Nokia BH-801 Review

This is the small and stylish Nokia BH-801 which reminds us of the BH-800, announced a while ago. 801 is newer model but should not be considered as replacement of the 800, as it has the same capabilities and specifications but slightly bigger size and weight. Still, it fits in the class of ultra-small and stylish Bluetooth headsets.

The box includes:

• Nokia Bluetooth Headset BH-801
• User Guide, Nokia Compact Charger AC-3
• Neck strap
• Belt clip
  

The Neck Strap is almost exactly the same as the one of the BH-800 with metal necklace with a clip to attach the headset to. For better convenience, this clip can now be detached from the necklace and attach to a belt clip which respectively to be on your belt.



Design

Pairing the BH-801 to a phone is a standard for Nokia headset: it doesn’t have “pairing mode”, but once powered on, if there is no other device connected to it, BH801 will be discoverable for devices that search for it. This mode will be indicated by flashing of the LED in green. The headset can be paired to up to eight devices at a time, but can be connected to only one.

If you know what to do, as this is an extraordinary type of pairing, it is very easy to complete it in a few seconds. After the phone finds the headsets, the default 0000 key should be entered.

Once connected, the LED will flash with blue color. In this stand-by mode, press and hold the Talk key to bring the voice control menu up (if the phone supports it). Double press it briefly, to redial the last number. If there is an incoming call waiting, single press will answer it and double press will reject it.

An interesting decision is the way the volume it muted – a simple press of the volume slider will do it, which means the latter is 3-way key – scrolls up, scrolls down, and can be pressed. It is just like the BH-800 and BH-900.

For the quality during a call you rely only on a quite good microphone – any system for noise-reduction or physically filtering of the wind are lacking. Indoors in quiet environment, the other side will hear you with volume little above the average but with Nokia’s typical sound quality which means clear and realistic. Unfortunately, as the headset lacks DPS, when you talk in a noisy environment the person on the other side will have hard time understanding you.

Outdoors if there is average to strong wind, using the BH-801 is impossible as the wind coming in the microphone will muffle yours speech.

When you listen to the other party via the headset, the sound produced by BH-801 is loud, clear and realistic.

We tested the BH-801 range to see at what distance from the phone the headset will remain usable without crackling or other noises that will prevent you from talking. We were able to stay at 87 feet (26.5 meters) which is very good result. The BH-800 was usable only at 22 feet (6.7 meters).

The Nokia BH-801 has a battery with average-life, considering its dimensions. In the continues talk time test it was usable for 4.9 hours after fully charged. This is less than the 6 hours of the smaller BH-800.

Comfort

As it can be used without the earhook and any kind of other loop that is attached around your ear, the BH801 is extremely easy to be attached with only a few movements – just push the earpiece and it will sit over your ear, steadily attached with the rubber ring in your ear-canal. This is extremely easy as it was with the BH-800, and we appreciate it.


The headset can be worn for hours without bringing inconvenience. Once attached it only moves slightly but still the rear part (the earpiece) stays in its place. The only issue is that the headset does not come with different size earpiece-plugs, so if your ear-canal is with smaller opening, most probably you will not be able to use the headset.

Conclusion

We like the Nokia BH-801 but it doesn’t offer anything more than the BH-800. The two headsets are absolutely identical as specifications but the 801 is slightly larger and heavier. If you are looking for small and elegant headset which you will use indoors in quite environment (don’t need a DSP system) then the BH-800/1 are excellent choice.