Short Yourself of Getting a Wrong Bluetooth Headset. Part 1

Bluetooth headsets (BTh) are comfortable wireless gadgets. They can be either very stylish as any work of art is, or awkward and uncomfortable to wear. The pleasure to keep your hands free can cost you from $25 to $300.

So buying an inappropriate BTh can be quite an expensive mistake!

Design and Cost do Matter

Unlike wired headsets, Bluetooth headset is very difficult to design. First of all because it has to be light enough not to burden your ear. Secondly, it should provide good audibility and finally it should fit your ear! The major problem is that the design of BTh should fit a great number of ears, that is practically impossible. That is why there is a wide variety of models.

Besides, wired headsets have the speaker and the microphone separated, whereas BTh has to combine them in one piece. Additionally, it needs to include a battery and extra electronics, plus the mean to mount headset on/around your ear. That's the reason why a BTh can't be as small or light as small wired headsets are.

The wild ideas of having a headband or a separate microphone joined by wire to the headset have never been implemented. The recent introduction of new 'necklace' style designs has still to pass crash test.

The survival of the BTh is up to users! Would they prefer cheap $5-25 wired headsets to $25-300 BThs?

Two Types of BTh

Generally BTh are divided into two main styles. The first one is held in place by a loop around the ear. The second type is held in place by being physically jammed into your ear. The first one is generally considered to be more comfortable, whereas the second one is taken as more secure one.

Bluetooth Headsets Requirements

The best Bluetooth headset should have the following attributes:

Be wearable for a long period of time (while expecting or making calls)

Feature quick and convenient way to affix on/around your ear

Have a battery that lasts from 2 to 10 hours talk time (or 25-250 hours standby)

Turn only when making/receiving a call, without leaving it on between calls

Feature an easy to turn on/off mechanism

Be powered up and connected to the cell phone as quickly as possible

Have easy-to-use volume controls and other features and functions

Why a Bluetooth Headset?

Few of the to-the-day BThs posses all of the above features. And just when you started to think that a BTh would be a great deal, you'd probably wonder why do you need it at all?

Well, think of the fact that you should get a headset, no matter Bluetooth or not. The strong argument to this is that you'll considerably reduce the amount of radiation you are pumping out of your phone.

Then think of the fact that in some countries you are not allowed to carry out conversations while driving. So here the use of headset is mandatory. And even if it the driving with a cell phone is legal it is still safer to avoid it.

But not all users can bear the fact that they are tied to their cell phone by wired headsets. A BTh will free you of this burden. You can have your cell phone in your briefcase on your car's back seat, and still make and receive calls. The downside of this freedom is that you risk to forget it at home or in the car while shopping.

One of the advantages to use Bluetooth headset is the possibility to connect to various Bluetooth devices. A great number of persons use BThs for teleconferencing. The interesting fact about this is that you still can receive calls while connected with you PC.

Also a great advantage is that BTh works with different Bluetooth equipped cell phones. This means you can replace the cell phone and the BTh will function with the new one too. This gains much more credits comparing with the constant confusion concerning various types of headset plugs.

The information contained in this article is only the foundation to your knowledge about Bluetooth headsets. Look for more in the Part 2.