Customer Reviews

Nokia HDW-2 Bluetooth Wireless

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

"Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition..." especially in a headset. First there was the Rack. Then the Iron Maiden. Now it's the Nokia headset. Painful to wear, even for a single call. The headset loops are not two sizes as some of the reviews here state- they are "left" and "right" - the loop you use depends on the ear you wish to wear the headset over. Both are too small for any ear except perhaps those found on a small Asian man or American child. No padding on the loop or the earpiece at all. Just hard plastic. Pressed against your ear.

Setup was a breeze - took an entire 2 minutes.

The Bluetooth connection drops sometimes when calls are ended. Yea, I use the headset, but not as often as I used my old Jabra headset with my last phone. The Jabra was an original model, and would not work with the this phone (a fact the Jabra site skips.) The Jabra was much more comfortable, but I thought it was a compatibility issue with Jabra - not an older vs newer Jabra headset, so I ordered the Nokia.

The Nokia does NOT include a charger - you need to use the phone charger. Handy because I can use the car charger or home charger. Not handy if the phone is charging. It's cool that you can access the last number dialed, voice dial, answer a call and more from the headset, but the limited battery life is a disappointment.

Consistent with other reviews on the HDW-2, the plastic ear loop will break no matter how well you care for it. Until Nokia redesigns this part and/or improves customer service, I would strongly recommend against purchasing the HDW-2. Calling Nokia customer service is very frustrating since the consumer pays to return the original defective parts and then must wait for a replacement. Clearly Nokia is unwilling to directly address this problem. Otherwise performance of the HDW-2 is fair. Reception is reasonably good with some intermittent static. Occasionally, the phone and HDW-2 will lose their connection for no apparent reason.

I have used this unit for a couple of months with a Nokia 6310i phone and would like to share my experience.

First of all, the ear hanger is fragile and needs to be treated with some care. If you follow the instructions you should have no problems. However, be very careful how you handle the unit when you are not using it as something as simple as placing this in your coat or shirt pocket could break the hanger if the unit is bumped or twisted in the pocket.

Seoondly, the battery life is no where near what Nokia claims. I tend to get about 24-30 hours in standby and usually less than 1 hour of talk time. I charged the unit and then called Nokia tech support and in less than 15 minutes the headset was giving me a low battery warning. It then charged back to full in less than 5 minutes. Clearly there is a problem either with my unit, or with the design.

If you are considering this unit due to Nokia's reputation you may want to look at other bluetooth headsets before you purchase this model. On the other hand this unit works great when it works, just keep a charger nearby at all times.

I recently reviewed the Nokia 3650 phone and would be remiss to no say anything about the 1st accessory that I purchased for it , this headset. I went to Nokia's website to purchase this item but it was out of stock so I oreder the Japanese/Asian version from a shop that specializes in cell phone accessories. Like the other reviewers said its a breeze to set up with the 3650. I think it took me all of 3 mins. I have what I consider, regular size ears and the headset is comfy for brief uses. I only wear it on my ride to and from work (a 20-30 mins trip). Its very light and a lot smaller then you would think by looking at the photos. It reception and range is great. I usually keep the phone in my glovebox in the car and my headset in my ear. The range is about 20-30 ft before the signalk get bad and at about 40 ft the signal breaks off. That means I can (if I have the right parking spot) get out my cae , walk into dunkin donuts for coffee and stop by the newspaper box and get back in the car without loosing my signal and I do this several morinngs on the way to work. Calls can be answered and ended and vol raised and lowered all on the headset. For the price I paid (...) for this item I think its worth it. It only lost one star because the battery cover seems kinds flimsy and it comes off when I put the unit in my pocket with change and /or keys in there. Also forgot to mention that the phone recarger also recharges the headset .

A little bit more expensive than other bluetooth headsets in the market, it's the best! I spent days to research for one for my Nokia 3650, then got the Jabra BT200, didn't work out (Jabra says that the older version doesn't support Nokia 3650). Then I decided I should really stick with Nokia.

I hesitated at the beginning because I didn't like the color scheme, but then I got over it. It is much much smaller and lighter then I expected. I realized that I don't really look like someone wearing a big gold earring as I thought I would be.

It works with my Nokia 3650 like a charm. I have read reviews saying that the ear loop/ring tends to break, I guess I will have to wait and see. It does look a little bit fragile.

The 1 star that it doesn't get is for the color scheme and the seems-to-be-fragile ear loop.

The sound quality of the headset wasn't what I expected. It wasn't always reliable in establishing a connection to my phone. The "earhook" hurt my ear (and yes, I tried both sizes). I returned it.

Not happy with this purchase. I had to send it back.
I'm a heavy cell-phone user; I'm in sales and am on the road a lot. I really rely on my phone. I liked the idea of having a Nokia hand-set (6310i) and Nokia bluetooth headset.

- Poor design: ear-piece is painful to wear for long periods of time, ear-loop broke on third day, power & volume buttons are small and difficult to use
- Battery life: batter lasted MAYBE an hour of talk-time. It would beep a few times, then go dead. Once it didn't beep at all and just died in middle of a call.
- Dropped connection: the pair relationship would intermittently drop. I've seen this comment from others not specifically related to the HDW-2, but the comparable Jabra product. I wonder if it may be a Nokia handset thing.

In short, I was very disappointed with this purchase. I think I'll give the Jabra a shot. The consensus on the Jabra seems very positive.

It's a breeze to setup up this headset to work with Nokia 3650 but the design is so poor that it's not worth buying when there are so many other well designed sets.

The 'earhook' not only hurts, it is very delicate and I broke the larger one. The small one fits only infants! The engineer who designed the 'earhook' must have very very tiny ears! I used super glue to stick it but it keeps breaking every other day. I am not able to find any one selling an extra large size or a spare one. So, I need to design something that works for me!

Functionally, it's great and works fine and is very loud and clear. You can control volume from the headset and answer the call from the headset. Also, you can use the same charger used for the phone. If you have 'tiny' ears go for it!

Here is some direct comparison with Jabra 250:

Set up of both the Nokia and the Jabra was very easy - I was able to pair it easily per the instructions within a couple of minutes.

The Nokia head set disconnects from the phone frequently (about 10 times a day). Almost every time I connect, it disconnects within a half hour (sometimes a couple of minutes). This is very annoying specially when driving and I don't know if it is connected or not until the phone rings. The Jabra headset has never disconnected.

The Jabra headset is still the most comfortable - no problems wearing it for extended periods. With the Nokia, my ear would start hurting within 15 minutes of wearing it.

The Jabra stays in place securely. The Nokia always felt like it is about to fall off. It also started moving around while I was wearing it since the clip became loose (where the headset attaches to clip) after about a week. The clip never fit correctly on my ear (both sizes), and the edges of the clip were too sharp. Eventually the clip broke.

The sound quality of the Jabra is far superior to the Nokia. People at the other end of the phone can't tell I am on a head set when using the Jabra. With the Nokia the sound was too tinny, and very muffled at both ends.

Battery life on the Jabra is much (5x) longer than the Nokia.

I bought this headset specifically because apprently my 3650 doesn't play well with bluetooth accessories, and this one says its compatable. Well, it isnt. I could never get it to pair with my phone. I know that bluetooth works on my phone because I connect it to my computer regularly.

After talking to Nokia, they said that the "firmware" in my phone was an old version, and so this headset wouldn't work with my phone after all. Be wary of buying this headset.