Making an entry into an increasingly crowded market, Cardo Systems' allways Bluetooth headset offers an average feature set: read on for Jørgen Sundgot's full impressions.
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As a company with no previous experience in the headset space, Cardo Systems raised a few eyebrows with its allways headset at the time of introduction - not least due to its ability to clip onto a pair of eyeglasses. Rather sizeable, although not directly unwieldy, the allways offers the unique selling point of an exchangeable attachment solution allowing users to either connect a standard ear loop or a temple-attachable holding mechanism - let's see how well it performs.
 | Cardo Systems' allways headset balances high and low points virtually equally, resulting in a mediocre overall impression
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At 18 g and 7.6 x 4 x 3.3 cm, the tennis racket-shaped allways strikes an odd balance between being rather sizeable yet at the same time not too heavy. Frankly, we've seen more stylish headset designs, but on the bright side the allways offers exchangeable covers which let users personalize the headset to some extent.
In the ergonomics department, the allways fares well despite an initial impression of being somewhat difficult to handle. As mentioned above, the headset utilizes an exchangeable attachment solution: a holding duct on the inside accepts the ratchet connector of either a comfortable ear loop, or a handy eyeglass temple connector. In addition to being rubberized, the former offers the added benefit of being flexible - although the headset is still a tad prone to flapping. Thankfully, the eyeglass connector does not exhibit this problem, and on a further positive note both attachments can easily switch between left and right ear configurations.
The allways offers an intuitive set of controls with volume up/down buttons, a dedicated mute button and a multi-function control button for power on/off, pairing and voice dialing purposes. All of the above mentioned offer good tactile feedback, and are placed in an ergonomically sound manner. These are joined by a rubberized speaker knob on the inside of the headset which is surprisingly comfortable, and which has a rubber flip at its base concealing the much-appreciated direct charger input.
Pairing the headset was simple as allways (pun intended), but the allways didn't do too well in the performance department. Noise cancelling performed adequately, but while the headset offered crystal clear audio at a distance of up to 10 meters while facing the transceiving handset, this dropped to an apalling 2 meters when worn on the opposite side of the head. Audio was discernible up to 5 meters in this state, although with severe crackling. On a positive note, the high maximum volume setting of the headset was very gratifying, and the headset also boots quickly.
With a claimed battery life of up to 6.5 hours of talk time or up to 130 hours of standby time, the allways ends up in a mid-range position what regards longevity. In our tests, the headset came admirably close to fulfilling those claims, with approximately 6 hours of talk time and 115 hours of standby time.
Availability
The Cardo Systems allways Bluetooth Headset is now available in North America and several European markets for a suggested retail price of $99.99 USD.
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.
- What's positive: Highly comfortable; dual profile support; integrated charging
- What's negative: Apalling range; mediocre battery life; needs a style makeover
Overall: 
Price and availability
The will start selling for TBA () in December 1969.
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