[Tilt, TyTN II, MDA Vario III Accessories] Eatontj:
I purchased the Motorola S9 and the Motorola HT820 from Amazon. Both were around $50 at the time so I put both sets through the paces with plans to keep one or both if they both worked well.

My first priority was to get a pair of headphones that stayed on my head while jogging/running/biking/etc. Comfort over long periods of time was not a huge priority as I never plan to wear them for over a few hours at a time. I was pleasantly surprised to find that both headphones not only stayed on the ear, but stayed right in place with very few adjustments needed.

The S9s actually outperformed the HT820s in this area which was unexpected. Using the largest earbud size, the headset stayed right in the "sweet spot" of the ear. This was great, because typically the earbud style headphones pop out of my ear whenever I do anything active. The HT820s moved quite a bit more, but stayed on the ear and stayed in place well enough.

I was pleased with the sound quality of both headphones, the S9s sounding a bit better with the earbud design offering the typical richer sound vs. the open style headphone. The difference in quality wasn't huge, and the HT820s certainly sounded just fine.

Both headphones paired great with the Tilt/Kaiser. Both offered stereo bluetooth for music which was just what I was looking for. Both headphones had very similar controls for making calls, volume, and changing and pausing tracks.... so really no difference there.

In terms of comfort and sound quality I prefered the S9s over the HT820s. Plus, the S9s are lighter, easier to stow and carry, and a bit more low profile/stylish. HOWEVER, the S9s are getting returned and I'm keeping the HT820s because once I stepped out of my house/office/car and into the outside world the S9s stopped working.

I searched these forums and many other review sites all over the internet and kept running into people complaining about the same thing with the S9s (the outside interference). I tried all sorts of solutions (switching bitpool levels through Kaiser Tweak or Advanced Config, pairing and repaing the headset, using different music players, enabling/disabling Joint Stereo, turning off/on WiFi, turning off/on phone, turning off/on 3G...) and nothing could combat the problem.

I want to be able to run/jog/bike with the phone in my pocket and get good reception on my headset and it was plain impossible with the S9s. The HT820s faired much better although were by no means perfect. So I'm settling for the HT820s because they work outside and the S9s don't.

I'd be glad to hear if anyone has some suggestions for stereo bluetooth headphones that perform outside the home/car/office with little (hopefully no) interference. Behind the neck style headphones have been best for me to use while running/biking/whatever because they seem to stay in place better than the rest. Really, I'd love to find a pair just like the S9s that don't skip every other second (literally) once I walk outside. I have no idea why the S9s skip and the HT820s don't, but it's intolerable.

Anyways, I hope this little write-up helps anyone looking at the the sets I tried and I'd appreciate anyone posting about their experiences with stereo headsets... especially if they have a pair that fits well on the ear that gets good reception outdoors.

Thanks.

Motorola S9:

Pros:

-Super comfortable.

-Stayed right in place when biking, running, jogging, etc.

-Good quality sound (when no interference).

-Lightweight.

-Easy to carry around.

-Microphone worked well (so I was told).

Cons:

-Damn things don't work outside, even when holding the phone against the headset because (presumably) of outside interference. Seems to be a problem for a lot of people, not just in my area.

-Not stereo for making phone calls, just the left speaker.

Motorola HT820:

Pros:

-Comfortable.

-Good sound quality.

-Stayed on head when running, biking, etc. A little bounce here and there, but would typically fall right back into place after a bump.

-Microphone worked well.

-Received calls in stereo, sounded great.

Cons:

-A little bulky.

-Probably wouldn't want to wear around for several hours, can pinch the ear a bit.

-Sound leakage (other people can hear your music) typical to open style earphones (although not nearly as bad as many other open style headphones).