Customer Reviews

Nokia HS-3W Bluetooth Headset

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

 

 

I've had several bluetooth headsets, this is by far the worst I've ever used. First, it doesn't come with a charger, they expect you to already have a Nokia compatible charger in order to use it. That was a surprise, but since I found one after a lot of searching I thought I'd be OK.

Before you can charge the phone you have to install the battery yourself. This isn't as simple as you'd think. The battery and connector is tiny and it takes a fair amount of fiddling around to get it right. Not a big deal perhaps. But one of many examples of a poor design.

Next, this is the first headset I've seen that has a password other than 0000 or 1234. Since I'd already thrown the box away I had to go searching through the trash to find the scrap of paper with the number on it before I could pair it with my phone. The headset had been charging for an hour, so what was left of lunch had been thrown on top of the box. Why couldn't they use a standard PIN? Or at least put the PIN in the manual? By the time most people have charged the phone they've thrown out the box without knowing that one of several 4 inch square pieces of paper was needed. If I ever needed to pair it with another phone I'd have to find that stupid piece of paper again. Not smart.

All that would be OK if the dang thing worked. It doesn't. It loses connections with my Treo all the time. Whenever I connect it causes the volume control to come up on the Treo, not something I've seen with other headsets and really annoying. And it sounds terrible!!!! People on the other end of the call sound distant and there's a lot of echo, I'm told that my voice is barely understandable due to the echo and static.

I should have learned my lesson about Nokia products some time ago, but I thought I'd give 'em one more shot. That was a mistake, the headset is in the garbage where it belongs. Don't waste your money on this poorly made, poorly designed, piece of you know what.

I can't say that I have had the same problems as the folks above. Agreed that this is not the world's best BT headset, but is quite deserving of three stars, especially at the ~$30 that these things go for now.

I did not have any problems connecting the battery - it took me about 30 seconds to be ready for charging. The pair code is the last 4 digits of the serial number, so if you lose the code card, just look under the battery. Again, not the most convenient, but how often do you need to pair your headset?

This is one of the few headsets where the body of the module is separated from the earpiece. Therefore it is much more comfortable to wear than the over-the-ear designs that are very popular now.

Audio quality is mediocre, but passable. The buttons are sometimes hard to press, and the case is somewhat flimsy. If you drop the headset, you're almost sure to break the tabs of the battery cover.

In summary, I would say that the unit is usable for $30, but as prices drop and quality increases on competing units, this unit will become less attractive.

I used this product for about 2 weeks, and got constant complaints from the people I was trying to talk to. It seems that the problem with this bluetooth hands free kit, is that the mic is located in the earpiece, so it has to strain to pick up your voice. For example, in a quiet office environment, you might end up having to talk very loudly. If there is background noise, forget about it.

On the receiving end, I also found the sound quality to be pretty terrible, but I might attribute that to the bluetooth wireless connection.

I could honestly not recommend this product to anyone. I ended up returning mine.