Jørgen Sundgot dons Nokia's first headset to incorporate Bluetooth 2.0, the Wireless Headset HS-26W, finding high-quality performance hidden beneath a slightly bulky exterior.
There's something distinctly schizophrenic when it comes to Nokia's range of Bluetooth headsets. Some, such as
the Wireless Stereo Headset HS-12W are infinitely sleek, whilst the HS-26W on review here looks as if though someone in the plastics department . At 66 x 22 x 20 mm and 22 g, it's a considerable piece of technology to have hanging off your ear - not exactly
a Nextlink Bluespoon AX2, in other words.
Still, it's quite on par with the only other Bluetooth 2.0 headset on the market to date, the Sony Ericsson HBH-610, although the design of the latter makes Nokia's look a tad... unpolished. Not only an aesthetic issue, the two-pronged elastic earhook of the HS-26W - although comfortable in itself - is nowhere near enough to hold the headset in place for a quick jog or vigorous shake of the head.
This is a bit of a shame, since the headset performs excellently outdoors even in quite windy and noisy conditions. Supporting both the Handsfree and Headset profiles, it connects to just about anything one would except (although oddly, it refused to work with a Nokia 9300i in circulation at our labs) and delivers not only high quality audio but also superb signal reception capabilities.
Unfortunately, a Bluetooth 2.0 handset was not at hand to allow any determination of the reduced interference claimed by this version of the Bluetooth standard - but as one can deduce from the above paragraph, performance regardless proved stellar. Also worthy of note, the headset's ergonomics were more than adequate with a multi-function button, volume jog dial and dedicated power on/off button serving up a well-rounded set of functions including voice dialing.
Claiming up to 5 hours of talk time and up to 150 hours of standby, the HS-26W fell only marginally short with in excess of 4.5 hours and 130 hours, respectively; a pleasant surprise, and one which compares well to the aforementioned Sony Ericsson HBH-610.
Availability
The Nokia Wireless Headset HS-26W is now available in Europe and North America in either black or white, selling for €45 EUR and $55 USD, respectively.
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