Finally, Nokia's first Bluetooth headset has hit shelves; Sindre Lia takes the HDW-2 Wireless Headset for a spin, and ends up being less than impressed.
The Nokia HDW-2 Wireless Headset comes in a compact box which contains the headset itself, a user's manual, a 4 digit PIN code and two connectors of different sizes that can be used with both ones left and ones right ear. Unlike a number of other Bluetooth headsets, the HDW-2 is not accompanied by a charger, which clearly indicates that owners of Nokia mobile phones are the specific target group for the headset. Still, it can be used with other Bluetooth-enabled mobile phones such as the Sony Ericsson T68i.
 | Nokia's HDW-2 Bluetooth headset isn't among the lightest but overall performs well
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Weighing in at 25 grams, the HDW-2 has a listed standby time of up to 60 hours and a talk time of up to 3 hours. Prior to using the headset, it has to be paired with a mobile phone which supports the Bluetooth 1.1 Headset or Handsfree profiles. This process is done away with in a couple of minutes, as most steps are carried out automatically. Once the PIN code has been entered, the headset is ready for use. The HDW-2 can be paired with up to 8 mobile phones simultaneously.
Under normal circumstances, the headset will enter and leave standby mode automatically. During testing, however, we observed several instances where the headset ended up losing all contact if a number of other tasks were carried out on the phone, requring an on/off reboot to regain a connection. The range of the HDW-2 is listed as being up to 10 meters, but the maximum operating distance achieved with a usable level of sound quality during our tests was 7 meters in free line of sight. This distance does not only depend on the headset, however, but also on the capacity of the Bluetooth module of the handset being used.
The Pick up/Hang up, volume up/down and On/Off buttons of the headset offer perfect tactile feedback, but unfortunately its speaker makes for a poor fit to the ear and also has a tendency to irritate the ear when used during longer phone calls. On the bright side, the audio quality is impeccable compared with competing Bluetooth headsets, and voice dialing also works without a hitch.
During our testing period, the HDW-2 displayed a standby time very close to the listed 60 hours, and a talk time of 2.5 hours - half an hour less than the listed talk time of 3 hours.
Availability
The Nokia HDW-2 Wireless Headset is now available throughout most of Europe, and is priced in the 100 EUR range.
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.
- What's positive: Good audio quality; acceptable range
- What's negative: Irritation to the ear when worn/used for longer periods
Overall: 
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