Customer Reviews

LG Handfree Stereo Headset for the LG Chocolate and other compatible LG handsets

5 star:		(50)
4 star:		(29)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

I bought this specifically because of what it is. It is a two-piece unit. The "important" piece is a male 4 conductor stereo headset connection (2.5mm) for a cell phone on one end and a female 3.5mm standard 3-conductor headphone jack on the other end. The female jack side is larger than a simple cable jack because it includes a built-in microphone and a button, which is called a Turbo Button on my Sanyo's display. There is a spring-loaded clip on this end, such that you could attach it to your shirt or even to your seat belt shoulder strap. End to end, this piece is approximately 35" (89mm), which is sufficient for me to put my phone in my pants pocket/clip or in a cup holder in my car while the clip is midway on my chest.

The other part of the two-piece unit is a functional traditional ear-bud style headset with a standard 3.5mm male plug. I suppose as a mnemonic for the headset, L-e-f-t is shorter than R-i-g-h-t. The headset has relatively short length, which is good for this purpose. From plug tip to the ear piece-split strain relief is approximately 12". Strain relief to Left is approximately 8", and strain relief to Right is approximately 18". Yes, this is not a typo. The right earbud cable is longer than the plug cable. While adequate for the purpose of the combination headset/adapter, it'll probably not be as convenient to use the headset portion for most other applications.

(I suppose that it's likely these dimensions will vary slightly with your purchase).

The big selling point of this unit is that it allows you to use your own headset with your multimedia phone. I should note that this works wonderfully with my Sanyo SCP8400. Recently, I had upgraded my stock car stereo with one that accepts MP3 3.5mm connections. I hooked the connection to my phone via the LG adapter and now I have my phone in my car hands-free and actually (IMO) safer than a headset. With my specific phone, I now have my mp3s able to be played through my car stereo (or I can subscribe to Sirius or other music channels via the phone) and can answer the phone with limited interruption.

In conversations with friends, the sound quality of the connection was good (so they tell me), and the sound quality for voice in my stereo was very nice. The conversations are clear and I'm told little or no echo to the other end of the conversation. Unfortunately, when I was not actively using the headset while connected to my stereo in AUX (at least, this is my experience with my setup), there was a periodic "click" that is otherwise inaudible. This isn't a reflection on this product, however. This is more likely either my phone or stereo/phone combination that is encountering the issue. Since it's rather pointless to have the stereo on in my car without "something" playing (radio, cd, or mp3s from the phone), I'll chalk this one up to "user workaround."

If you have a stereo multimedia cell phone and are starting to carry around your mp3s in your phone via micro sd versus your ipod, this is not a bad purchase, especially if you consider the possibility of using your phone's music in almost any of the mp3 speaker systems (i-Dog?), or even use your cell phone's mp3s through your stereo system in-house. With audio streaming in some multimedia phones, you have new entertainment options and flexibility to hear them however you want -- and answer the phone.

It is amazing how little info there is on the internet about these headphones. Lets clear some things up. First, these headphones come in TWO peices, which means the stereo headset and microphone sections are separate. The headphones are awful, extremely tinny with no bass, but who cares, because the key feature of these is that you can connect YOUR OWN headphones to the mic part of this headset! Thats worth the price alone, as far as I'm concerned. I use these with the LG VX 8300, and they work great.

The connector on these is a 3 band, meaning there are 4 contacts. LG programs their adapters in this fashion: mic(tip),L ,R, Ground(base). Almost every other company does it mic, R, L, Ground, which means that if you buy a 3-band connector on ebay, or say for a samsung or motorola, it will work, but your stereo imaging will be reversed. I made that mistake the first time. I plugged in my $15 Koss THE Plug earbuds and they sound pretty decent for a cell phone, on par with my Creative Muvo Mp3 player.

Cons to these- the cords are an awkward length, and either my phone or this headset adds some kind of weird 3D reverb effect to the audio, not sure on that one yet.

Overall, I think these are the best option if you have a stereo MP3-playing LG phone right now.

If you actually want to listen to music and be able to easily answer your phone, and you don't mind having a cord to deal with, this is a great device. It is actually an adapter with a built in microphone and volume control, with seperate stereo earbuds included (if you don't like the headphones you can use most stereo headphones with the adapter.)

The earbuds are average quality, useable but not exceptional. Yes, one earplug cord is actually longer than the other by intentional design. (Many people are annoyed by the cord dangling in front of them, so some headphones are now made so that the cord for one plug goes behind your head, and then over your shoulder. If this bothers you, throw them away and buy a pair that you like, the headphones are just cheap junk anyway.) The real value is in the adapter, which can be used with any stereo headphones with a 3.5mm mini stereo plug.

It could also be used with car stereo adapters, although I haven't checked for microphone feedback (squeal) yet. If you do hook it up to your car stereo I would advise turning the volume down before you try answering your phone, and be sure you try it out while you're parked. This might work as a handsfree car adapter, but heavy traffic would be a bad place to find out that the feedback through your car stereo makes your ears bleed.

Throw out the earbuds. Keep the adapter.

This adapter alone is the single most useful piece of phone electronics since the self charging USB data cable. Your phone can play MP3s, right? Well, where's it putting them, its crummy speakers? The bundled junk earbuds that are screaming "Replace me!"? Shoot! You have this great phone but no way to get tunes from your phone to your $100 Bose headphones, which you use with your current MP3 player. Well, doesn't that just rot. Well, LG to the rescue with the device that should have been included with your phone! This one single device - the adapter sans earbuds (which connect with a 3.5mm plug via the adapter) - opens a whole new world of connectable audio devices to your phone.

Not only does it allow you to listen to your music through standard, comfortable, enjoyable headphones... but you can also take and make calls from them too! The microphone in the adapter (as I understand, the "best quality I've ever heard" from a person I first called with it) allows you to make calls through your regular headphones - and whatever else you throw at it as well! It may be a thing with my VX-8300, but clipping the adapter on my dash and using a tape adapter in my car gave me a full featured car kit as well! With voice commands (just push the button on the side of the phone)! The audio played through the car speakers gets canceled out somewhere so the caller doesn't hear an echo. I'm now the proud owner of an 87 Fiero GT with a navigation system and the wired equivalent of a Bluetooth-enabled car stereo. Top that. All because of this adapter.

And if that weren't enough, it allows you to connect your phone to larger speakers to play videos, power a home stereo with your on-phone collection, so on and so forth. The possibilities are only limited to your imagination. The phone can use this adapter for its speech recognition, phone functions, status readouts, navigation prompts, video, and of course music. It's so much more than just another lame set of earbuds.

DOWN WITH CHEAP, LAME EARBUDS! Let there be... the 2.5mm to 3.5mm adapter. Finally, freedom from uncomfortable, tinny earbuds (despite being included). Let there be real, common, stereo headphones with your cell phone. Life couldn't be better.

Length:: 1:51 Mins

This is my video review for the LG Handfree Stereo Headset. One thing I forgot to mention is that the earbuds included don't have the soft cushioning that come with most other earbuds and keep them in your ear. However, if you're buying it for the adapter to use with your own earbuds, you're in for a treat.

I'm using the LG Chocolate VX-8550.

These headphones work well with the LG VX8300 Cell. Phone. I had a tough time trying to find an adapter for the LG phone that allowed me to connect regular headphones to it. The LG phone has a 2.5mm. female connector that requires a 2.5mm male pin with 4 segments, standard iPod/MP3 Player headphones have a 3.5mm. male pin with 3 segments (left, right, ground). The LG uses the extra segment for the microphone input. I purchase these headphones just for the 2.5mm to 3.5mm adapter cable (not the included headphones)so I can use high-quality headphones with my cell. phone. To my surprise-When I received this item-the included headphones were slightly better than expected, but I still end up connecting my SONY and Sennheiser headphones to my cell. phone via. the included adapter as originally planned because they sound better and are more comfortable to wear for extended period of time. As an added bonus, there is a built-in microphone on the adapter that allows you to take phone calls if they come in while you're listening to your music-with this added circuitry, the volume is a little bit lower in comparison to the headphones you get with the Verizon Music Package for $30 that includes a transfer cable, Windows software and headphones. I'm satisfied with this item. I am now able to listen to music on my cell phone, but this doesn't exactly give me the quality or stereo equalization of a true MP3 player such as Creative Labs Zen, or Apple's iPod. But it comes in hand when standing in line at the airport, seeing that I already have my phone on me, to carry the headphones weighs next to nothing in my pocket.

The headphones that are bundled with the adapter are garbage, they fall out constantly and have terrible sound quality. That being said, the price is worth the adapter alone and the mic is crystal clear when answering calls handsfree. If you have your own prefered quality headphones and need an adapter to be able to listen to music off your phone, I highly recommend this product.

I got this in anticipation of getting my new phone, the LG EnV2. It may have the words, "works for all LG phones with 2.5 mm jacks," on the package, but that's just marketing strategy in order for LG to get you to buy this headset for their phones, but I used it for my Motorola RAZR V3m (with an adapter), and it worked better than the Motorola headset that came with the Vcast Music Essentials that I bought years ago.

The 3.5 mm jack, located next to the mic, is very convenient if you don't want to use LG's earbuds that come with this headset. I didn't have that same freedom with the Motorola headset. The 3.5 mm jack will, of course, let you plug in any kind of headphones as well as computer speakers, which is a great option if you want to put on music at a friend's or if you have a little party at the spur of the moment. It also works for a tape converter if you have a cassette player in your car. If someone calls you on the road, you can use your car's speakers as the earpiece while driving, but you need to talk into the mic for the other person to hear you, so I wouldn't recommend using your car's speakers as the earpiece. It's great for listening to music on your phone and is actually quite decent for listening to music in your car, though iPods sound better in your car as they give a better thump with the bass. (I've compared several mp3s, unchanged, with both my phone and iPod)

The mic has a button on it that answers calls so that you don't have to go to your phone to answer the call, which is typical with cell phone headsets. It has a volume dial on the side, again, so you don't have to go to your phone each time you want or need to turn up/down the volume of music or someone talking to you. It also has a clip on it that rotates so that you can position the mic in any direction that you'd like. I'm always rotating it, and the rotation hasn't gotten loose to this day. I've had the product for a few months now.

As other reviewers have noted, the earphone's cord is shorter on the left side, but long enough on the right side to reach around your neck to your other ear with room to spare. I don't care for that, but I got this headset specifically so I don't have to use the standard earphones that LG provides, so I'm not going to rate this any lower.

The length of the cord of the headset and earphones is near 6 feet, with the earphones about 2 feet in length on their own. If you use a different set of headphones, then it's likely that the whole thing will be even longer! A lot of cord can be messy, especially if you have the phone in your pocket... the cord will hang down past your knees if you're using a different pair of headphones. I'm still not rating this product any lower because I just keep the excess cord tucked under my shirt.

If you're like me and want flexibility to using different kinds of headphones to listen to music, but still want a mic for calls, then I recommend this product.

This was exactly what I needed. I went to RadioShak first to buy an adapter for $5- didn't work- LG is proprietary. The sound quality on the included ear buds isn't too bad for the price, but I don't like using buds and wanted to use my regular headset. Because this headset is two pieces, I could separate just the adapter portion and it works perfectly with any headset- plus with the inline volume control you can adjust the volume of your music/conversation on the EnV without having to unlock the phone. Very nice!

I purchased an LG Env3 and I wanted to stay within the LG products category since they made me such an awesome cell phone and TV. So I did a search for LG stereo headset after I realized my phone did mp3 music and this headset popped up first. And it showed up first in my search because it deserves to be recognized. I love this headset. Even with the stock headphones that come with it I have good loud stereo phone calls and music. And no, the audio quality with the standard headset is not spectacular, but LG knew that and made it to where you can use your favorite headphones with your cell phone for music. I owned a Samsung stereo headset to match my SCH-U740 and it did not offer stereo phone calls. So here are my Pros and Cons for the product as it stands having owned them for 5 months.

Pros:
+Provides stereo phone calls and music
+Goes as loud as you'd like and then some. I couldn't hear one of my friend's on my Jabra BT8040 but I heard him loud and in stereo with this headset
+Volume knob on the silver microphone piece for changing the volume on the fly
+Price is awesome compared to a bluetooth stereo headset
+Reduces drain on your phone battery by keeping bluetooth signal broadcast off
+Call button allows you to call the last number (press once), say a voice command (hold button), or hang up the call (press once again) with my Env3
+Designed to work with any set of 3.5mm headphones
+Has a spring tension clip allowing you to clip it to your clothing or to your seatbelt
+Worked as a hands-free calling device through the stereo and speakers in my car! (Details below)
+Lightweight. Could be used for running with the right headphones. I did not test this myself though
+I can run it underneath my shirt and clip it to my collar to hide the wire. The wire from the 2.5mm end to the control part looks to be about 2 feet long
+No complaints about sound quality no matter where I placed it to talk. Including under my sheets and comforter when I went to bed

Cons (of course)
-Low quality headphone included for mp3 playback
-The center control is where the weight is so if it isn't clipped to you and you lean over it will pull on the headphones
-Does not have wind reduction properties so windy environments may interrupt conversation
-The cord from the 2.5mm end to the silver control section is quite long not including added headphone length. Keeping it discrete outside of clothing would prove difficult
-Only way to mute a call is to mute it on the phone. Cannot mute the headset microphone

The cons all have to do with the individual. I love this headset more than any bluetooth I've ever bought. And I was going to tell you a story about the hands-free headset in my car. Well, I have one of those tape to 3.5mm headphone jack adapters that works in cars with tape players. I was on the road and I didn't want the headphones in so I plugged the 3.5mm adapter end into the headset, inserted the tape, turned up the volume, and made a call. It worked perfectly! I was able to turn the volume up on the radio and listen to the call through all of my speakers. The person on the other end told me that the sound was great until the volume in the car was up so loud that his voice was echoing back into the microphone. But the best part was that the headset wasn't clipped to me, it was in the passengers seat and I was having a conversation without the person asking if something was different. My next project will be seeing if my radio broadcasting adapter will broadcast my call through my stereo just as well. I'll try to remember to update when I know for sure. Trust me, if you're not hung up on being ahead of the technological curve with stereo bluetooth this headset will impress you without a doubt. Definitely one of the best purchases I will ever make and I can highly recommend it!