Headsets more noticeable than this are few and far between: Jørgen Sundgot dons Sony Ericsson's HBH-35, and finds that despite its size, it doe have advantages.
More so than any other handset manufacturer, Sony Ericsson jumped on the Bluetooth headset bandwagon early; likely having realized the future potential of the concept. Having brought more models to market than any other headset manufacturer, including ever-productive Jabra, the company's HBH-35 headset is hopefully the last update to a series of headsets that make you look more as a spaced-out geek than geek chic.
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Design aside, however, the HBH-35 does have its upsides over the HBH-30 headset which it replaces. At 28 g, it weighs the same, but it has been given a slight design makeover including a remolding of its multi-purpose action button. It still attaches over and behind the ear thanks to a soft and rather comortable ear loop, but sadly it also features the same and highly uncomfortable hard plastic where the speaker meets the ear.
Just how poorly though out this is becomes evident when pressing the multi-purpose button for either initiating voice dial or receiving/ending a call, as the user then is fully able to inflict quite a bit of discomfort due to the pressure required. The volume up/down buttons are however placed in an ergonomically sound manner, and on the upside the HBH-35 switches from left to right ear mode with the flick of ones wrist - highly appreciated given its tendency to cause discomfort when used for prolonged periods.
At the risk of sounding repetitive with regard to previous headset reviews, the pairing process is just as simple and straightforward as with virtually all other Bluetooth headsets on the market today, and it's particularly nice to notice that the HBH-35, unlike its predecessors, now supports both the Headset and Handsfree profiles ensuring maximum compatibility.
In use, the headset offered up quite good audio quality although seemed to suffer from intermittent, random static. With a direct line of sight to the transceiving handsets, the HBH-35 had no problems achieving excellent audio quality at a range of up to 8 meters, but beyond this suffered from the previously mentioned static. Also, when worn on the opposite side of the head, static could be experienced beyond a range of 5 meters, which is satisfactory - although not very impressive.
Likely thanks to its extensive boom, the HBH-35 did a good job of picking up audio and also proved to offer more than sufficient noice cancellation. Also, voice dialing worked well with few errors encountered, as did the remainder of the headset's functions. An added boon for users of some Sony Ericsson handsets, the HBH-35 offers voice control that allows for changing of profiles and activation of the sound recorder.
Its listed battery life fared reasonably well, however, reaching approximately 4 hours and 100 hours of the listed 5 hours and 125 hours. Still, there are other headsets in a similar price range that achieve the double - and offer better sound quality.
Availability
The Sony Ericsson HBH-35 is now available in Asia, Europe and North America and sells in the $99 USD price range.
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.
- What's positive: Good audio quality; adequate comfort
- What's negative: Obtrusive; heavy; intermittent static
Overall: 
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