Posted by floatlite
Well, as promised, here is the mini review of the new (May 2007 release) Bang & Olufsen Earset 2 bluetooth headset.
Intro
Bang & Olufsen are certainly towards the more luxury end of the electronics manufacturers, claiming that design and experience are primary foci, with cost and market penetration secondard, and with the introduction of a bluetooth headset, at an eye watering £225.00 (UK £), you can understand, they do not regard cost as an issue.
Initial impressions are that this product has been concieved to be the ultimate product in it's field, and at the cost, I should hope so! The quality of materials and construction are, in my opinion, second to none, certainly that I have come across. Beautifully machined aluminium (aluminum for out American friends), warm, soft touch plastics, and rubbers, all come togther to make this a piece of technology that is a piece of art (sic) in its own right.
Packaging
As with many luxury products, the packaging is always a treat, and Bang & Olufsen have not disapointed, combining there love of simplicity and environmental credenials, with a touch of something unique.
Above : Earset 2 Box.
Opening the box, reveils the goods, the headset itself, the combined, charger dock / carry case / desk or wall stand, and the aluminium wall mount bracket.
Above : The open box, show me the goodies!!
The complete contents of the package are;
1. The Earset 2 Headset
2. The Charger Dock
3. The Aluminium wall braket
4. Mains Changer
5. Manuals
6. Wall mounting screws and fixtures (not shown)
Above : Everything in it's glory
The Headset.
The Headset itself is beautifully manufactured, utilising aluminium, plastics and stainless steel.
The design utilises a loudspeaker system designed to high-fidelity standards. It has specially designed air vents and a ‘bass port’ to ensure true voice reproduction. The microphones are designed to filter out disturbances, such as wind or background noise.
The headset is also claimed to deliver the closest to the natural human tonal characteristics of any headset on the market, it also is the only headset on the market to utilise free air and closed bass port audio design for accurate vocal reproduction.
The boom of the headset, also acts as the primary power switch, you simply flick it round and on goes the headset, and the opposite for power off.
Above : The front of the Earset 2
Above : The rear of the Earset 2
The Headset is extreamly comfortable to wear, weighing a mere 22g, and the rubber coating on the ear hook, is both extreamly comfortable, and non slip.
Pairing is simple, when you first open the product and flick the power on, it's straight into pairing mode, and with a 0000 code, it's simply a case of finding it on your mobile and then off you go. I paired with a Nokia 8600, 8800, N95, and Sony Ericsson M600, P990 and K800, and all worked perfectly first time.
Charging and battery life
Charging is done via the supplied charger dock, which serves multiple purposes.
Above: The Earset 2 located on the charger dock.
The Charger dock has a small magnet to ensure the Earset 2 stay firmly in place.
The Charger Dock also serves other purposes, those being, a carry case, to protect the headset whilst in transit or in your pocket, and a Desk or Wall stand
Above : The Earset 2 located in the charger dock in deskstand mode.
The Small Aluminium bracket you can see in the contents image nearer to top of the review is needed to allow the dock to be wall mounted, but all needed hardware is supplied. As I have not mounted it on the wall, I unfortunately do not have an image of this mode.
The charger dock can also be fully functional as a charger in all the mentioned mode (bar that when you have it in your pocket!)
In Use.
Initial impresions are that this in one seriously comfortable headset, it immediately is comfortable, and seems to fall into place, and I have sticky out ears and a squinty face (I know, I know, I'm really selling myself to the ladies!)
Above : Sticky Out Eared, Squinty faced lesser spotted human wearing a B&O Earset 2.
The sound quality is, AWESOME. Simple really, I tried it in various environment that usually result in the other end of the call saying either, "Are you in a box", "I can't hear you" or "What's that terribly feedback" Not once did anyone complain, and amazingly, someone at my office said, "Thank god your calling directly on your headset, not on that bloody headset in your car" I said nothing, worrying, that replying with, "Yes this new £225 headset is rather good" would result in a pay cut.
The volume switch, and end call buttons are easy to access and use, and all in all it's basically the best headset I have ever used. Period.
......and Finally.
It's the best, it's the most expensive........is it worth it????
I'll leave that to you to decide, but no, you can't have mine.
Posted by Derfel
Excellent!
How does this compare to jawbone? Looks better anyway.
A stereo one with noise cancel (both ways) would be a treat tho.
Posted by belialwafu
is jawbone cheaper?
Posted by Derfel
Yeah. Jawbone is cheaper. But then again that is not an issue this time. I want the best ;-P
Anyone know if there is a noise cancelling stereo a2dp bluetooth headset available? I mean one that you stuck into both ears and it cancels all noise around you & outgoing noise when you make a phonecall. Or am i still stuck to using a hearing protector with bluetooth and noise cancel?