Customer Reviews

Jabra A210 Bluetooth Adapter

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(20)

 

 

Hello,
I am a scientist in the field of Microwave/RF circuits and systems. I considered several but finally chose the Jabra A210 along with the BT250 Jabra headset. This review is for both items together.

A few things to note:
1) swithcing on and off is not very intuitive for the BT250, you have to hold down the power button for "n" number of seconds, the lights will flash in a certain pre-ordained sequence, but if you do hold down the power button more than what is required (this is sketchy), then the appliances enter set up mode, and the pairing between the adapter and the headset might be lost. The A210 is paired by means of a stylus pressing down a depressed switch on the body of the unit. So its pairing is not affected by the power button. BUT this set (headset and the adapter) have 8 hours talk time and 240 hours standby time (as per manufacturer's claim), even if it performs up to 80% of the reported claim, you wont have to mess around too much with the power switch. You can comfortably use it during the day and come home at night and recharge the set.

2) Quality of sent and received signals. Please note: The jabra A210 has a pin which can be put in to 3 settings. Setting # 1 is for motorola phones, Setting # 3 for all other phones and Setting # 2 is for when you feel discomfort in setting # 1 or # 3. I have a LG VX 6100 NON-BLUETOOTH phone from verizon. I tested the settings extensively by calling a friend. (Thanks Guddu.) I tried setting # 1, there were 2 noticeable problems: (a) My friend complained that the volume of my voice was low, but the clarity was good.
(b) I could not use the button on the head set to connect and disconnect calls.
But I must mention, I could receive my friend's voice in absolutely loud and clear tones.

Both the problems were alleviated when I used setting # 3 on the adapter. In fact, when I started using setting # 3, my friend complained that my voice was too loud! There werent any issues related to clarity.

3) Range: The manufacturer claims this to have a range of 10 meters (30 feet). But at the same time, in its manual, it is written that if there are objects in the wireless signal path between the adapter and the headset, the sound quality will suffer.

Now we have to consider 2 trade offs for every RF design. (a) power (b) size. We all want the smallest devices with maximum power and range. Well physics and electronics sharply put us back in our places. If you want greater range, you need to put out signal with great field strength. That needs higher battery consumption, high efficiency non linear amplifiers and large antennas. Microstrip patch antennas (generally used for their low profiles and small size) resonate to a particular frequency if their length is correctly defined. But with design modifications, this length can be shortened, but the gain suffers. Also, thanks to the FCC, we have very strict limitations on the frequency bands available (the higher the frequency, the shorter the wave length, and thus smaller the antenna and consequently higher the gain). FCC makes many RF devices work at lower frequencies than we RF engineers would like them to operate at. Also, due to fear of signal from one device interferring with other devices, FCC puts limits on the amount of power a device can put out.

Given these considerations, the A210 and BT250 which are required to have excellent power efficiency (8 hours talk time and 240 hours stand by time) and also small and compact size (very small batteries and small antennas) provide a range which is not quite satisfactory. I walked at a radius of 10 feet and even with walls, metal partitions, etc, the signal strength was not that affected. How ever more than 10 feet, the signal had so much noise in it, I had to move closer to the adapter.

To be honest with you, I am not happy with the range. I dont think the range is $130 worth (for the adapter and headset = $50 + $80). Period. For a 10 feet range the cost should have been more like $50 (for both).

So basically, we have reviewed some basic factors. However, there is one major design flaw that I would like to bring to your attention. That is: The head set and the adapter enter in to stand by mode after one minute of non-usage. So even when you are in the middle of a call and both parties keep silent for more than a minute, the head set and the adapter stop communicating. The call is NOT disconnected. You can either pull the adapter jack out of the cell phone and put it back in, or press the volume key on the cell phone (basically do some thing with the cell phone) and you will be able to resume the conversation on the bluetooth devices. How ever this is not voice operable. Meaning, if the adapter and the headset enter in to stand by mode during the conversation when both parties to the call are silent, even when they both start talking, the adapter and the head set do not start communicating.

This is extremely uncomfortable. If I have a blue tooth head set and adapter kit for which I have paid $130 or more, then I want absolute mobility with out any reason to come back to the adpater unless I do so from my own free will.

Lastly, here is a recommendation for the people who designed this set. You need to incorporate greater features in to this adapter and head set. It should be able to not only handle voice data but also music and other types of audio information. This means you might need to use a more efficient method of modulation. Maybe you are using FSK which is constant envelope modulation (I deal with military and radar communication, so I dont know what modulation is used for blue tooth), but you cannot include too much information in to the FSK signal. Try using QAM, maybe not a very high order QAM, but some thing capable of handling all audio information. All you will need to change in the design is: a new power amplifier which is high efficiency and linear. Probably a class E or Class F with feed forward or Envelope elimination and restoration (Kahn) or Doherty principles. It is simple. You will need a one time engineering development cost, but in the long term - with market domination and mass production, it will more than make up for it.

As for buyers. If you are rich, a techno geek or a business person constantly on the phone - Go for this. It is good.
But if you have limited resources (money) then buy a simple wired hands free kit. In fact at times when the battery is down or I have to move to get back within range, I long for the reliability of a wired handsfree kit.

Update: June 25th, 2005: By the way, I lost one A210 and recently purchased one more. I tried one more test on it recently. I got a adapter from radio shack (Part # 274-397) which accepts 3/32" submini stereo plug ( as is the plug of the A210) and fits a 1/8" mini stereo jack (as is the plug for all standard head phone jacks). Thus I connected the A210 to the adapter and connected to my new Creative MuVo MP3 player. Then put on my BT250. It worked!! I could hear the music through the blue tooth set up!

BUT the music quality was poor... this blue tooth unit probably has enough sampling rate for speech, it is not able to handle the sudden and faster changes in amplitude, phase and frequency of a music signal.

Nevertheless it works.
Kaushik.

I ordered this item after wondering if there was such a device that would turn a standard cordless phone for our home into a wireless device. Sure enough the A210 solved my problem, it's bluetooth ready and will adapt to any bluetooth headpiece you have, also there aren't any wires hanging down getting in your way like those other microphone headsets they make. I know all the features don't work with a standard phone, but just to have it go through my bluetooth was a plus. You have to press the talk button on your to answer your call, but it goes through your earpiece, and when you end your call just hang up the phone like you normally do.It's great. I give this product some high ratings.

I use a nextel i730 and this jabra adapter fits on the back perfectly with velcro. (adapter is approx 1/8 thin) The adapter has 3 tiny setting to adapt to different phones and I find setting #2 to work fine with my motorola HS820 wireless earpiece. This adapter works on Nextels direct connect and regular phone calls, my last adapter would not do the direct connect. So far I have had the adapter and earpiece on for over 16hrs with out a charge, while receiving many phone calls and direct calls during these hours. Can't wait till Nextel comes out with a bluetooth phone but till then, this is the only way to go!

I have a Treo 650, which already has bluetooth capability... Bluetooth 1.1 that is. I wanted Bluetooth 1.2, and this adapter gave it to me!
People buy phones like the Treo because they want the ability to do everything at once with only one device. With Bluetooth 1.1, you have the ability to go wireless for phone conversations, but you CAN'T listen to anything else (audio books, music, etc.) via a wireless headset. I couldn't believe it. This means that you have to go back and forth between a wireless headset for phone conversations and a wired headset for everything else. Not very convenient.
But with this adapter you can turn your bluetooth 1.1 phone into a bluetooth 1.2! Meaning you can listen to it all wireless. Needless to say, this rocks!
Before I always had to decide prior to leaving the house, whether I wanted the ease of wireless communication without being able to listen to mp3s and recordings or whether I wanted the distraction of a wired headset that would allow me to also hear those extras. Now, with the Jabra A210 I don't have to choose. And it's tinier and lighter than I even expected which makes it even better. I had a question for Jabra Support and they got back to me the same day! Great products and great support. For me, it really doesn't get any better than this.

Purchased this adapter in conjunction with the Motorola HS 820 to give my LG C2000 bluetooth technology. Have some problem with the crossover, but overall I am very satisfied. If I turn the volume up to high the other party has some echo, but by turning it down it is reduced to nothing.

It works as advertised. Battery life is very good. I have yet to find out how long, but I've gone as much as a week between charges with no problem. I am totally happy with this product, and have nothing negative to say about it.

I am using this device with a Polycom landline phone.

Trying the 3 settings I can get a decent connection on my end with a separate Bluetooth earpiece, where I hear the other party fine with little noise and no echo.

But on the far end, even landline to landline, there is an annoying whine and some echo, no matter what the setting. This isn't good enough, I prefer to use the corded headset.

I am returning this product to Amazon.

I was excited to see a bluetooth adapter that would work with my phone to allow me a wireless talking experience. Well, it kinda works with my phone, I have a Sanyo PM8200. I can not use Voice Dialing, but that was known before purchase, and I can also not answer a call using my Jabra headset, was not known before purchase.

Installation was easy, course it should be since I was using a Jabra headset. I just clicked on the pairing button on both devices and it connected without issue.

Use is nice as well, as it does offer a button on the device that I can press to disconnect the direct feed to the headset. It will auto disconnect after about 1 minute, but that static noise can be distracting and having the option to manually disconnect is nice.

I did not get the belt clip with this device, as it was advertised that I would, so that was disappointing. But, the velcro on the back of the phone works good enough, but would not work as well if I used a belt clip for my phone, I just put into my pocket.

The cable from the A210 is very weak. After only a week or two of use the cable has to be in the right place, can not bend to far to one side, for it to work. I'm sure I do not have long before it will just stop working and the cable will need to be twisted into a position and taped down in order to keep a connection. :(

The range is just fine, the limitation for me is with the headset I have not this device.

Pairing with multiple devices, I use my pc bluetooth and this device, works well. All I have to do is disconnect my headset from PC connection, by pressing button on headset, and this device then see's it as available and auto connects to it, very nice.

Battery life is just fine as well, but you do need to charge every night to make sure yo do not run out the next day.

Conclusion: I would suggest this device, but be careful of the cord and make sure to not bend it too far too long. I gave it a 3 out of 5 because of the cord issue and not being very compatible with my phone, can not answer calls with headset.


UPDATE !!! Well, this product finally became unusable due to bad wiring in the device. It will not even turn on now. :(

After about 1 month of use, as I have read in other reviews, I can tell that the connector wire from the phone to the unit has a poor connection at the end that comes from the A210 unit. If I wiggle it I can sometimes get a clear and louder connection, otherwise it is a low and muffled reception. That is not what I expected to pay for. I read the reviews but I had to see for myself.

I bought a Motorola H700 to use with my Cingular 2125 cell phone. I thought with this device I could also use the headset with my office phone. IT WORKS! I turn off bluetooth on my cell and turn on the Jabra. When I leave I turn off the Jabra and turn bluetooth on in my cell. It takes about 1-2 minutes for the headset to work with my cell but that's fine.

My only complaint is that the velcro they give you doesn't work (not sticky enough). But for me the belt clip works fine as I use a cordless and don;t mind clipping them both on when I want to roam. This also ensures that my range is good because I'm never far from the Jabra.

My experience with bluetooth is that 10 feet is about the max range.