Jabra BT800 review
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Functionality
Unlike most other headsets which require the power button to be pressed for 5+ seconds to start the pairing process, BT800 comes with a stylus which is used to press the pairing switch. Then, following the normal pairing procedure, discovery accessories is initiated from the phone. After BT800 is found, the 0000 pairing code has to be entered.
To answer a call, the Answer button is pressed and to end it the End & On/Off respectively. Thanks to the DSP technology, BT800 is adjusting the volume automatically depending on the ambient noise level. Still the volume can be manually adjusted via the jog dial. The dedicated MUTE button is located in the middle of the jog dial, but I found out that it needs to be pressed a lot harder then I would like. If the Mute button is pressed when the headset is in stand-by, it invokes the BT800's menu on the LCD screen. The menu is browsed by turning the jog dial to the left or right. The first Menu option is Call list and it shows and allows calling all the numbers that have been dial or received a call from. The second menu option is Settings. It allows tweaking the ring tone (total of 5 different ones or an option to make just the phone ring and not the headset), turning on/off the vibrate feature, turning on/off the LED light, toggling between display languages (English, Spanish, German, French), listing all devices with which the headset is currently paired.
Pressing the left of the two multi-function buttons calls the last dialed number. Pressing and holding it invokes the voice-dialing feature from the phone.
Performance
Given the DSP technology incorporated in the BT800, the headset performed exceptionally well in our sound quality tests. The sound reproduced by the ear-piece was very loud with excellent clarity and the voices had full tonal range. The auto-volume adjustment function is definitely worth it since it adjusted the sound volume according to the level of surrounding noise and the volume of the incoming call. In the wind-cancellation tests, the BT800 did not perform as well as the Logitech's Mobile Freedom or Scala-500, both of which use special design and materials to suppress the wind din, but still did way better than Jabra BT250.
|
Model |
Type of wing suppression |
Range |
|
Cardo Scala-500 |
Design |
7.87in (20sm) |
|
Logitech Mobile Freedom |
Design |
9.84in (25sm) |
|
Jabra BT800 |
DSP |
11.81in (30sm) |
|
Jabra BT250 |
None |
23.6in (60sm) |
The outgoing sound (what the other party hears) was also clear but extremely loud. Loud is good, but extremely loud is not since not only the voice of the person is deafening but so are the ambient noises. I expected the DSP to be able to separate and mute some of the surrounding sounds but I did not notice anything like this to happen.
The official specification claimed up to 6 hours of continuous talk time. In our real-world tests, the headset did exactly that six full ours of listening to music. Please keep in mind that results may vary depending on the room temperature, volume and other factors. One thing to keep in mind is the way the battery charge status behaves. After a full charge, the LCD displays four bars. The first two bars disappear faster than the other two. Actually the last bar lasts for very long time. A bar also usually disappears after a longer conversation, but then reapers shortly.
In our outdoor range tests, the results were unbelievable. Please keep in mind that results may vary depending on many factors such as surroundings, type of phone used to test the headset and others. In our test, we achieved about 150 feet distance between the Nokia 7610 and the BT800. At that distance the connection of course was not crystal clear, but definitely good for conversation. The second headset in our latest batch of Bluetooth headset for testing performed about three times worse compared to the BT800.
|
Model |
Range (feet) |
|
Jabra BT250 |
25 |
|
Logitech Mobile Freedom |
45 |
|
Cardo Scala-500 |
50 |
|
Jabra BT800 |
150 |
