 Outstanding bluetooth headset |
| Review Date: May 11, 2008 |
| Reviewer: S. Crawford, Aurora, Il United States |
I have been trying unsuccessfully to find a bluetooth head set that worked well for 3 years. My problem during this time is that most of my phone calls are long i.e. 10-20 minutes and some longer. I have found a few headsets including three Plantronics units that work great but either drop the call or the connection with the phone after being on a call for over 5-10 minutes. To date, I have tried 7 headsets from three manufacturers with no success. None of them will last longer than 20 continuous minutes and most don't sound very good.
I saw the etyBLU unit was coming out and was eager to try it since I love my ER4p's that I have owned for 5 years now. They were finally available and I purchased one hoping that someone got it right. Boy, did Etymotic get this right. This headset is GREAT! My second call using them lasted 40 minutes and the headset worked just fine. Also, I used the extended boom with the noise canceling and the other conference call participants thought I sounded much better than when I used my other headsets. I was also driving at the time which I usually wasn't when I used the other headsets. My hats off to the engineers at Etymotic for this headset.
I have tried the unit with and without the boom and found that it works best with the boom. I also had to swap out the blue ear flange for the larger grey since it fit my ear better. I haven't needed to use ear hook so I obviously have no experience to relate. Battery life is good to great. I have been able to be on several calls lasting over 2 hours without the battery giving out. This is not something I could say about the Motorola or the Plantronics devices. All of the units state that they have many hours of talk time but usually it translates to 2-3 hours at best. The Plantronics was the weakest at under 2 hours. I haven't run the Etymotic until its battery is dead so I can't provide total talk time but it is at least 3 hours.
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Amazing Blue Tooth Headset!
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| Review Date: May 18, 2008 |
| Reviewer: Marc, New Jersey |
The EtyBLU is amazing!
I make most of my phone calls on my commute to and from work, and being on the road for up to 2-3 hours a day (and living in a HANDS FREE only state) with out a BT (blue tooth) headset I can't make any calls. I have been using Etymotic products for the past 3 years (ER*4P, ER*6i & their ear plugs), and can't get enough of them. This BT headset continues the trend. Driving in my car with my windows down, music at a relatively loud volume, and traveling around 65, I was able to use the voice operated commands to place a call, and when my caller picked up, they commented on how clear the conversation was...they were convinced I was locked away in padded room! Not only were they able to hear me, but with the noise isolation earphone (my preference is the foam insert) I was able to hear them crystal clear while having all of the ambient noise around me at a relatively high dB level.
Without the boom mic...not as impressive. I did the same test, music up relatively loud and placed a call. It picked up my voice fine for the voice commands, however I could hear some feed back--heard my music and a slight echo of my voice. Also both my callers that had heard me on it with the mic b4, could hardly hear me over the music....said they could hear that I was speaking, but couldn't make out my voice with out straining.
During the same call I went ahead an attached the mic, annd continued to talk with the windows down and music up, and they could hear me crystal, and the feedback in my ear was gone as well.
If you're going to use this always where you can keep the mic attached, I would highly recommend it.
I used to have a Motorola over the ear BT set, and this totally blows it out of the water, both in comfort and quality. I'm no longer asking my callers to repeat what they're saying, or rolling up my windows and turning off the music just because I'm on a call.
Well worth the money! |
Best Bluetooth Headset. Period!
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| Review Date: May 22, 2008 |
| Reviewer: R. Walzer, Seattle |
I recently bought the etyBlu headset after using a variety of different ones over the years. I am currently using the etyBlu paired with a Blackberry Pearl 8120. This is by far the best headset I've ever used. Better than a Jawbone (I had one for a year) and even better than the New Jawbone (I bought it earlier in the week and already returned it).
The etyBlu sounds fantastic. Incoming sound is crystal clear and loud. Out going sound is reported by my callers to be good. The etyBlu fits snugly in your ear and stays put without the need for the optionally included over ear clip. |
* HIGH-PERFORMANCE FOR NOISY ENVIRONMENTS *
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| Review Date: January 17, 2010 |
| Reviewer: J. Gordon, |
I've waited quite a while to write this review, but this product has been around for a while, so I'm going to keep it short(ish).
First off, this is very much the kind of listening device that you have to *shove* into your ear. It is not only an acquired skill, but an acquired experience. I use high-end earbuds (Shure and Etymotic), and drive a convertible (necessitating the use), so I'm used to it and like it. There are about three depths into your ear that you can insert this. The deepest is the best. It takes practice to angle, twist, and turn the headset to get it in, but once it's in, it's very secure. You should be able to turn the side of your head to the floor, headbang a little, and still have the headset firmly in place.
A quick tip-- try the flanged fitting first. Lick your finger, then rub the saliva around the flange. Now insert. Twist and push until it's really in there. You've probably got it in as far as it will go if all outside sounds to that ear are totally muted. You can do the saliva thing as necessary, but after a while, you'll build up some wax on the flange, and it will go in easier.
PERFORMANCE:
I tested this against a few other products in a relatively controlled environment. I have a large air filter that blows a hard current of air and emits a loud rumbling mechanical noise. Putting my face (with a headset on) right in the air current (and close to the machine) is a pretty accurate substitute for being in a convertible. I call my Google voicemail (which is pretty high-quality), then listen to the results on my stereo hooked up to my computer. For comparison mediocre and average BT headsets fail this test completely; wind static and mechanical noise is ALL that is heard.
One thing I've learned over years of using headsets in a convertible: Even the most expensive, fancy "high tech" "military grade" noise-canceling doesn't work with wind. However, wind noise is easily minimized or eliminated on most headset by FOAM (or other material, like denim). I've tried a LOT of expensive headsets (Jawbones, Motorola, Plantronics, etc-- inlcuding Jawbone Prime and Plantranics Voyager Pro). NONE of them perform against my air filter test or in the real world as well as a boom mic with foam. Not even close. However, most of them perform very well if you find a way to put foam on it (easy with the Plantronics Voyager Pro, not so much with the others).
The best headset for super-loud environments is something that uses bone conduction (like Motorola HX1, NOT Jawbone). However, these sound pretty crappy (you sound like an drunk robot under water).
The Next best thing, suitable for use in crowds, convertibles, and elsewhere, is a wired headset with a boom mic and foam (or, surprisingly, earbuds with an in-line microphone worn under your shirt, or wrapped in foam). These include the Shure Quietspot and the Etymotic wired boom headset (and probably "theBoom" as well, but I haven't tried it). These block all wind noise, and block or cancel almost all external noise. I have literally had hour-long conversations with people while I was driving on the freeway with the top down, and the person didn't even know I was using a headset, much less driving. And, to boot, you don't have to charge them. They're also relatively cheap and require no pairing. The only disadvantage is that darned wire.
Now the EtyBLU does a very good job of emulating a wired headset. With the small foam piece attached, nearly all wind is eliminated (this foam piece comes off easily, but you can wrap a rubber band or twist tie around it at the base to keep it secured).
After being impressed with the results of my test, I took it out on the freeway with the top down. My friend said the voice quality was excellent, nearly as good as the Shure Quietspot wired headset.
I also tested the Bluetooth range of the EtyBLU, and it's not as bad as people say. Line-of-sight, I can go a good 20 feet away. Turned away, it's maybe half that. However, I've gone so far away that the sound gets garbled (maybe 30 feet), and it didn't disconnect. Also, the pop/click noise you hear is only heard on your side (at least, I never heard it in any of the recordings I made). That's good enough for me; I can deal with a few clicks on my side, if the other person isn't hearing it.
Overall, it's a fantastic product. Without the boom, it's one of the best looking headsets, and with the boom, it's one of the best performing. In summary, I'm fairly sure this will be replacing my Shure Quietspot wired headset, and I won't be upgrading until Shure makes a Bluetooth Quietspot (I prefer the Shure ear fitting, but that's a personal preference).
The only thing I'll say I disapprove of is the charger. You have to remove the boom to plug in the charger. I certainly would have been willing to live with an extra millimeter of size if they would have used micro- or mini-USB for charging, instead of a proprietary connector. However, since pretty much all manufacturers are dumba$$es about power connector standards, I'll let it slide.
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ety blue tooth
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| Review Date: August 5, 2008 |
| Reviewer: libs, ma |
| this has too be the best hands free blue tooth out there, Etymotic Research did it again, when I talk too anyone they hear noting but my voice only no surrounding sound.Etymotic Research Etycom ER22C Cellular Headset |
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