[chinesecatt]

Verdict: I would definitely recommend this
Pros: Experience great music always
Cons: Wished it has the same feature as the Voyager 815, multipoint technology. Able to pair two phones at the same time - your personal phone and your business phone.
URL:
Price: Ranges from $100.00 - $149.00
Overall rating: 9.9/10


Who is searching for one of the best Bluetooth Headsets out there? I know I am. But then again I am always searching for accessories. Having owned quite a few of BT Headsets myself (Nokia BH-700, Nokia BH-800, Plantronics Discovery 645, Plantronics Discovery 655, Motorola H9 miniBlue, and a couple more) when I had my BlackBerry 8700g, it was always a never ending search for the perfect one. Different OS upgrades, not much help improvement when it comes to voice quality over BT. So my searched for my old device’s, stopped. Then I got the Curve….. Oh boy! Now the cycle starts all over again!

Most of you own an iPod or an MP3 player. With this time and age, it is one of those “must haves”, right? Not because everybody is into it, but if you are a music lover and or uses music to relieve stress, it is just one of those devices that you just can’t leave without. And with this time and age, everything that is latest and new technology, is just heaven sent. Which technology are we talking about?...

A2DP – as you know it means Advanced Audio Distribution Profile for which this Bluetooth Headset Review is all about.
Let’s meet the Plantronics Voyager 855.



First off, this thing BLEW me away. (I’ll elaborate later.)

Second, with its slick design and comfort in mind, this is one of the best headsets I have ever tried. Who among you complains of headset “wearing” you down? They say light and comfy… nu uh.. not after a couple of hours of wear, it doesn’t. But not with the Plantronics Voyager 855. Having played this for 6 days now, not once did I complain about any discomfort. I even tested this last night, sleeping with this BT headset on. And guess what? It was still comfy even lying on it. (Not good to follow me though. I always experiment on what works and what doesn’t.)

Review Starts Here:

With QuickPair Technology, I didn’t have any problems whatsoever in the pairing process. Once I paired my headset with my Curve, I didn’t have to do it again, unlike the other BT headsets that I owned. This then activate the following Bluetooth Profiles: Headset Profile (HSP) for talking on the phone, Hands-free Profile (HFP) for talking on the phone and operating the phone, A2DP for receiving high-quality audio content and finally, the AVRCP profile, for operating audio/video devices. Then you are ready to use it. Of course, I needed to charge the headset first for 3 hours before I can use it. Why? Because I have to follow instructions!

Now let’s talk about the comfort. Comes with the optional ear loop stabilizer, for increased stability and with 3 sizes of sound isolating ear buds, there sure is one perfect fit for your ear canal. This you have to know though, once you got this in, there better be nobody talking to you because, there really is no way for you to hear them even if they have a megaphone! This seals all noises OUT! So who needs those “ear muffs” style headsets, right? And with its “cable” design, stereo plug-in cable, this makes this BT headset discreet and perfect for those occasions where you don’t want anybody to know if you were or weren’t listening to them (you have to have long hair though to perfect the let’s-pretend-I’m-listening-to-you face). As shown in the photos attached here, the cable is very flexible and almost no weight at all. So even though you wear this with the stereo plug-in cable draped across the back of your neck, it doesn’t give you the feeling of that “t-shirt tag” discomfort.






Now the let’s talk about the range. To maintain a connection with your Bluetooth, you have to keep your paired devices within range. If there is an obstacle between your headset and your mobile device, you usually experience interference – in a form of a crappy audio or crackling sound. Not this!!! When I tested this in between walls or my walking away from my Curve, the music still has the same quality as like without interference, but instead of the crackling sound or crappy audio, it gives you pauses. Stretch my distance some more and this headset paused my music and just literally STOPPED my music after a few when I didn’t close the distance between my Curve. Meaning, my BT profiles were even off! I don’t know if this is a feature but I sure like it – a lot! It helps save my batt.


Headset controls are located and are arranged in such as way that it is easy to operate. With the Sliding Boom design, I can answer and end my call conveniently. Adjusting the volume, controlling music tracks, answering a call while listening to music – easy with just using the control buttons on this headset. Love using the voice dialing? How about doing it with just a push of one button! No more searching for the icon or app!





So to elaborate some more? Here it is --- IT ROCKS!

Voice quality? No complaints from calling party. With the isolating ear buds, calls are ever so clear. With secrets or endearments, you can be sure, nothing would be missed.

[tweezak]

I just bought this headset (before reading this review) and I am blown away by the quality! I found a much better price because I'm really cheap. I paid $59 at Newegg though the price increased to $76 shortly after I purchased.

I am using the headphones with an 8820 and it pairs and recognizes flawlessly. Above all, stereo audio quality is much better than I expected from a bluetooth connection. I wouldn't consider it on par with high quality corded headphones but the freedom of movement this affords is well worth it.

I'm also more impressed than ever with the 8820. When you have started playing music...you can go back and surf the web or read email or whatever. There is a little slowdown in the response of the phone because the player is taking CPU cycles but that's minor. The cool thing is, from the main screen, you can hit the menu button and a new option is listed: "Now Playing." Pick that and you are taken right back to the player where you can do what you want. Of course, you can always adjust volume, mute, pause, skip forward/back from the headset controls without even touching the phone.

In the player menus, it also detects that the headphone is there. A menu option to toggle from the headset to the handset are available.

Music play is automatically paused when a call comes in and resumes when the call is terminated. Awesome device integration!!

Things I would change:

The extendable boom is kinda pointless. You can answer/hangup just as easily by pressing the main button. Not really a penalty but the overall mass of the device could probably be scaled down even though it is pretty small to begin with.

The woven sheath over the cable makes quite a bit of noise through the earpieces when it rubs against your collar. I don't think there is a way around it for this design. Even if the cord was covered with rubber, just tapping it transfers noise that you can hear. Unfortunate...but definitely not a deal breaker.

When you have both ear plugs in...you can't very well hear yourself talking when you are on the phone. Subsequently, it is a bit difficult to pick the right speaking volume.

All in all...I'd say this is the perfect solution for people with an 8820 who are sick of looking for a decent set of headphones with a 2.5mm plug for music and don't really want to use an adapter.

NOTE!!! When I tried, this headset did not play the audio for videos or movies that I had on my SD card. I was aware this was an issue with stereo bluetooth implementation on the Blackberry so I wasn't surprised. Hopefully this will be fixed with a future software release.

[chinesecatt]

Originally Posted by tweezak

The woven sheath over the cable makes quite a bit of noise through the earpieces when it rubs against your collar. I don't think there is a way around it for this design. Even if the cord was covered with rubber, just tapping it transfers noise that you can hear. Unfortunate...but definitely not a deal breaker.

This is normal for any stereo headsets that are designed to fit in your ear canal. But once you have your music on, you really hardly notice them -- just focus on the music

Originally Posted by tweezak

When you have both ear plugs in...you can't very well hear yourself talking when you are on the phone. Subsequently, it is a bit difficult to pick the right speaking volume.

Hmm, interesting because I hear myself perfectly. In fact, headsets that are designed to be worn in your ear canal gives best sound isolation -- making conversations clearer.

[tweezak]

I just verified last night that these also work in stereo with the Verizon 8830.

[Sci-Tek]

thanks for the review!

[tweezak]

I just improved these headphones a TON! The stock silicone ear cushions are too hard for my ears and really start to hurt after a while. I tried one of the cushions from a friend's Sony Fontopia headphones and they were **MUCH** more comfortable! I searched for a cheap place to get them and found a lot of fakes but I ended up getting the real deal here for $8 and free shipping:

http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/...3556&langId=-1

BTW...if the link doesn't work, just go to sonystyle.com and search for "fontopia". Click on any of the headphones that come up and the replacement cushions should be in the right sidebar. The part number is EPEX1 but searching for that doesn't seem to work.

They are AWESOME! I can wear these things for hours now and have no discomfort at all. In addition, the speaker is completely exposed now rather than the sound being piped through a bunch of small holes in the stock silicone cover. Also, since the Sony cushions are smaller and more compliant, you can bed the phones deeper giving better bass. Daft Punk sounds killer now!!!

For me, these were well worth the money.

Cheers all!

[SanaTizer]

I'm thinking about picking one of these up soon, but I have a couple of questions to those that already have one.

1. Can you listen to music mono ie without the stereo piece attached as I can with my Jabra 8040?

2. I can't see any photos of the charging port, is that a standard mini USB charging port? That would be sweet if it were...

Thanks