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 NOT COMFORTABLE,
17 June 2005
In general I am okay with this headset, I am using it with a TREO 650 which lends itself to other issues, the headset is not advanced enough to work automatically with the treo. My main complaint is it is not adjustable to my ear. I actually have to use the big ear gel to get it to stay on because the part that goes over your hear is about 1 cm too high over my ear, so the big ear gel holds it up.... It fits my husband perfectly, so maybe it is that I have smaller ears, it just seems to me that there should be a better way to make it fit.
Reviewed by: Amazon.com Reviewer
 Absolutely the best!!!,
18 May 2005
I tried out almost all other devices and bought this one 2 years ago. never had any problems with it. I sometimes forget I have it on! that comfortable to wear.
Reviewed by: Anonymous
 Generally happy,
11 May 2005
I have been using this device for two months, and have been generally happy with it - the audio fidelity is good, the unit is comfortable, the battery life is long and, although I haven't tested the maximum range, I usually use it at 10 to 12 feet from the phone (Nokia 6820). My house is in a marginal reception area for Cingular, and using the headset allows me to put the phone in a "sweet spot" with an unusual orientation, giving me three or four bars instead of one.
The "belt clip" is a joke.
Reviewed by: Amazon.com Reviewer
None better for comfort,
03 May 2005
I've been using Bluetooth headsets since the inception. I used Ericson then moved onto others.
The Jabra is my latest choice headset. Other headsets will shimmy and shake on your head and you never really feel like the thing is going to stay put. With this design by Jabra you can literally shake your head and it stays put.
I've transitioned from cell phone to PDA phone and the paring of the device remains basic and simple. Enable the phone to be searched for then sync em. Those are always the two primary steps in connecting any bluetooth headset to a device.
As for specs on the headset. I think the headset works well. If your phone or PDA transmits well, then your headset will work well. Clarity and sound levels are on par with what you'd expect from a wireless headset. Nothing terrific but far from bad. In fact I think it is good.
I drive a convertable car don't expect this or any bluetooth headset to do well in the open air.
I'm always concerned about a boom that is too far from my mouth and this one meets me halfway on the desire to have an actual boom for the microphone.
The headset design takes some getting to used to in attaching it over your ear but once you master this task you'll find that you will easily forget your wearing the headset, and I really mean it.
The battery life is great and I've never had an issue with power.
The belt clip is a joke but I never use it. I just hang the device over my rear view mirror or put it in my dash if I'm not wearing it.
I say big thumbs up on this unit as so many new ones are popping up and they want to be better because they are new. Don't buy the hype. This is a rock solid blue tooth device.
PS: I helped T-mobile get the pairing instructions down for this device with the Ipaq 6315 PDA phone. It works easy. The only down side is that I find I have to soft-reset the PDA frequenlty to re-connect the two devices. I don't have to re-pair them. But this is a bluetooth problem in general for all phones and pda's.
Reviewed by: Lars H
A good Bluetooth handsfree kit, but with a few problems,
26 April 2005
The FreeSpeak is no doubt a reasonably good performer. The sound on it is reasonably clear and the microphone does a good job too. My only complaint on it is that once I paired mine and turn the kit on, my PDA (a Sony Clie PEG-UX50) would no longer be able to connect to the phone (a SonyEricsson T610) via bluetooth unless the kit is switched back off. Could be a flaw with either the phone's design and/or the Bluetooth specification (I never really did test it with a different phone to verify the problem), but since I am able to receive calls while my PDA is connected to the internet (I have GPRS enabled on my line), it would be nice to be able to answer a call without either talking on my phone or taking the PDA offline. Still, a good starter kit if you don't have any other Bluetooth device paired with your phone.
Update: Well, I've managed to get a Motorola V600 and tried the same headset on it, and the same problem persists- you can't connect other Bluetooth devices to the phone while the headset is connected. I am now also fairly certain that the problem is with Bluetooth's specifications as I was unable to exchange pictures between the phones while the PDA was accessing one of the phones. So, okay. No fault of the phones, PDA or the headset. Just the way Bluetooth works in general.
Reviewed by: Amazon.com Reviewer
Poor belt clip design,
25 April 2005
I don't have much to say about the 250 other than to point out the really poor design of the belt clip/charger. The 250 is supposed to click into this holder (which connects to the power adaptor for charging). This holder is designed to clip onto your belt so that you can carry the 250 when is is not in use. Okay, I agree that you will look extremely nerdy if you have your phone AND your earpiece hanging from your belt but sometimes you need to put the things away and the Freespeak 250 is really too fragile to carry in your pocket. The only problem with this is that the 250 will easily fall out of the holder and if you use it you WILL lose it. It is only a matter of time. My 250 lasted about 45 seconds and when I went to get it from the belt clip it was GONE. Not the holder but the 250 itself. Some lucky stiff at the Houston airport picked it up and walked away.
I also thought that the 250 was not well made. When I would push the on/off or volume buttons I could feel the housing "give" a little, as if the buttons were about to collapse into the housing. A little too flimsy and not indication of a long life expectancy for the earpiece.
I suggest that you consider another alternative - at $90 the 250 is simply overpriced.
Reviewed by: Amazon.com Reviewer
 Not Ready for Prime Time,
21 April 2005
I have used this headset with my Treo 650 and have been very disapointed with it's performance. It may be a function of the Treo's Bluetooth capabilities so keep that in mind and do not waste your money on this headset if you are using a Treo.
It has very poor range; arm's length at best. Outdoors it is useless. It has times when it will refuse to pick up a call. The voice quality is also poor with hissing and crackling. The only place it seems to be remotely useful is in the car where it is within arm's reach and the hissing is only moderate. This is pretty expensive to only be able to use part of the time. Talk time is also much shorter than advertised.
My $.02, save your money for something else.
Update: Recently purchased the new Treo 650 headset by PalmOne. That is the new Bluetooth 1.2 version, not the clone of this Jabra. Much, much better. Now I have a headset that I can use all the time. I have completely replaced all my wired headsets.
Reviewed by: Amazon.com Reviewer
So far not a big fan.,
20 April 2005
First, I'm totally willing to plead user error (but I don't think so). I bought this item because of CNET's high marks. After successfully pairing it, I found in the manual there were special pairing instructions for my phone (T-610) to get extra features. Since re-pairing it, I no longer get a voice activation prompt and have to guess when to say my contact name.
Also, the manual specifies that wireless networks will interfere with Jabra's reception and cause popping. Thank goodness there aren't any of those around! Seriously, these days every Starbucks on the planet has a wireless network up and running.
But my biggest gripe is the inoperable voice dialing. I get "no match" after "no match." My guess is that the ambient noise when you record your voice names has to match up with the ambient noise when you make the handsfree call. (i.e. the interior of my car sounds different than my office or living room).
Finally, my email to Jabra tech support has gone unanswered (24 hours).
I'm still keeping my fingers crossed and will happily edit this review should things work out better. I'm going to try resetting and re-pairing.
Reviewed by: Amazon.com Reviewer
Possibly the best out there, but one prob with Motorola v551,
16 April 2005
Very comfortable and fits well, very light-weight, good battery life, great sound quality and volume on both ends of the conversation (unless too windy). I only have one complaint when using the BT250 with my Motorola v551 phone: Every time I turn on the headset to establish the [already paired] link with my phone, the phone immediately goes into voice-dialing mode (i.e., "Say name now ... say name louder"). Because I usually don't say anything when it does this, the normal harmless result is "Voice name not found," but a few times my phone somehow matched my silence with one of my recorded voice tags, and I found myself disconnecting a call I didn't want to make in the first place.
This did not happen when I used my v551 with a Logitech bluetooth headset (which did not fit me well, causing me not to be able to hear the speaker most of the time).
Jabra support first told me to pair the headset to the phone again, this time using the alternate method for phones that support the hands-free profile. This did result in a few enhanced features, but it didn't stop the unwanted voice-dialing. My next email from Jabra support said that this "is normal behavior when you hold the answer/end button on the headset," and they suggested that I either turn voice dialing off on my phone, or use the phone (instead of the headset) to disconnect the link between the two units. Well, there is only one place I can find on the v551 for turning off voice dialing (under the "headset" options), but this doesn't stop the irritating problem. Using the phone to disconnect and re-establish the link is much less convenient. It DOES stop the problem, however, but only if the headset remains turned on (but disconnected) the whole time, adversely affecting battery life. If I disconnect using the phone, then turn the headset off, the voice-dialing thing will happen when I try to re-establish the link, even if I try to do it from the phone just before turning the headset on (which doesn't work anyway).
I must say again, in spite of the above, this is truly a great headset. I'm pretty sure (from other reviews) that the problem I have does not affect most phones, and it is primarily just an irritant that I have grown used to, and it only occurs once each time I turn the headset on in order to establish the link.
Reviewed by: Amazon.com Reviewer
Best Bluetooth out there,
11 April 2005
Based on the reviews I went and bought one of these headsets and I have to say the ones I read were so right - IT IS BRILLIANT!! I tried a more expensive one but this is by far the best option. Its comfortable, sound quality is more than good enough and the battery life is more than enough for my needs. I wish it had a car charger in the box to charge it while I'm not driving but other than its perfect. Why spend more when this does the job at a fraction of the cost of others
Reviewed by: Amazon.co.uk Reviewer
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