If you live in California you're aware of the new "hands-free" law which went into effect July 1. Now under this new legislation, California drivers must use a hands-free device to use their cell phone while driving.
Over the years I have purchased and used my fair share of head-sets, ranging from corded, boomed, and Blue tooth. However, without fail each one of them had their flaws and just was not a sufficient substitute for speaking on the hand-set. Either people couldn't hear me over the roar of the wind and freeway traffic, or I couldn't hear them. The headsets ranged in price from $20-$125, and were all brand-names.
Enter, The Plantronics Discovery 925 Bluetooth Headset, it is everything I've been looking for, and MORE.
1: SOUND QUALITY: Usually when you're on a headset, people know it. Either the headset picks up more background noise, or the caller sounds "distant" from the microphone. Considering that this headset is so small, and barely has any boom, I thought for sure it would pick up background noise like crazy, and make my voice sound distant, but it was the complete opposite. Honestly, my voice and call quality sounded better than holding the hand-set. In the past, I was never able to hear myself speak when talking through a headset, whereas with the Plantronics 925, you can hear yourself come through the microphone loud and clear.
2. BATTERY LIFE: Plantronics has really thought of everything here when it comes to producing a quality headset. As you can see in the picture above, the really nice black leather carrying case also doubles up as a charger. So, if you use all the battery power in the headset, simply plug it into the carrying case/charger, and it will give it a NEW full-charge. Personally, I just put the headset in the carrying case/charger every time I'm not using it, so I have yet to run into any battery problems. Then, when I get home at night, I plug the bottom of the carrying case/charger into my computer USB port or wall outlet, and it charges overnight. I'm sure it would last several days to a week without recharging, but I usually charge all my other peripherals overnight anyways, so its not an issue.
3. COMFORT/STYLE: Since this headset is an in-ear device, you have to not mind having something in your ear while talking. Personally I like this better than the over-the-ear devices, due to the less amount of moving parts and form-factor. Plus, I think I get better sound quality by having it in-ear, instead of a small speaker sitting on the outside of my ear. Plus, I've owned 3-4 Motorola headsets that go over the ear, and after a few weeks to a month it started sitting on my ear weird, and the little flap started becoming less sturdy. If your ear is a funky shape, Plantronics gives you 3 extra different looking cushions, to ensure that it fits nicely and securely in your ear.
4. PRICE: The MSRP of this headset is $149.00, OUCH! However, there are a lot of retailers out there that sell it at almost half the price. For example,
NewEgg.com, which is where I purchased mine from (received it in 2 days), sells the headset for
$79.99--worth every penny!
In conclusion, if you are thinking of purchasing a headset, and are willing to spend up to $100 for a great quality device, you should seriously consider the Plantronics 925.
UPDATE: I've noticed that it works great for talking, but sometimes when I try to use the Visual Voice-Mail feature on my iPhone, it sometimes doesn't pick-up the connection, because technically it is not a voice-call. However, I'm sure the next iPhone firmware update will fix this.
7:00 AM
G-off
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