Mini Guide: BT Headphones / Headset Recomendations & Feedback

Something that has been in the corner of my mind for a long time is how much I would like a pair of bluetooth headphones for use with my laptop.

Most of the talk (I say well over 90%) here on the forums ends up with the mention and recommendation of the Motorola S9's. I went deep into research the last few days and ended up finding several models that I think are much better so here is my post to give that information out to others so they can look into the models I found, and also please post feedback if you have used or own any of these because I am pretty torn right now on which to get.

I ruled out the S9's because they dont have the highest SQ and also they are supposed to be pretty uncomfortable and look dorky.

General Motorola S9 Links (guess these could be good for jogging/athletics if thats your goal but otherwise pass these up for something below)



S9 Review: Here
S9 Review: Here
S9 Pricegrabber: Here
590 Review: Here
590 Review: Here
Pricegrabber: Here

Next up is a brand that nobody here has not heard of Logitech! They have some basic but good looking BT headphones called Freepulse.

These look to be very comfortable, good SQ, more on the portable side and also have an adapter to go thru a sterio jack if you dont have BT on your device. Reviews show that the ear loops are not comfortable for some tho after using them for awhile and that the adapter is pretty big/unsightly.



Freepulse Review: Here
Freepulse Review: Here
Freepulse Review: Here
Pricegrabber: Here

The third contestant is also a big name that everybody should know, Creative Labs. There contender for this type of device is the CB2530. Again sporting an adapter if you need it, nice solid black so they look nice. Complaints seem to be that they are an on-ear design so long wear may be uncomfortable, for me tho I think this is a plus because I like to laydown to listen to music at night (one of the main reasons I want some wireless bt headphones) and my Audio Technica A700's are over the ear, so they are too big to lay down with.



Info: Here
CB2530 Review: Here
CB2530 Review: Here
CB2530 Review: Here
Pricegrabber: Here

And lastly something not mainstream at all, because we dont even have them in the US yet but looks very appealing to me (comfortable, very portable, stylish, its japanese.. I have a thing for japanese stuff)

The Logitec (not Logitech) LBT-HP100C2



Info/Buy: Here



So I hope my little guide opens the eyes for some people and can help you out and I look forward to any feedback or advice I can get from other forum members. Right now as I said I am totally stuck between the 4 and have no idea wich I want. I think the Plantronics will probably have the highest quality since I have alot of good experience with them but they will be the 2nd most expensive for me and probably will have a comfort problem if they fit too tight. Ebay has the Freepulse and the 590e both really cheap if you look around so for the sake of money its probably one of those two I will get.

The Logitec HP100C2 I can only find in that one store, and while they cost more, there ultra portability and style may still win me over.

 

Nice guide. Good job!

 

I have owned the S9's for 6 months. I can tell you that I find them very comfortable and the SQ is very good if you get a good fit. However, I only use them when I work out and go jogging- so if those types of things are not a priority for you then I would probably recommend something a little more "audiophile." They don't compare to my sennheisers but for an in-ear bud they sound really nice.

 

I settled with the Plantronics 590A's, They had everything in one.

Great SQ, A microphone so I can use it as a headset, 3 different ways to charge aswell as being foldable for portability and a travel case, the really cool docking station to charge/hold them at home, and they come with the adapter so I can use them with anything and not just BT devices with the new protocols.

My 2nd choice would have been the Logitechs, simple but effective and I was able to find them dirt cheap.

I found the 590A's for 80$ Brand New (not used, open box, refurb ect) at ecost.com cheapest price on the web by far and its a trusted + reviewed retailer so I know its not some fake. If I had not found them so cheap I dont know if I would have gotten them, most places have them for 110$-150$ and that would have been too rich for my blood.

I'll be sure to do my own indepth review of them when I get them (2day shipping was only like 16$ vs 10$ for 8 day ground so I went with 2 day should have them soon)

 

Hey thank you for guide.

Do you think it's possible to get a decent bluetooth headphone less than $50?

I actually like S9 the best considering that it's portable and unintrusive. 590 is the next on my list but it's a little to big in my opinion.
repped

 

The last ones the Logitec's are 80$ and they are just the ear parts of the headphones and connected by a wire. I would prefer that to the S9's but if your interested in the S9's there is a cool alternative out there.

The Plantronics Pulsar 260's

http://www.a2dp.info/Plantronics-Headsets/Plantronics-Pulsar-260-Stereo-Bluetooth-Headset.html

They are earbuds, they are cheap, they are unintrusive, they are also a full fledge headset with a microphone.

Whats neat about them is basically the pendant receives the signal and sends it to the earbuds, however they are not hardwired to the pendant they plug in like any other earphones, so this leaves you with 2 options.

You could upgrade them to higher quality earbuds down the road if they are not good enough for you (im more than sure they will be tho) it also means you could use this as a BT receiver for any self amplified speaker. Not sure how often this will come in handy but since I am such a techy kind of guy I would be sure to use this feature and have fun with it.

A good example of this would be to plug it into my 540w 5.1 surround home theater system via a headphone to RCA adapter (I have a ton of these laying around) and then be able to hear my laptop on my home theater system wirelessly thru the house! How cool is that!

Infact I wanted this kind of feature awhile back and found they make BT receivers just for this purpose and they cost alot this does that + more.

The reason I didnt get these or really put much thought into it tho is because the earbuds wouldnt really give me that cordless feeling I wanted, sure your not confined to a source so you can roam away from you laptop or something no problem and just have the pendant in a pocket or cliped to your cloths, the other is that there is no headphone jack out --> BT adapter like the 3 headphones I listed above, this means your device MUST have BT in it, in the case of a laptop/pc you can just buy a BT adapter, but in the case of Ipod or something you would be out of luck (without buying an expensive adapter anyways)

For you tho these may be perfect tho, the S9's are the same way, no BT adapter comes with them and it uses the same BT protocols. This will just give you standard earbuds intead of the behind the head thing and also give you the cool flexibility I just mentioned above.

Also its ironic you mention a 50$ price point, just a quick pricegrabber search found me Dell selling them for 50$

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/...2&cs=19&c=us&l=en&dgc=SS&cid=25682&lid=585554

I dont know why it says Mono on the description, but in the tech specs it says sterio, my guess is they were refering to voice chat wich is mono (for any BT headset it is, untill there is a new BT protocol for voice chat that uses sterio)

Definitely look into them more if I didnt already convince you, google for some reviews and come to your own conclusion, I like them alot they just didnt beat out what the 590A's had to offer to me.

 

Wow... thanks for the informative reply.

Anyway, I'm actually going to use this mainly for music and perhaps VOIP with laptop and handheld (both already equipped with bluetooth). So for me a bluetooth adapter is not a necessity (and hopefully lower the price without it).

Pulsar 260 seems really interesting... I didn't even realize the possibility of using bluetooth headphones the way you described. The only downside seems to be the wires and maybe sound quality. After dealing with desktop cables and wires I now really hate them with passion (one of the reason I transitioned to a laptop). Like you I kind of want the "cordless feel". Anyway, I was hoping for something like S9 or freepulse for less than $50. But I guess it will only happen in my dream. sigh... Well I better start googling and saving.

 

The 590's are about 60$ if you shop around if you get the 590E's instead of the 590A's the difference is there is no adapter.

If you dont mind ebay tho I have seen the 590e's and the freepulse both well under the 50$ mark.

Keep in mind not all BT is the same it must have A2DP to use the sterio music function, if it doesnt have that you may be stuck with 1 speaker low quality mono....

 

What are you pairing them with??

Im just now starting to look into cheap mp3 players that have BT with A2DP because when I go bike riding I could really use this. My phone unfortunatly the w600 while having BT doesn't have the new protocol :/ I suppose one speaker voice quality is better than nothing tho

 

Ok, so I'm going to ask this here before I make a thread. I've search and haven't come up why my Creative SL3100 doesn't send audio on my M1330. I've successfully added the headphones and use the internal Bluetooth controller instead of Creatives 3.5mm adapter receiver it comes with. I've updated the driver for the onboard Wireless 355 Bluetooth Module. I also tried disabling my MS Bluetooth mouse and still no audio. Any suggestions to resolving this issue?

 

Probably as easy as your BT adapter in your laptop doesn't have A2DP like noted above, mostly only the newer ones do.

Since it has an adapter tho atleast you can use that. Id find out what BT module is in your laptop and then research what BT protocols it has.

 

TrueMobile 355 Bluetooth Module on my M1330 does support A2DP but I am not sure why it is not working still. I have a few ideas; possibly getting the latest widcomm driver for the module or perhaps one from Creative.

I've emails Creative about this issue and I am looking at Broadcoms support site to see if the latest widcomm update is there.

Does anyone have success with updating the TrueMobile 355 module's driver and have a link for it?

 

I got a pair of the SL3100's for Christmas to use with my Asus V1S, and I am amazed at the sound quality. I figured they would sound OK, but they are much better than I expected, and they paired almost immediately with my laptop. When I turn off my laptop or the headphones, there is a delay in reconnecting, but once it connects, it stays connected until I turn one or the other off.

I plan on using these for general listening with my laptop or using at work to keep from annoying my coworkers, but I also just received a pair of the Motorola S9's that I plan to use at the gym, along with the Jabra Bluetooth adapter on my iPod Nano. There was a good package deal with the headphones and adapter on NewEgg.com, so I figured I would give them a try.

 

hmm I am interested in that deal if its still going on. I was going to get some S9's off ebay when I get some play money since the Pulsars are definitly not meant for athletic stuff, and until I upgrade my phone I would need an adapter to use them so that adapter may be nice to have.

I found the headphones but cant find that combo deal you speak of over at newegg.

edit: nvm I think you got an adapter exclusive to the ipod, I want one that is universal with a 1/8" stereo jack like my Pulsars came with.

 

Quick update...I got the S9's and paired them with my Jabra module (a125s?) for the iPod Nano. Headphones work great, and I love the ability to control the iPod through the headphones using BT, instead of the iPod itself. For a workout headset, these are great. The overall sound is better on my Creative SL3100s, however, but I use them for different purposes, so both sets work very well for what I need them for.

If anyone is interested in getting a pair of the Motorolas, check this out:
http://www.ecost.com/Detail.aspx?edp=37138071

eCost.com has them on sale for $49.99, which is a pretty good price, IMO.

 

Will any of these do stereo and mic? I've had a BT headset before from Motorola, but it only did either stereo audio or mono audio with mic. Don't remember what is was called but it was behind the head and made me look like an alien. Right now I just use a Motorola H700 (two of them for long gaming sessions) for teamspeak and they've worked out great, except for the 5-6 hour talk time.

 

I dont think so ranger, The voice and stereo are 2 different protocols.

 

I'm wondering, have any of you guys used these for gaming, just as stereo headphones? Is the latency considerable on these?

 

I " think" I can notice a slight latency on my Pulsars but it may just be my imagination because I was looking for it. That was when using the adapter, going directly from my laptop tho I know for sure there is no latency.

So maybe there is a very very small delay when it has to go out the headphone jack of my pc, into the adapter to be encoded to bluetooth then sent to the earphones but its so small if its there that it would still be fine for gaming. I have been looking for a test of sorts to see for sure but unable to find one. The best I can do so far is play some of my japanese anime and compare subititles on screen to the voice.

If somebody has an audio video sync type thing I can download where an audio tone is generated in unison with some sort of visual graphic I will gladly test it.