Customer Reviews

Nokia BH-503 Stereo Headset (Black)

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I feel like the quest for a decent pair of bluetooth stereo headsets is about like the search for the Holy Grail. Most of them don't sound very good or talk quality is terrible or the battery doesn't last or they are very uncomfortable.

I'm happy to say that these were definitely worth the money and a big step up from anything else I have used.

Comfort -- I was concerned about the "secureness" of the fit and the comfort since I had tried a couple of the "back of the neck" styles before and they really didn't work for my head. These are a smidge too big but overall, they are very usable while I'm driving etc. You would not want to work out wearing these, though -- they would bounce right off and if they did stay on, the sweat would probably destroy them.

Incoming Sound quality -- Very good. I'm using this with a Nokia N96 and they get LOUD if you aren't careful. If you are on a call, the extra volume really comes in handy if you are in the car with wind and road noise.

Outgoing sound quality -- I'm taking this on "heresay" since I have not actually listened to anyone talk through these BUT the calls I've made -- no one has complained about the way I sound. When I have used a BT headset in the past, I would often get complaints that there is an echo or I sound like I'm in a wind tunnel. Today I used these on a conference call for work and nobody new (and they are a pretty vocal bunch if there is any extraneous noise -- they'll tell you to mute yourself!)

Battery life -- About average. You'll probably need to charge them every night but they should get you through the day.

Ease of use button control placement: The great thing about these headphones is that the buttons are big. Once you have the lay out memorized, it is hard to make a mistake. Of course, you can also use the controls on the phone if that is handy but you don't have to have the phone in hand to adjust.

Construction: Very solid construction -- some might find them a bit too heavy. However, the documentation is very specific on a list of no-nos for what not to do with these headphones (mostly having to do with protecting them from extreme weather elements or extreme movement). They do provide a nice little draw string bag to store them in which is a nice touch. I probably wouldn't throw them in your backpack to be crushed by a bunch of text books. However, I don't think you are going to have to baby them too much, either.

Overall, these are the best bluetooth headphones I've tried and I've tried them all!

FYI -- by comparison, I did NOT like the following headseats:

Motorola MOTOROKR S9 Bluetooth Active Headphones [Motorola Retail Packaging]

Samsung Bluetooth Stereo Headset SBH170

[NCJAR]

The nokia BH-503 is my first bluetooth stereo headset. honestly, i have nothing much to compare it to so - this is purely about my experience so far.

i have had this headset for 3 days now. my findings are thus:

pros:

the sound quality of this device is SUPERB. i honestly cannot complain. the bass is rich, the mid and upper ranges are great. i tested it at first with songs i know certain details wouldnt be noticeable if the speakers arent good and well, i cannot complain. the speakers are excellent.

pairing with the phone is easy, very easy. i have the Nokia E71 and its a great compliment to the phone.

battery life... well, i am yet to finish them. i use them alot and .. since the first day i charged it, i only had to charge it on the 3rd day simply because i didnt want it to die on me. i cannot really tell if the battery is low.

quality.
The feel of its is weighty. its not weak, but you can feel it and tell that its not gonna endure bad usage too well, but its not gonna be easy to destroy either.

Buttons.
well, they do take some getting used to but... once you have memorized the locations... easy as cheese.

Calls.

i am very pleased with the initiative to include the calling feature on this phone. i hear every caller CLEARLY and they hear me fine.

Loudness.
the headphones have their own built in volume level. so, even when i put the phone of half... when i turn the volume up on the headset, it doesnt affect the phone's volume. sweet. careful though, this thing gets VERY LOUD.

Cons:

yes, there are cons.

i have small ears. this headset begins to hurt after a while (after say... hour and a half of having it on continuously). resting it on my ear begins to be a prob cause its not really too light after that hour passed. sometimes i wear it and forget its there... but, other times, it makes itself known by hurting behind the ear.
so far i notice that the headset cannot be extended, meaning, if your have a large head... and really fat neck.. i doubt this is gonna work for you. if you want to rest this head phone around your neck, that might be a prob too, as i said.. the heaphones dont extend.

another con is that i cannot tell (by looking) if the battery is low, meaning there is no meter that shows your battery life. for now, i have to remember how long i have been using it and.. well.. when i turn it on and i see the green light, i figure all is well. as i said above, so far i cannot drain it in one day (meaning a day on the road, at work) it lasts RIGHT through the day. :) thats a good thing though. :)

calls.
when i get a text message and or a call, the music fades (thats good) but, after the call ends, i notice that the headset "forgets" my original volume and gets LOUDER than originally set it. by now, i have come to expect it so i have to turn the volume down. still not sure what causes that yet and funny thing is, it doesnt happen all the time. there is a beep of some sort after the interruption by the incoming call or text sound and then... it doest that weird thing.

anyhoo. side from those. i feel good about this device and would recommend it highly.

These headphones are very good so far. They are stylish, light, and thin, though not as comfortable as I like. I have them paired with Cowon S9 and Sony w580i ... and they work flawlessly. I previously owned Jabra BT620, below observations are influenced by that device.

Pros:
- Great design, color, weight. I like the aluminum burgundy ring and similarly colored rubber volume buttons to match.
- Excellent sound (to me at least - but sound really is very subjective) with decent bass.
- Fast charging (1.5 hours to full charge).
- Unobstrusive LEDs (unlike Jabra's giant blue rings that annoy all round me - this one has a tiny light that does not light up all the time - love it).
- Very fast to pair, activate, and deactivate.
- Fewer annoying bleeps when it reacts to commands (like connect/disconnect).

Cons:
- Not as comfortable to wear (though better than Jabra - lighter and thinner) as regular headphones.
- The soft pads don't seem to be replaceable.
- No USB charging (unlike Jabras which I could charge anywhere).
- Hard to press volume buttons. Their placement sucks as well as I hit part of my ear when i press them ...
- Lack of clear tactile feedback to figure out which button to press - but I suspect I'll just get used to that with time.
- No overcharge protection (according to the manual) so have to watch out when charging is done.

I really like the headphones and using them in the gym is great. I just wish that some of the button placement was better and it was more comfortable. Otherwise, for BT headphones they are better than Jabras.

In preparation for my new iPhone 4, I ordered these and the Motorola S305's. The motorola's were half the price, which was a big plus. The material on the earphones is more comfortable on the Nokias. The Nokias are heavy, which makes you feel like there is some good magnet/material used in the construction but in the case of wearing behind-the-ear headphones, you don't want a heavy device (or at least I don't). The angle of the earphones don't really feel completely natural but the padded material somewhat makes up for it. I tried running around my house with these on and they didn't move much, just kinda hang on your ears a little. Sound quality, the lows (where the weight comes in) are certainly better than the motorola's but that is quickly forgotten when you hear almost a staticy distortion, the mids sound a little digitalized. It wasn't my phone/connection because the motorola's were very crisp, sounded like they were wired.

Due to the weight factor, sound quality, and price, the Motorola S305's are the better deal. The buttons on the Nokia are better build, the overall package looks better from Nokia (you get a carrying bag) but all-in-all, I'd go with the motos, which I'm listening to now as I write this review.

Love the iPhone 4 too!!!

This was my sixth pair of headphones since getting my iPhone last almost a year ago. I used the earbuds provided with the phone for a few months then tried to other corded earbuds. However, I got very tired of the cords because they kept gettting caught on something and kept getting damaged.

The first bluetooth headset I tried was the MOTOROKR S9 (around [...] bucks). It was pretty good but not comfortable. Perhaps it is my big head or because of the in-ear design, but I kept getting headaches when I used them. I later tried an over-ear headset by Rockfish that I found at Best Buy (about [...] bucks). They were much more comfortable but the sound quality was lacking.

After reading a rather convincing review, I tried the Nokia BH-503. This is easily the BEST headset I have owned. I was immediately impressed by the sound quality. I have a pretty eclectic music library and this headset delivers no matter the music.

I also am pleased that the headset is very comfortable. It stays in place without squeezing my big head. :)

The controls are well-placed, easy to use and intuitive. Long battery life. I have had the headset for almost two weeks and I have found nothing about it that I don't like.

All-around WINNER!!!

As a new owner of an iPod Touch I wanted a set of wireless headphones that were comfortable and had better sound than the Apple earbuds. These Nokia headphones deliver, but aren't flawless. On the plus side, their sound quality is far better than the stock Apple buds with much richer bass. Their range is good too; I was able to leave my iPod next to my computer so it could keep charging via USB and sit quite far away with no degradation of sound quality. The volume controls are easy to use and it's nice to be able to adjust the volume without fishing the iPod out of my pocket.

Downsides: they're comfortable for relatively brief periods, but they pinch the top of my ears so I can't recommend them for lengthy wear. I know Nokia had to pack in batteries and Bluetooth so I hate to complain about the weight but they're also a couple of ounces heavier than ideal. The buttons on the side of the headset have modest embossing but it's still too hard to use them just via touch.

Finally a heads up for iPhone/iPod Touch owners: the Prev/Next buttons will not work for you. It's a problem with Apple's 3.0/3.1 software support of AVRCP, not the headphones. Hopefully it'll be fixed in a future software update.

Considering the price, this is a great set of headphones. The long battery life and long reception range are great. And I can take a call with them as an added convenience. They are reasonably comfortable and the sound quality is fine. I'm sure there are better headphones out there, but the combination of features and price make this set a winner. I wear them all day at the office and walk all around the floor, getting coffee or making lunch, all while leaving my phone at my desk. I stream Pandora or listen to my own iPod collection and it all sounds good. I also use them on weekends when I'm working on projects. I sometimes use power tools where I would wear a set of hearing protectors. Most of the time I can wear these instead and hear music while protecting my ears from loud saws and grinder sounds. I had no trouble pairing these with my iPhone 3GS, but I had to do a lot of "interpreting" of the instructions. The map-like fold out instruction sheet is *horrible* and absolutely worthless.

I'm not a big fan of wireless audio - too much interference, too many drop outs and generally poor battery life. But I needed something for work that would let me groove to the latest Buffett album without having a cord connected to my PC or iPhone. So I grabbed the BH-503.

Setup was easy - charge the battery overnight, turn on the headphones, enable Bluetooth on my iPhone and voila! - the headphones were paired and ready to use. Took some time for me to figure out how to tell my iPhone which output to use, but after that it was smooth sailing.

Battery life is excellent - I use these about 8 hours a day, and I've only had a "battery low" beep twice in the past month. As long as I remember to connect the charger at the end of day 2, they'll last a full 2 days with no problem.

Sound quality is what you'd expect from headphones playing back MP3s - acceptable. Volume range is good, although there is no Mute function (unless I missed that in the manual), so you can't turn the sound down completely.

Controls are well placed and responsive. The forward/back buttons don't do anything on my iPhone 3G, but I suspect that's an issue with the iPhone 3G's implemenation of A2DP Bluetooth. Phone calls are easy to receive, and both incoming and outgoing audio are very good.

I also paired these with my Dell XPS-M1530 for late night listening, and the process was just as easy as with the iPhone.

The headphones are comfortable (although it takes some getting used to if you're used to earbuds or over-the-head phones). The weight is surprisingly tolerable, and the foam pads are okay. The headband isn't very springy, so you're relying on the over-the-ear hoop to hold them in place. I wouldn't recommend them for jogging or other exertion - they simply don't stay in place that well when you're moving around.

Pros
- Excellent battery life
- Easy setup with iPhone 3G and Dell PC
- Good sound and volume range
- Simple to use for audio and phone calls
- Solid construction - they look and feel very well made
- Red color matches my Dell XPS laptop

Cons
- Loose fitting - not good if you're planning on excercising
- Foam ear pads are comfortable, but a more substantial vinyl ear cup would serve these phones better
- They don't fold, so you can't stuff them in a pocket

For context, I use these with my iphone to listen to music and books while doing chores around the house, and make/receive long phone calls mostly for business purposes.

Positives:
- Sound quality is very good when used as headphones
- As headset, callers tell me I sound crystal clear
- Volume can go really high
- Works with skype which is a nice perk.

Negatives:
- Heavy!
- Big and dorky looking with its blinking blue light. Wish these are less obtrusive looking.
- Slides and bounces if I am walking fast
- Pushes down on my ears and causes pain and aching after about an hour of continuous use.

Also - buy these from hong kong on ebay - you'll pay 50-60% less even after shipping.

These headphones are ALMOST perfect, first the good, they have the second best sound I've ever heard from bluetooth headphones, the best being the Moto HT320's but they where HUGE and the ear cushion was the absolute worst of any headphones I've ever used (bluetooth, wired, wireless or otherwise), the Nokia's also have some sound isolating (NOT NOISE CANCELING)(THAT WOULD BE THE BH-905's) ability thanks to the fact there so big around your ears and thanks to the amazing ear cushions, the buttons are big and VERY easy to find (while wearing the headphones), and they have some great bluetooth features (see Nokia.com)

Now for the bad, THE TREBLE SUCKS, well maybe not that bad, i just have a pair of MOTOROKR S305's so the difference is quite apparent to me HOWEVER if these are going to be your only pair of buletooth headphones you will not notice, really the only other bad thing is for some "know" reason Nokia used there old stand by connector for charging instead of a USB Micro-B port like soon to be EVERY OTHER DEVICE on the market (this is one of the main reasons why i have a pair of MOTOROKR S305's), one last thing they come with a carrying pouch witch has helped out massively, for me that is, so make sure you are buying them from Amazon ("ships from and sold by Amazon.com")