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Bluetooth Headset and Car Kit Reviews
Palm Treo Wireless Headset for the Treo 650, 700p and 700w
Review posted July 11, 2005 by Tong Zhang,
Senior Editor
Palm's Treo 650 smartphone
isn't exactly an easy device to find a Bluetooth headset
for. We tested several Bluetooth
wireless headsets with the device
and saw less than stellar performance in both voice quality
and range. But Palm's Treo Wireless Headset came to the
rescue. As you might guess from the name, it's designed
to work with the Treo 650, Treo 700p and Treo 700w (of course, it works with other
phones too). The result? It works better with the Treo
650 and 700wthan other Bluetooth headsets.
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The Treo Wireless Headset is mid-size
Bluetooth headset, smaller than the Plantronics
M3500, bigger than the ultra-tiny Bluespoon
AX and similar size to the Motorola
HS820 and the Cardo
Scala 500. It's 2.5" long and 1" wide
and it weighs 0.595 oz. The headset comes in grey
with a silver panel that extends to 2/3 of the headset.
The color goes very well with the Treo 650 and the
unit looks well built. The multi-function button
is located in the front of the headset with a blue
LED shining through a phone receiver-shaped clear
plastic cutout. The volume up and down buttons are
located on the left of the headset side and they
are quite easy to push regardless of which ear the
headset is on. The ear hook is interchangeable for
either ear. You can pull the ear hook out of its
rotating base and plug it in from the other direction
to change the ear hook orientation. The hook is large
and easy to put on your ear, though it is a little
too large and loose to stay on the ear securely.
So avoid those sudden head turns. The earpiece on
the headset points out to give you a better fit in
the ear.
Above: The Treo 650
Wireless Headset, Cardo Scala 500, Motorola HS820
and the Plantronics M3500
The Treo Wireless Headset is easy to
pair with the Treo 650 as well as several other non-Palm
branded phones and PDAs. The headset can work with
Bluetooth 1.1 and 1.2 version devices and we tested
it with the Treo 650, the i-Mate
JAM and the Nokia
3650. To pair the headset, hold the multi-function
button until the LED turns solid blue, use your phone
or PDA discover and pair with the headset using the
default passcode: 0000. The hand off between the
phone and headset is smooth and reliable once they
are paired.
The voice quality through the headset
is very good, especially noticeable for the Treo
650. The Treo 650 has a mid-low ear piece volume.
For those who need a louder voice level, the Treo
Wireless Headset should satisfy since the headset
can get much louder than the phone's earpiece. The
voice is clear regardless when calling cell and land
lines. Wind test results came out above average.
So if you have a car with decent sound isolation,
you should have very little road noise coming through
the headset. The range between the phone and the
headset did not reach 30 feet. The JAM and Nokia
got about 20 feet before the headset starts having
static; and with the Treo 650, it got just under
10 feet in range which is better than some other
headsets we've tested.
The Treo Wireless Headset supports
Headset profile, Hands-Free profile as well as Audio
Gateway profile. We successfully used the headset
with phones that have Headset and Hands-Free profiles
and with the Dell
Axim X30 Pocket PC which uses the Audio Gateway
profile. The headset supports many phone features
such as voice dialing, last number redial, call waiting,
putting a call on hold and more. Note that some of
these features only work on phones with the Hands-Free
profile. The headset worked well with the Dell Pocket
PC, performing system sound, game FX, MP3 and movie
audio via Audio Gateway. |
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The Treo Wireless Headset has a Lithium-Ion
Polymer battery and comes with a world charger. The adapter
can operate on 100-240V and four types of connectors ensure
that you can plug the charger in any AC outlet in the world.
The AC Adapter connects to the charging port on the headset
when charging. You cannot use the headset when it's charging
and like most headset manufacturers, Palm advices you not
to use other AC charger to charge this wireless headset.
There is however an exception, you can use the Treo 650
charger to charge the Treo Wireless Headset since they
both use the same charger. This is actually a very convenient
feature that allows travelers only bring one AC adapter
for both the phone and the headset.
The headset takes about 1.5-2 hours to charge
and when it's fully charged, the blue LED light on the
multi-function button will turn off. The battery life on
the headset has been amazing. While it can't rival the
first generation Logitech
Bluetooth headset in standby time, the Treo Wireless
Headset preformed close to 5-6 hours talk time and nearly
one week of standby time.
For Treo 650 users, this is the headset to get. It's
small and lightweight so that you can wear it for a long
period time. The voice quality is very good and the volume
is loud. The headset pairs easily with the Treo 650 and
other phones and PDAs. Supports many phone features and
profiles. Long battery life means you won't have to charge
the headset constantly and the headset can be charged with
the Treo 650 charger.
The headset doesn't stay in your ear as well as the
Motorola HS820 or the Plantronics M3500 which have the
same form factor. The Bluetooth range is not stellar on
the Treo 650; although we haven't found any headset that
will reach over 15 feet with this phone either.
Package contains the headset, AC Adapter (100-240V) with
international plugs, carrying pouch and a printed User
Manual.
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