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47 of 49 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Bulky but great sound, October 12, 2007
These are now my 5th pair of bluetooth wireless headphones and I think I've finally found one that does just what I want: great sounding streaming music from my iPod and simultaneously make or take calls from my Blackberry.
In my typical fashion, let's begin with the good, move on to the bad and then finish with those things that need improvement.
GOOD
Excellent sound quality - Clear, clean and LOUD. What more can I say about it. This may seem obvious but apparently some people don't understand the many different profiles available with Bluetooth devices and which ones are necessary to get good sound quality from these headphones. In order to hear quality audio, your Bluetooth source must support the Advanced Audio Distribution Profile (A2DP). Many of the USB dongle devices and quite a few built-in Bluetooth laptops (including MacBooks) and phones DON'T support this profile. How will know? First check the documentation to see if A2DP is listed as a supported profile. If not, try pairing with the headphones. If you hear tinny sounding music in mono, your device probably only supports the Headset and Handsfree (HPF) profiles. You'll need to find some other hardware or maybe a software upgrade.
Convenient - My S805s are paired with my iPod equipped with Wi-Gear's iMuffs MA110 Dock Adapter. This adapter is powered by the iPod and supports both the A2DP and Audio Video Remote Control (AVRCP) profiles allowing the headphone to control the volume, play/pause and next/prev track of the iPod while getting the great sound you expect. With no wires to get tangled or swing around when you move, these are great for workouts on the treadmill or elliptical.
Battery Life - Motorola claims that these fully charged headphones will operate in standby mode for up 30 days! I haven't had an opportunity to test this out and I not quite sure exactly what is "standby" mode, but I do know that the music play time is good for about a week of bus rides and occasional office use--about 15 hours. Not bad for the volume and quality.
Nice carrying case - the S805 comes with a durable semi-rigid zippered ballistic nylon case that holds the headphones with the earpieces folded flat at 2 inches thick. There's even a strap inside to conveniently hold the charger and the wired adapter cable.
Elegant Design - The headphones are very nice to look at once you get past the bulk (more on that next). They are symmetrically designed with a single button on each earpiece. One side controls the phone the other the music. The volume and track skip controls are ingeniously integrated into the rubber trim rings of each earpiece. Twist the left one forward or backward to change the volume or the right one to skip or repeat tracks.
BAD
Bulky - While the over-the-ear design is really effective at blocking outside noise, they are also very large and rather obvious. Especially with the blinking blue lights on the side. This attracts a lot of strange looks since you resemble a Borg. BTW, the blue lights can be turn off but I often forget since they default to "ON" after your recharge.
Cheap plastic parts - These definitely aren't your Bose QuietComforts. Most of the plastic pieces feel very cheap and appear as if they would easily break if dropped. The little rubber flap covering the charging and wired adapter ports is very flimsy and I don't expect it to last very long. The volume adjustment control dial and the track control dial have a lot of slop and wiggle room. I'd have to say that the case is better made than the headphones.
Short Wired Adapter - The wired adapter cord is very short. Less than a meter long so you need to be very close to your wired device.
NEEDS IMPROVEMENT
Scratchy Fabric on Headband - The fabric inside of the headband is same acoustic fabric as the inside of the earpieces. I often take these off and dangle them around my neck but the fabric is kind of irritating. A smooth fabric would be much more comfortable.
Earpiece Cushions - The soft vinyl earpieces aren't too uncomfortable, but the do make the area around my ears all sweaty, especially during a workout. They're also kind of tight so they don't slip off your head but the pressure begin to get uncomfortable after a while. But if don't like the headphones with eartips that go into your ears, these are minor issues.
Complicated Controls - Although two buttons make for elegant design, it also makes for a confusing array of functions that you must remember to control them. Press and hold for 6 seconds for pairing mode. Press and hold for 2 seconds to turn them off. Press, hold and wait for three blinks to turn off. Short press to answer a call, long press to reject a call or answer a call waiting or redial the last call (all depending on the current state). Yikes! That's a lot to remember.
Minimal Instructions - The instruction booklet is a double-sided sheet of paper with a minimal amount of information to get you started. There are two paragraphs of troubleshooting along with a support number and web URL. If you can't get these to work as expected, don't expect to get much help.
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20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great headset, bluetooth is lacking., August 27, 2007
I've had this headset about two weeks, so there may be more but here are the pro's and con's.
PROS:
1) sound is very good. Bass is just right and the whole spectrum is there. I'm sure there are better, but probably not in a bluetooth device.
2) headphone is pretty comfortable. I'd prefer slightly larger cups, but I can wear them for a couple hours before I have to rest. The adjustable band fits my large head well.
3) overall quality is good.
4) bluetooth distance seems to work between 20 to 30 feet OK.
5) the pause and play controls work fine on my phone (not on iTunes on my PC).
6) The volume control and 'change songs' controls are very nice controls that you tip back or forward easily and are easy to find.
CONS:
1) I did have them hangup a couple times where I couldn't get them to turn on until I plugged them into the power source which seemed to reset them.
2) It's difficult to switch between my PC (iTunes) and my phone. It would be nice to have a switch or couple buttons to go between two audio sources. It often takes me 5 to 10 minutes to do this. I'm hoping I have something to learn yet that will make this better.
3) The bluetooth works fine with my phone on walks, but it has to be in my left pocket. The signal won't transverse my body from the left pocket to the right headphone (where the receiver must be).
4) There are drop-outs from time to time. I suspect this is true of most bluetooth devices. The headset won't function during file transfers on my WIFI system. If you have a very heavy use of WIFI you might have problems.
I suspect most of these CONs are due to the implementation of bluetooth in general.
Overall, I'm very pleased so far with the performance of these headsets.
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Comfortable Bluetooth headphones with good sound that just fall short, January 30, 2008
After my rather disastrous and mostly disappointingly purchase of a Motorola MOTOROKR S9 Bluetooth Headset, I felt a bit stung as well as buyers regret. But not quite enough, apparently, and despite the somewhat lukewarm reviews of the Motorola S805 "DJ" Headphones.
SOUND: GOOD
Fairly crisp and clean and strong enough to be head on a busy city street. Reproduces bass levels nicely and does a fairly good job at shutting out external noise (these are not noise canceling headphones by nay means, but the fact that they fully enclose the ear creates a fairly decent seal).
And like the MOTOROCKR S9, loud enough to hurt at the highest level.
CONNECTION: DECENT
And now the bad news. Once the device is actually connected, it holds it quite well. I can have my phone in my pocket, or my MacBook in my bag, and not loose the signal once. I can even leave my Samsung Blackjack on my desk, walk a few steps down the hall to the kitchen, and not have the sound drop out. Very nice.
Unfortunately, consistency at startup seems to be the issue here. Once I have paired the headphones to both devices, I seem to constantly need to reconnect them every time I turn the headphones on. And since that only seems to work half of the time, I need to erase the Bluetooth profile and reconnect it as a new device. I would have suspected my devices were causing issue were it not for the fact that the MOTOROCKR S9 had no issue connecting and reconnecting.
Theses headphones do appear to be better shielded the the MOTOROCKR S9; I did nit notice any of the sound dropout when I passed other strong radio signals.
EASE OF USE: GOOD
Ignoring the hugely annoying issue of keeping the headphones paired with your devices, once connected the controls on the device are simple and intuitive. You have controls for volume up/down and track forward/reverse as slide rings around each ear that are chunky and rubbery enough to provide flawless control. Oversized buttons over each ear also allow the user to play/pause a song, answer/disconnect calls and use voice activation (assuming the device they are connected to have voice activation, which my Samsung Blackjack does not)
COMFORT: GOOD
Aside from the unfortunate decision to make the headphone bar slightly narrow and pyramid shaped instead of a smooth rounded edge, resulting in a pinching for those of use with larger craniums, these are very comfortable headphones that I can wear for a few hours without discomfort. They are fully adjustable, and should fit just about anyone.
CALLS: DECENT
Again, nothing spectacular here. Like most headphones, the headset part of this device was a secondary thing, and while calls coming is sound rather good, you will not. Only appropriate for quick conversations.
BATTERY: GOOD
I am getting about 6-7 hours of battery life off each charge, which takes a little over 2 hours. And it can be juiced with a standard mini-USB plug. Nice.
RECOMMENDED: YES
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