Customer Reviews

Jabra BT500 Bluetooth Headset

5 star:		(82)
4 star:		(59)
3 star:		(39)
2 star:		(21)
1 star:		(49)

 

 

Let me first say that I have a drawer FULL of earpeices for cell phones that I thought I'd like but didn't. I am 30-something female working in Public Relations and am on the phone constantly.

All my other earpieces either felt like they were falling off my ear, didn't fit, pulled my hair, had too much wrap and were hard to get on or I felt like I was having to scream for people to hear me. Plus I hated all those wires.

After my latest cell phone died I purchased the new Sprint Pocket PC Phone Smart Device. Of course I HAD to HAVE all the bluetooth accessories! So I began my search for a blue tooth head set.

Enter the Jabra BT500 into my life! This puppy feels very light and I almost forget I have it on. It's really low profile so I don't feel like a complete uber-geek when I am wearing it.

It was very easy to "pair" (since I'm not a tech genius this is important to me!) with my device and I almost forget to take the earpiece off because it's so light. It is by far the MOST COMFORTABLE ear piece I have ever purchased or worn. All the weight is on the back of the piece and not on the side so you don't fell a constant pull on your ear or feel like it's about to fall out/off.

I love the fact that there are no wires to mess with! Also, it comes with a USB cable to attach to my PC and charge while I'm at work and another cord with a regular plug that I use at home or on travel.

I personally think the sound is great not too loud, not too soft. The buttons are small and take some getting used to but the keep the device low profile so I'm OK with that.

The ONLY downside to this device is 1) it doesn't come with a car charger (not sure if they make one) -- and I know that's pretty demanding of me since they include the USB -- which you can get a cable to work with a car charger 2) it doesn't come with a protective case if I want to stuff it in my purse (I'm on the lookout for one now).

Now I haven't put this baby to the test in the desert or weather extremes like high wind etc. but so far in the car and out and about it's doing a very good job for me.

Not sure what these other folks beef is, but I am very honest about my reviews and I have nothing but great things to say about this device.

It would get 5 stars if it came with case, but as it stands it gets 4.5 stars from me for now!

I used a Jabra BT250 for over a year and loved it. This new BT500 is noticably slimmer and lighter, and it is even more comfortable. It fits tightly behind the ear and does not flop around as your head turns. I use my primarily in my truck for extended conversations on the road, but also occasionally in my office for long conference calls. I have had no problems using it with my Motorola V710 bluetooth-enabled phone, and the voice dialing features of the phone work better with the headset than they do without it. Highly recommended.

POSITIVE:
I have owned and used the BT 250 & BT 250v for almost 6 months each. I purchased the BT 500 10 days ago due to its size. The headset is much smaller than the 250 models. In addition, it has more functional answer/connect/volume buttons than the 250 models.
I had pairing issues with the 250 models but not with the 500. So far, it always connects immediately, something that did not happen with the 250.
The charger is a normal charger, and JABRA also offers an extra cable that fits into the USB mount of your computer/laptop, in case you want to charge it on the go...I don't understand the negative comments about the chargers by some other reviewers (unless they have an older package).
NEGATIVE:
The headset does not come with extra gel replacements, something that the 250 versions had as standard, in 3 different lengths. Therfore, in case the eargel does not fit in your ear, you have to purchase extra gel replacements.
The volume of the headset is much lower than the 250 versions, (always comparing the maximum volume setting both on the headset and the cellphone)...this means that in a noisy environment, you won't be able to hear very clearly. The 250 versions had very high volume, even in the smallest scale. I used the 250 at the second lowest setting, while now, I use the 500 at the highest setting; at these settings, the 250's volume was much higher, making conversations easy to listen.

All the above headsets, were used with a Nokia 6610, so they are directly comparable. You can draw your own conclusions, taking into consideration the much higher price...hope this helps.

If you've ever owned any of the other FreeSpeak series headsets, you will love the BT500. It's thinner and lighter than its predecessor, and there's no loss of functionality between the BT250 and the BT500. Everything that you came to expect with the BT250 is there with the BT500. It surprises me to see the amount of reviews from people who say the BT250 was awesome but the BT500 is somehow so horrible.

The technology inside the two headsets is identical. The exceptions are

1. The pairing function has been removed from the answer/end button and given its own button
2. The addition of a charging light (shows charging and battery low status)
3. The headset now attempts to use a "handsfree" profile at all times, unless the phone does not support the "handsfree" profile. In that case, the headset will default to a "headset" profile. This is not user-selectable as it was in the BT250. If your phone supports handsfree profiles, the BT500 will pair with a handsfree profile, no intervention required.
4. The removal of the "charging/belt clip cradle" and the addition of a USB plug for charging. Now, a lot of hullabaloo has been made in the comments and in other online communities about the "proprietary plug" and the fact that "you still have to carry another cable, even if you want to charge over USB." Fortunately, this is not the case for either assertion. The socket on the bottom of the BT500 is a USB mini 4-pin female. This means that *any* standard USB mini 4-pin male cable (or adapter) will fit the phone connector, and will charge the headset.
5. The most notable, IMHO, of the losses, is the lack of noise-cancellation circuitry in this model. This is surprising, as previous versions of the Jabra headsets did. For those of you who owned a BT250, you'll remember that the mic end had two holes in it: one closest to your mouth, and then one on the other side of the mic bulge. The circuitry compared the sounds from both mics, and assumed the sound at equal levels in both mics was background noise, while the sound primarily from the hole closest to your mouth was your voice. It would then cancel out the background noise.

The removal of the noise-cancellation circuitry means a louder background sound when you're driving in the car than with the BT250. However, wind noise is not significantly impacted, as the mic is not susceptible to a great deal of wind noise.

This may be slightly off-topic, but man, you need a mini 4-pin Male for this thing, a mini 5-pin Male for most other USB-powered devices (i.e. Motorola RAZR, Blackberry, etc), and then don't forget about FireWire, Ethernet, and occasionally, telephone cords. Fortunately, I also have the <A HREF="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/tech-data/B0006OD020/ref=de_a_smtd/002-8876159-6285651?%5Fencoding=UTF8" target="_new">Cables To Go Port Authority 2 Retractable Cable Kit</A> that I take on the road with me. It includes both the mini 4-pin Male adapter to charge the BT500, the mini 5-pin Male for most other USB devices, a USB B Male connecter (for things like portable printers, it's a squarish sort of connecter rather than the rectangular USB connecter on the PC), and adapters for RJ-11 and RJ-45 (even a crossover connecter), and a headset and microphone for making your Skype calls.

But hey, if your PC has Bluetooth, you could pair your BT500 to the PC and use it for your Skype calls. This works effectively as well.

Anyway, back to the BT500.

PROS:
- Lighter and thinner than its predecessor
- Great battery life
- USB charging

CONS
- No noise cancellation circuitry

Couldn't give it 5 stars because of the lack of noise-cancellation circuitry. [...]

Positives:
1. Good battery life
2. Very comfortable to wear for long periods
3. Good mic, no one seems to have a problem hearing me even when driving in a noisy car.
4. USB cable charger means I can charge anywhere I have my laptop, which is everywhere I go.
Negatives:
1. Even with the multiple size ear pieces I find that I still have to hold it to my hear to hear callers in a noisy environment.
2. When it drops connection with the phone it does not automatically reconnect when it comes back in range, annoying.
3. Delicate! Press too hard on the on/off/answer/disconnect button and you'll be asking for a replacement; same for the USB connector - be gentle. (Though it has survived several falls without incident).

Overall, this technology still is not ready for primetime but this product performs adequately compared with the two other headsets I have tried.

After being completely disappointed with Motorola HS850 (see my review), got myself a brand new model of Jabra - BT500 and love it. I use is with Motorola V620 (V600 European model). Volume is perfect, sits comfortably on my ear, and does not fall even if I shake my head, people hear me without any problems and distance is good as well. Charges fast and battery last long. Have no problems with echoes or anything else. Buttons are very easy to access and respond right away. I would recommend this one to anyone.

I have an LG VX8100 and my first BlueTooth headset was a Motorola HS850. I was unhappy with the HS850 for 2 main reasons: The first being the lousy ear fitting on the device. It had me convinced I'd lose the d*mn thing before a solid week had passed. Any strong head movement would almost send the thing flying off. You can forget about bending over and keeping it attached. The second was the audio quality. It wasn't always poor...but it wasn't ever really great it crackled and sputtered quite a bit during calls.

After about 24 hours of this nonsense, I was convinced I needed something better. So, I returned the crap Motorola device and opted for the Jabra BT500 after reading tens of raving reviews.

Aside from the Jabra being a pleasure to wear, it's sound quality has to be near perfect. You seriously may have better audio coming out of this thing than the earphone on the cell has to offer. It was very easy to pair with the phone to boot!

Now, while nice sound is definitely a plus, the major gripe I had with the Motorola unit was the ear fitting. This Jabra will honestly hang there let you forget you are even wearing it! You can thrash your head about, bend over, practically anything you want to do, this thing is staying put. Easy to get on the ear too. My only semi-complaint about the Jabra is the slight difficulty I have pressing the buttons for volume, answering calls etc. Although that is me being too picky more than it is a major problem.

This is a nice headset.

I really liked my BT250 went through the wash so i decided to "upgrade". The BT500 is more comfortable to wear than the BT250 due to its thinner design but does not respond as accurately to voice command (Motorola E815 /Verizon) as did the BT250. I also miss the vibrating feature offered in the BT250, easier to aknoledge a call when listening to music in the car. Otherwise this headset has good range and good sound quality. For road warriors you will LOVE the USB charge cable.

I have been using Jabra BT500 for about 4 months now, mainly when I am driving on the freeway. Pairing with my phone was a breeze. I find battery life almost spectacular - I am never worried about runnig out. I find the headset quite comfortable, albeit not perfect. If I wear a jacket with a higher collar, I need to roll it down to pevent rubbing and making lots of noise. Driving on a regular road causes practically no background noise. Freeway driving (60+ mph) in my car produces background noise, but not to the level where it would hurt a conversation. Bluetooth range is good - a few days ago I left my phone in the trunk, got a call, and carried the conversation without a hitch.

I had a Moto 500 and a Plantronics 510 and found that both didn't have a clear sound quality, however this Jabra 500 is clear. When I got it and it was fully charged, I went outside and called a couple of friends and was told that my voice was crystal clear. All I have to say is simple to use, lightweight and outstanding behind the ear design.