Charge of the Bluetooth-ready headsets

CNET.com staff | Jan 11, 2006

Motorola has unveiled the H5 Miniblue Bluetooth Headset, the teensiest Bluetooth headset the CNET team has ever seen. At only 33 x 41 millimeters, the H5 has a flanged ear tip to ensure a comfortable fit. The built-in mic apparently picks up your voice through your ear canal, which is a good thing, since the H5 doesn't have a boom mic, like a lot of other headsets. It also comes with a silver, stylish portable charging base and will be available the first half of this year.

In addition to its Miniblue, Motorola also showed off other tiny headsets at CES. The design of the new Motorola H700 is similar to the Motorola HS850's but is 30 percent smaller, and you can turn the device on and off simply by flipping the boom mic. The H3 Bluetooth headset, designed specifically to complement the Motorola Razr V3, features a sleek design that mimics the Razr's slim form factor. It has a removable ear hook and is compatible with Bluetooth 1.1- and 1.2-enabled cell phones.

Not to be outdone, Nokia also revealed three new Bluetooth headsets at the recent CES 2006: The BH-200, the BH-800, and the BH-900. While the BH-800 isn't as small as the Motorola H5 Miniblue, it still looks nice and compact atonly 1.6 x 0.7 x 0.35 inches and 0.3 ounces. There's a headset strap that lets it dangle around your neck, making it seem even more like a fashion statement. It comes in both black and silvery white. Rated talk time is 6 hours, while standby time is 160 hours. The BH-800 should be available in Q1 this year.

The other two may not be as pretty, but they're definitely functional. The BH-200 is a basic Bluetooth headset made to be easy to use, with uncomplicated controls. Rated talktime for the BH-200 is 5 hours 30 minutes, while the standby time is 150 hours. The BH-900, on the other hand, caters to business audiences, with noise-reduction and echo-cancellation technology, which means the person you're speaking to will be able to hear you even if you're in a noisy environment. The BH-900 has an extendable boom, plus it supports push-to-talk technology, depending on the phone and the network. Rated talk time for the BH-900 is 8 hours, while standby time is 180 hours. Both the BH-200 and the BH-900 will be available in Q2 this year.

Filed under: Mobile Phones
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