Jabra BT800

September 5th, 2005 | by Brandon King

Testing and Use

Once you get past the interface snafus, the feature set is amazing for a headset.  The LCD shows inbound caller ID and menu options.  Basic navigation of the menu is easy, since there are only two options:  call list and settings.  Inbound calls are stored for quick retrieval.  The BT800 can be set to use one of five ringtones, to pass through your current ringtone, and to use vibration alert.  The caller's name will also appear on the BT800 if there is a contact record for them on the phone.  Pairing, while awkward, was flawless with our SonyEricsson P910a.  We found most functions to operate as advertised, except one:  pressing the answer button should allow the wearer to use voice commands.  As many times as we tried, and for any length of press, we were never able to get this function to work.  This is unfortunate because it means the hands-free abilities are a mute point, since the phone still has to be used directly.  In other words, users can't rely on the BT800 to replace all interaction with their phone.  If this functioned as intended, it would mean that owners could stow their phone in a backpack or purse and not worry about using it on the road.

Sound quality was excellent.  Both inbound and outbound sound quality was better by far than using the handset.  The noise cancellation technology eliminated nearly all background noise, but also eliminated some noise on the incoming end.  White noise and background music was almost imperceptible on the receiver's end.  Wind noise could not be heard, but resulted in frequent elimination of all sound, both incoming and outgoing.  Instead of annoying static sounds of a wind gust, the headset goes silent.  Volume levels could be better on the earpiece.  Since we had a hard time fitting the BT800 correctly, the speaker was always a little far from our ears, making sounds softer.  Microphone volume was excellent, and he had no complaints from people on the other end of a call.

There is no ability to update the headset's firmware or ROM, which means that these shortcomings are likely to exist until units ship with these bugs worked out.

Conclusion

The Jabra BT800 could have been the uber headset to which all others would bow, but the implementation is marred by a steep learning curve and missing functionality.  However, taking the time to learn the interface is rewarded with a depth of functionality not yet paralleled by anything on the market today.  Sound quality is very good, but could use a volume boost, and the flexibility of the fitting system lacks every dimension.  From the outside, the BT800 looks like a killer piece of gear.  But buyer beware:  not all is as it appears in the Kingdom of Jabra.

Pros:

-          Multifunction LCD

-          Integrated hands-free features

-          Light weight

Cons:

-          ­Low volume,

-          Limited adjustability

-          Confusing button functions