[General Accessories] Menneisyys:
Verdict

If you have the Microsoft Bluetooth stack and won’t / can’t “hack” the Widcomm BT stack on your Windows Mobile device, then, forget the two Plantronics headphones at once. For you MS BT stack users, the Nokia headphones, which are of the few ones that are compatible with the stack, are pretty good when it comes to sound quality, even with pre-AKU3 devices. It’s, however, a bit overpriced and starts to become outdated – after all, it’s a one-year-old product. Also, it lacks some high-end features like support for two concurrent devices. As I'm not really sure you won't want to get for example the new Samsung YP-T9J to get rid of the low battery life of most Windows Mobile devices in A2DP mode, I'm not really convinced you should go for the Nokia either: should you ever get another A2DP sound source without a built-in phone, you won't be able to use it together with your cell phone while listening to music.

This also means none of these headphones are future-proof. As BT stereo headphones are still pretty expensive, I bet you won't be very happy when you purchase your next gadget, let it be a MS-based (without any chance to "hack" the Widcomm BT stack on it) Windows Mobile phone (which the Plantronics headphones have severe incompatibility problems with) or a non-phone-enabled A2DP music player like the Samsung YP-T9J (which the Nokia won't support in multiple device mode).

This means you should only get ANY of the tested headphones for your existing setup if you're absolutely sure you won't switch A2DP source platforms in the near future (you won't get another MS BT stack-based phone if you go for any Plantronics headsets OR won't get a separate, non-phone-enabled A2DP source, which you'd still like to use concurrently with your phone, if you go for the Nokia), which could easily render your expensive headphones useless.

Of course, I'll report on newer headsets and their compatibility issues in the future too; I really hope I'll be able to find some without major compatibility issues and with a far higher level of future proof than the three reviewed headphones. Keep reading my articles!

Recommended links

Highly recommended HTC Trinity-related thread (also see this for the Trinity + HBH-DS970 combo)

Wizard + A2DP

Jack Cook’s excellent BlueAnt X5 review (brand new & highly recommended!)

Fire Dragan’s roundup

Official BT Profile Overview - recommended if you'd like to know what Hands-Free Profile (HFP) or Headset Profile (HSP) are.

Mobileburn’s Bluetooth Stereo Headset Roundup (also linked from here)

Which Bluetooth Stereo Headset are you using?

Logitech Releases Next Generation Bluetooth Stereo Headphones (over a year old! If you’d like to know what Logitech will release in the near future, check out for example this). There is also Logitech FreePulse Bluetooth Headphones Review by The Register.

Bluetake's i-PHONO mini Bluetooth Headphone Kit Reviewed (over a year old!)

Lubix NC1 Review (new & recommended!);

Ubixon's Lubix Bluetooth stereo headsets: the magnets make the magic (a VERY short overview)

Tech Digest’s brand new Motorola S805 review

Motorola S9 Bluetooth Headphones - news only

Southwing SA505 Headphones

Etymotic ety.8 Bluetooth earphones reviews from both CNET and iLounge

Motorola HT820 review by IGN

Review: Koss Cobalt Bluetooth headphones are lousy, wireless

A Comprehensive list of A2DP Phones & Headsets

Sony DRBT10CX-stereo Bluetooth earbuds - another, highly recommended, new thread on the new Sony earbuds. It also compares these earbuds to the HBH-DS970 (related thread here), which has decidedly lower battery life (as opposed to the whopping 11 hours of the DRBT10CX) but is also less bulkier. As far as Sony’s future BT models are concerned, the DR-BT21G and the DR-BT50 need to be mentioned.

VERY short Pulsar 590 review.[/b][/b]