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What's positive:
Excellent ergonomics and comfort; dual profile support; good range
| What's negative:
Would benefit from a size reduction |
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Conclusion:
 The Jabra FreeSpeak 250 excels in terms of ergonomics. Its comfort is unparallelled, its transmission capabilities are very good, and battery life is virtually unmatched. Its dual Headset and Handsfree profile support renders the headset compatible with virtually anything on the market both currently and in the future, and it also maintains the extremely low price of its predecessor. In fact, its only drawback is that a size reduction would have been preferred.
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What's positive:
Small; comfortable; replaceable battery; mini-USB charging
| What's negative:
Quiet for callers; hard to get used to |
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Conclusion:
 Nextlink have packed a load of great features into such a small shell. Not least of these is the tiny size itself. The Bluespoon AX is comfortable, easy to use, and features solid reception and battery life. The replaceable battery, mini-USB charging / carry strap and cool design are bonuses, and the experience is only spoilt by so-so call quality. Best of all, the small size is matched by a modest price tag.
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What's positive:
Sound quality; LCD display with Caller ID
| What's negative:
No bundled case; ear attachment could be better |
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Conclusion:
 The HBH-660 is a solid, high-quality headset, aimed squarely at the high-end of the market. Not the smallest or the lightest, it instead focuses on utility, sound quality, and build, and is a good choice as a result. The LCD is a superb addition, offering a real improvement in usability; hopefully this will spur other manufacturers into offering the same.
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What's positive:
Folding design, light, good battery life
| What's negative:
Some flapping, audio quality is only decent |
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Conclusion:
 The Motorola HS850 is small, light, stylish, long-lasting, and very convenient. The folding microphone design deftly combines compactness with functionality for a novel and well-implemented approach. On the down side, while comfortable the HS850 does flap a bit more than we'd like when moving around a lot, which we suspect is why the audio quality is only acceptable, not great. Nonetheless, for the price the HS850 offers a light and novel headset that we can genuinely recommend.
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What's positive:
Superb range and reception; good battery life; dual profile support
| What's negative:
Several ergonomics nags; 110V charger problematic for globetrotters |
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Conclusion:
 Small nags in the ergonomics department aside, the BlueTrek GII offers a very impressive feature set and performs extremely well areas of range, reception and battery life - all at a price that can only be described as an absolute steal. Potential buyers should, if possible, attempt to try the headset on to see if it fits their ear, however the BlueTrek GII comes warmly recommended in any case. Globetrotters beware, though, as the charger will do you little good in countries not using 110V electrical grids.
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What's positive:
Excellent range and reception; dual profile support; user exchangeable battery
| What's negative:
Prone to flapping; appears large |
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Conclusion:
 There are only two flaws with the Plantronics M3000: its tendency to flap, and its apparently large size. Should these not be issues, the exceptional voice clarity and reception combined with good ergonomics, long battery life, dual profile support and a reasonable price all speak in favour of a handset which is one of the best additions to this particular accessory market of late. The M3000 comes recommended.
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What's positive:
Excellent ergonomics, transmission and comfort
| What's negative:
Boots slowly; somewhat sizeable |
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Conclusion:
 The Jabra BT200 headset excels in terms of ergonomics. Its comfort is unparallelled, its transmission capabilities are excellent, and the same goes for battery life. Its dual Headset and Handsfree profile support renders the headset compatible with virtually anything on the market both currently and in the future, and at such a low price it could only be described as a bargain. It has only two drawbacks: its size, and its boot latency.
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What's positive:
Superbly comfortable; excellent audio
| What's negative:
Poor battery life; below-average transmission |
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Conclusion:
 The Sony Ericsson HBH-200 is a bit of a puzzle. Scoring high for being innovative with its semi-corded solution, the headset proved superbly comfortable and offered excellent audio quality, also adding some nice extras for owners of certain Sony Ericsson headsets to the mix. On the other hand, battery life and transmission range both proved to be below average, and these days dual profile support is to be expected rather than commended. Overall, the HBH-200 comes recommended - but make sure it fits your usage pattern.
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What's positive:
Good sound quality; inexpensive
| What's negative:
Not as comfortable as a Jabra; poor buttons |
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Conclusion:
 The M2500 is a decent headset, offering good range, excellent voice quality and a solid feature set, all at a low price. In our opinion, it's let down by unremarkable comfort and a slightly frustrating button setup. It certainly performs well for daily use, but that might not prove enough in an increasingly crowded market.
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What's positive:
Sound quality; array of buttons
| What's negative:
Uncomfortable; poor battery life |
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Conclusion:
 Although its sound quality is practically unrivalled, there's no substitute for comfort or portability when it comes to Bluetooth headsets. In these areas, we found the M3500 sadly lacking: it's both large and uncomfortable, and when backed up by worse battery life than its predecessor we're not sure the trade-off for sound quality was a good one. What's more, the unreliable connection worries us, whether specific to our unit or to the production run. All in all, there are better Bluetooth headsets out there.
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What's positive:
Very comfortable; good audio quality
| What's negative:
Short battery life; poor LED visibility |
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Conclusion:
 Despite performing well when compared with its predecessors, it quickly becomes evident that the HBH-65 has certain issues when compared with other recent high-end headsets. Its battery life is poor, and while audio quality is overall very good it must also face defeat in this area - to headsets which offer the same features and better performance at lower prices. On the bright side, the HBH-65 does not require a charging cradle, and is highly comfortable.
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What's positive:
Small and lightweight; stylish; USB charging
| What's negative:
Apalling range |
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Conclusion:
 Although not as minute as other Nextlink headsets, the Bluespoon Chameleon is certainly very small. Sadly, however, price-cutting efforts seem to have caused a drop in performance as the range and reception of the headset is very poor. Still, there are mitigating factors such as quite impressive talk and standby times given the size of the Chameleon, coupled with dual profile support and USB charging. To make a long story short, provided you don't venture far from your device frequently, the Bluespoon Chameleon comes recommended.
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What's positive:
Good audio quality; adequate comfort
| What's negative:
Obtrusive; heavy; intermittent static |
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Conclusion:
 The HBH-35 is something of a dinosaur, considering the product line of which it is the latest edition. It does have a couple of things going for it, including good audio quality and adequate comfort, however is plagued by intermittent static and the fact that it's otrusively large and one of the heaviest Bluetooth headsets in existence. There are far worse choices available, however, and the low price certainly contributes to increasing the appeal of the HBH-35.
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What's positive:
Incredible stand-by time; dual profile support; excellent comfort
| What's negative:
Bulky charger setup; unwieldy design |
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Conclusion:
 For being the company's first attempt at a Bluetooth headset, Logitech's MBH is far from a bad one. In some areas, it matches top-notch headsets already on the market with its amazing stand-by time, similarly impressive talk time and low pricing - while at the same time its incomprehensibly poor charger setup and unwieldy appearance knocks quite a few points off its score. Briefly put, the MBH is a good headset with a couple of flaws that may not be all-important to all potential users, and as such it comes recommended.
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What's positive:
Small; light; excellent fix; dual profile support
| What's negative:
Poor range; extremely pricey |
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Conclusion:
 As with the original Bluespoon, the Digital edition is as a result of its poor range a headset well suited for users who either carry their mobile phone on them, or have it in their immediate vicinity. Its small size and low weight makes it ideal for those wanting to keep a more discrete profile, while talk and standby times are fully on par with competing headsets - still often double the size, or more. It is, however, at 325 EUR one of the most pricey headsets in existence, which sadly counters upsides such as dual profile support and improved sound quality.
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What's positive:
Good audio quality; acceptable range
| What's negative:
Irritation to the ear when worn/used for longer periods |
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Conclusion:
 For being a first generation headset, the Nokia HDW-2 Wireless Headset offers an acceptable performance when compared with similarly priced competitors. It could however benefit from being more comfortable, as the speaker of the headset tends to irritate the ear during longer phone calls.
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What's positive:
Documentation, sturdy, comfortable, low price
| What's negative:
Doesn’t stand out from the crowd |
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Conclusion:
 Nothing really screams for attention from this headset. It’s not the smallest, nor the lightest, and nor does it have any tricks up its sleeve in terms of specifications. However, what it claims to do it does well, with no surprises to mar its sturdy performance. Furthermore, at its low price point it doesn’t skimp on quality and should be a welcome addition to the marketplace.
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What's positive:
Replaceable battery; MiniGel; no flapping
| What's negative:
Poor reception; poor ambient noise reduction |
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Conclusion:
 The BT110 is a good idea, implemented not as well as it should be. It takes all of the best features of Jabra's other models, such as the MiniGel earpiece and no-flapping design, and combines it with a novel idea for battery power. Unfortunately, it then misses the boat on reception quality, a problem that negates its otherwise strong showing, and the one-button volume is almost too simple. If reception quality and ambient noise reduction were better then we could recommend the BT110 for any AC-power-adverse user, especially at this price. As is, though, most users will be better served by a more traditional headset unless they definitely need a AAA-powered headset.
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What's positive:
Highly comfortable; dual profile support; integrated charging
| What's negative:
Apalling range; mediocre battery life; needs a style makeover |
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Conclusion:
 Despite offering up excellent comfort and a unique approach to allow wearers of eyeglasses less crowding in the ear area, Cardo Systems' allways headset suffers from a couple of teething problems. Its reception and audio quality are overall good, but its range - the most important aspect of a headset - is very poor. Countering this impression, integrated charging, dual profile support and a low price tag do their part to restore the balance, but users who frequently roam beyond the imminent vicinity of their Bluetooth device should beware.
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What's positive:
Sufficient transmission quality and range
| What's negative:
Rather large and heavy; supports only Headset profile; poor battery life |
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Conclusion:
 Despite offering good noice cancellation and adequate transmission range, the Bluetake BT400 GII does not compare well to many other recent headsets on the market. The lack of inclusion of the Bluetooth Handsfree profile further mars the impression of the BT400 GII being a large and heavy headset short on features and battery life. Furthermore, it can be quite uncomfortable to wear for long periods, but its low price does somewhate mitigate its drawbacks.
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What's positive:
Excellent range, good transmission quality and battery life
| What's negative:
Big and unwieldy, apalling stability |
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Conclusion:
 The BT300 comes across as dual-sided: it features good reception and the longest range we've ever encountered in a headset, but at the same time it also takes home the prize for largest and most unwieldy Bluetooth headset in existence. Provided you're willing to overlook its size and don't move around too much, the BT300 is an excellent choice - although sadly, its flaws defy the entire concept of a Bluetooth headset.
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What's positive:
Great battery life; secure; decent-quality signal
| What's negative:
Hardly true wireless; desperately inconvenient |
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Conclusion:
 Ultimately, we wouldn't recommend the Cord Free. The idea of a wireless headset that doesn't need Bluetooth is great, but because it needs a special 'brick on a wire' to function, one really might as well save fifty bucks and use a normal headset. What's more, the sound quality, functionality and size lag behind the latest Bluetooth headsets, and the proliferation of Bluetooth-enabled phones are eating away at the potential market of Cord Free daily. In fact, aside from being cheap, the only area where it really shines is in battery life, and that's only because it cheats and brings an AA to the party.
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