were flimsy, and I thought the design was gaudy. I refuse to wear a bluetooth headset constantly, so a big feature for me is pocketability. The clip the Jawbone uses is so flimsy that it broke about two days after buying it.

Like I said, the audio quality was nice... but they need to work on EVERYTHING ELSE. It was cool being able to talk on the phone during a space shuttle launch or while running my leaf blower- but realistically, how often do you need to do that? The Jawbone still sucked at getting rid of wind noise, which really is the only noise type I have issues with on a daily basis.

My Apple headset is due to ship any day now. Size is a big selling point, it looks very pocketable.