Customer Reviews

Sony DRBT22 Wireless Stereo Headset

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Works with iPhone 3G/GS with caveats (see update below).

Just bought these along with the TMR-BT8 iPod adapter. Pairing is very easy. While the headphones are off, hold down the power button for 7 seconds or when the pink and blue lights are blinking. The pairing code is 0000.

In addition to my 5th gen iPod, I also paired it with my Razr V3xx and Thinking T61p. No problems at all and the sound is as clear as with my wired headphones. These headphones do not have very much bass but it's much better than average in-the-ear types. The treble range is pretty good and better than average as well. Wireless range is very good, as long as there aren't too many obstacles. I was able to go at least 40 feet away with no cutting out at all. Simply amazing. Other features include controlling devices with the jog dial and volume buttons, which I was able to do with all 3 of my devices. I have not tried making or receiving a call from them yet but I don't perceive that I will have any problems. But with all the good, there's always a little bad. The control buttons do not feel firm and makes the whole thing seem fragile. In general I am careful with my electronics so this will not be a problem. I could see using these at the gym but I wouldn't drop them or place undue stress on them. This one is minor but the charger looks like it was designed to be compact but the prongs do not fold in and away. I could see traveling with these headphones on a business trip and being able to drop it in my laptop case would've been nice. And lastly, at this price, they should've included a case, preferably a hard plastic one.

Pros:
1. Easy pairing between devices
2. Very good wireless range
3. Intuitive controls
4. Battery life seems to be very good so far
5. Clear sound with no cutting out
6. Better than average sound quality

Cons:
1. Seems a little fragile
2. Prongs do not fold in on compact AC charger
3. No case included

UPDATE (8/11/08):
Now that I've had these headphones for 8 months, I found out that I can pair my phone and iPod simultaneously. I can be listening to the iPod and when a call comes in, the iPod pauses, and I can take the call. Once the call is over, the iPod resumes playing.

UPDATE (11/5/08):
These headphones work with my iPhone 3G but with caveats. First, you must use the Sony TMR-BT8 iPod adapter. You CANNOT just pair through the iPhone's built-in bluetooth AND you must not have it set to "on" before using the Sony adapter. It's probably best not to have bluetooth turned on at all. Second, you must have the adapter in and be in iPod mode before turning on headphones or they won't pair up. Third, you can get phone calls but they will not go through the headphones. And as with all previous iPhone accessories, you will be told that the adapter is an older accessory and may not work, do you want airplane mode. Just select "no" and don't worry about it. I think I covered all of the caveats. What is nice is that you can use the A2DP functions of the headphones like play/stop/FF/RW and volume, you will hear the phone ring in the headphones, and the music will resume once your call is over.

UPDATE (9/28/09):
iPhone ONLY. Now with the 3.0 firmware upgrade, there is no need for the Sony TMR-BT8 iPod adapter anymore. However, while you can play/stop music, you do not have prev/next or reverse/fast-forward functions. I recently upgraded to the iPhone 3GS and still no go on those functions. Hopefully this gets fixed in a future firmware upgrade.

It came down to this or the motorola s805, both of which are praised highly by users. I got this one only because the s805 look heavier, bulkier, and thus maybe less comfortable. The sony dr-bt22 is astonishing, I'm very glad I got it. I use it mainly with my laptop for listening to music/movies wirelessly and not with my cell phone.

PROS:
-sound quality, sound quality, sound quality. Fantastic, I've never heard a BT headphone be this crystal clear. No drop outs. Range is okay and will vary depending on your environment; i get about 12 feet in my room in crowded apartment, but thats plenty for my needs. One can argue that the bass is slightly lower than a plugged in headphone, but I can always increase the bass on my media player's equalizer if I wanted to. It sounds crystal clear and wonderful, better than a lot of plug-in headphones i've used.
-incredible convenience of being cordless
-unreal battery life. I go 4 or 5 days of daily afternoon listening before needing to charge it
-ergonomics: lightweight design, convenient controls, the volume buttons have indents so you can feel them with your fingers; the play/pause/rev/ff "jog" button is tactile and easy to find and use with your fingers.
-over-the-head and not behind-the-neck -- what that means is that you can lean your head back in your chair :)
-battery is removable; the manual gives instructions on how to remove it. I assume this means I could find a replacement for it if I hunted around enough (on ebay or at radioshack). Sony though doesnt provide any info on replacement battery, but it looks like a standard battery pack such as those used in cell phones.

CONS:
-its collapsible, but that also means the joints are vulnerable to breakage. You really need to treat them like fine china to be on the safe side. This is really for home use, it seems to me. I wouldnt go running with them on, and if I take them travelling, have to be super careful. They do seem fragile at the joints, which flex a lot.

Other notes:

-PROFILE SETUP:if you're connecting to a cellphone, you'll use the headset profile. Connecting to your laptop for music listening, be sure to use the a2dp or avrcp profiles which are much, much higher quality compared with the headset profile. When you set up the connection from your laptop itshould automatically set it up as avrcp or a2dp, otherwise there should be a way to select 'custom' and then select the a2dp or avrcp (or 'audio sink') service. If the phones dont sound very good, check the status of the profile and make sure.

-USING SKYPE: I found that in order to use skype (or the microphone on the sony) from your laptop, you need to set up a SEPARATE bluetooth profile configured as "headset". (this is the lower quality one but it will allow you to use your mic). What you do then is, if you want to use skype etc, you disconnect the headphones profile and connect to the headSET profile. THen it works perfectly via skype and mic quality is NOT BAD. When in headset profile you CAN listen to music, hit the 'call button', switch to skype, then hit call button again and resume music. However keep in mind the quality of the music when using headset profile is NOT the same as when using headphones profile (ie, the a2dp/avrcp service). Its like night and day; the latter is much better for music.
So I've decided to disconnect and re-connect between the two profiles depending on whether i'm using it for skype or just for listening to music.

Originally tried the Motorola S9 bluetooth headset. Very cool looking and comfortable but could not use outdoors. Constant cutting out while listening to music. When I say constant, I really mean constant. Then I tried a Motorola wired headset and had awful background noise and static. Both of these headsets were returned. Then I purchased this headset and what a difference. Absolutely no cutting out indoors and very rare cutting out while walking outdoors. I find the music quality better than either of the other sets. I do need to up the volume for calls as the other caller can't hear me unless I do. The voice quality I hear is superb. The construction seems a little flimsy but I'm not rough with my gear and at least this one works as it should. I was disappointed to see that the CNet review on this headset was not as good as the Motorola S-9. This set is just way better than the Motorola. The Motorola even says in the pamphlet that comes with it, to keep the device not around the waist but closer to the headset. Even keeping my phone up by my neck did nothing to improve the cutting out when outdoors with the Motorola set.

Try this Sony headset and you will be much happier.

I have tried adapters with 2.5 plugs but why bother with that.
Really impress with headphone set.

Reason Im writing this review is because
I got confused when my cell phone kept asking for a pass code
to use the headset.

No information came with headset for passcode
so I check on the internet.

The passcode for this headset was 0000.
Hope this is helpful for anybody buying this headset.

This is the best set of bluetooth headphones I've tried so far. In the past I've used the nokia bh501, sony bt21g, a jabra pair (that i forgot the model), and these. If you want to get away from the wires and don't mind slightly fragile construction these are a really good set of phones. I took one star off because I feel like these headphones are about $20 more than they should be. That being said if my current pair broke tomorrow I'd buy another.

For Bluetooth headphones, I first tried the MotoRokr S9. I found them to be uncomfortable, awkward controls, no bass, and the Bluetooth link was poor - they would frequently cut out (no sound), even at close range. Then I tried the Sony DRBT22. MUCH better bass than the S9, much better control button layout and feel, and they didn't cut out like the S9 always did. BUT: they did not stay in place very well - they kept slipping off since the cushions are flat and there is only hard plastic that rests on the top of your head. So then I tried the Sony over-the-ear DRBT50, only to find that although the bass was slightly better than the DRBT22, the mids were more muffled and the highs not as crisp, and the controls were TERRIBLE compared to the DRBT22. They were also less comfortable, since the cushions kept squashing the bows of my glasses against my head.
So I will be going back to the DRBT22, and somehow add some foam to the top of the headband, as Sony should have done in the first place.

Great for workouts since there is no cord.

Works great with my Nexus One and other phones that do stereo bluetooth. Can switch from playing back music to a regular voice communication bluetooth device on the fly depending on your phones capabilities.

Sound quality is good. I'd rate it 8 out of 10.
Phone call quality is so-so. I rate it 5 out of 10.

Note: When using bluetooth speakers you loose the ability to make equalizer adjustments. This appears to be a limit of the technology, not the headset. However the sound quality is still good

The buyer of this headset should be:
Someone who works out/ does other physical activites where a cord gets in the way.
A commuter or travelar.
Not someone who needs to make heavy use of the phone calling feature.
(there are better headsets for that.)
Some one that's not a sound quality snob. (You know who you are.)

I agree with most of the other reviews. The headphone works great, but the folding mechanism feels flimsy. I've used it for about a year and nothing's broken yet, but I'm careful to keep them in a case in my backpack. Just take an extra second to fold and unfold them gently and you'll have no problems.

They do work fine with my 2nd gen Ipod Touch with 3.0 system software.

The headphones are good, but not great. These look and feel much like the basic headphones that used to come with the Sony walkman a few years ago, sans cord.

PROS:
- They appear to be sturdy.
- FF/RW button (althought this feature is not working on my HP w/ builtin BT adapter on WinXP)...not sure if its the phones or the driver???
- Sound volume is good

CONS:
- If the battery dies you CAN NOT charge and listen at the same time. Connecting the AC cord kills the BT connection.
- Like most sony products and many BT prodcuts, the phones use a propretary AC adpater...no mini-usb carger

MIDDLE OF THE ROAD:
- Not too heavy, but not the lightest either.
- Fair sound quailty, agian good, not great.
- Relatively comfortable for short periods of time (<1 hour), definately not the most comfortable I've worn, but tolerable

OVERALL
A value for 30 bucks or less! I bought these for my work PC so I wouldn't desturb my neighbors when I have to have audio on my PC. I might tune in to internet sports radio for a few minutes every day, but I'm not listening to music all day. If you are planing on listening to music all day I'd invest a few more bucks on a set that is a little more padded. Connectivity has been good, but I'm relativly stationary at a desk and 2ft from the PC.

Look closely at the pictures and you'll see these heaphones have three parallel ridges under in the center of the head piece arch that dig into your skull. As soon as I unpacked these headphones I placed them on my head and immediately knew this was a horrible design flaw. When I finally got them paired with my phone and laptop I was even more disappointed since the audio quality is horible with both devices.
I'm so unhappy with this purchase I threw them in my glovebox and use them only for short phone calls while driving.