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Jabra BT620s review: My life in blue

Posted on April 16, 2007 by ron

For most of us, Jeremy’s recent post about the wires in his apartment made us think of a drawer, closet or box somewhere that looks similar (unless you’re Dave Mathews, the other one. I hear his apartment looks like Snakes on a Plane, but with wires … and I guess no plane. So basically, just a lot of wires in an apartment.  But you can see how I got there, right?).  My wife is a lot less tolerant of snakes wires than Jeremy’s, so I’ve been having fun with a couple of Bluetooth products from Jabra.

IMG_3931 A125s and BT620sThe first product I’m trying is the BT620s (with A125s adapter) which enable you to use a wireless headset with your iPod.  This means no stylish white-headphones to show off that you stand out from the crowd by having an iPod (which is so 2004 anyway).

In my opinion, the main benefit of having a wireless headset is it frees you from being tethered to the device. Instead, throw your iPod in your backpack or put it in a drawer at your desk. You can still control all the important functions with your headset (volume, skip track, pause, etc.).  If you have a bluetooth phone it even lets you pick up a phone call with the same headset (there’s a mini-microphone on one of the earpieces).  I’ve been working in a cube-farm for ages and am used to plugging headphones into my computer. In a “Darwin Awards” kind of way, once a year, I pull away from the desk and have the earbuds ripped out of my ears.  Going wireless means I can do some Office Space spins in my cube with full freedom. Ah, simple pleasures.

IMG_3919 A125s lit upI’d love to say that configuring the units was simple, but I can’t.  Jabra optimized towards minimalism in terms of buttons and action-feedback on the unit so much so that you have to actually consult the manual just to get started (I really did. I had to!). For example, they define pushing a button in three ways:

  1. Push and release.
  2. Push for a couple seconds, then release.
  3. Push and hold.

Each one of these causes the blue LED to blink at different rates although it isn’t exactly clear which speed of blinking lights applies to which state. Combine that with multiple buttons combinations and it gets even more confusing. For example, the unit has a blue-blinking LED around each earpiece when the unit is “paired” with the transmitter. When you’re wearing the headset you look like something out of “pimp my ride” and generally get stared at in public (more than normal, I mean).  Natch, I wanted to turn this off which meant “Push #3 on left and right center-ear button simultaneously”. Not exactly intuitive considering the many combinations of options of Jabra-Push-Types (see above) and the fact that there are two buttons on the headset and 1 on the A125s iPod unit.
 
IMG_3883 BT620s on ear - lit upI’ve used the Jabra BT620s headset on planes, trains (Bart) and automobiles buses with great success. The only challenge I’ve found, besides the “Pimp Your Head” glares on the 41 Union, is that when you turn your head the bluetooth cuts out. This is true not only when I put the ipod in my backpack, but even if I have it in my pocket on the right-hand-side (as it says in the manual. See, I told you I read it.).  You’re probably asking, “who needs to turn their head.” I know. I live a crazy life. To be clear on this point: it only happens when my iPod is in my pocket, not if it’s on my desk, and the sound does come right back about a half second later if I turn straight again.

Overall I’m very happy with the headset. It frees me from untangling my iPod earphones and I can throw my iPod in my bag and control everything I need without missing a call.  It’s not exactly the ideal setup for me personally to use long-term, but I know that my issues don’t necessarily reflect everyone elses.

IMG_3934 BT620s chargingThe only major downside to the vision of wireless is: you don’t really get rid of wires, you just transfer them. Now I have a charger for my adaptor that plugs into my iPod and a charger for the headset.  In essence, I’ve reduced the wires I carry around with me, but haven’t solved the wire problem in my apartment. In fact, it made it worse.

Oh, and when writing this, Jeremy asked me to also summarize who is the target market for the BT620s. Here’s my bulleted list:

  • Those few people that have iPods

As an aside, my prediction is that the next gen of iPods to come out (around the time of iPhone) will have Bluetooth embedded.

Amazon links for BT620s and A125s.

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Posted in General, Mobile Technology, Product Reviews | 12 Comments
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12 thoughts on “Jabra BT620s review: My life in blue”

  1. Greg. says:
    April 16, 2007 at 1:18 pm

    First off, nice review.
    I haven’t tried bluetooth headphones before and this may provide the impetus to give them a chance. Speaking of “Pimp My Head”, the lights are kind of obnoxious. It would drive me crazy to have my head lit up like a LED flashlight. Also, was there much effect on iPod battery life, as I would imagine that the BT transmitter/receiver is powered off of the iPod battery?

    Reply
  2. ron says:
    April 17, 2007 at 8:41 am

    Hi Greg,
    Thanks. The great thing is that you can turn off the blue lights so that you don’t get that PMR feeling. I didn’t notice a significant change in battery life for my iPod. I generally dock it when I get home in my Kensington sound dock, which also charges, so haven’t drained it in a while.

    Reply
  3. Rajesh says:
    June 9, 2007 at 7:18 pm

    Good review but disappointing that you have not mentioned anything about the specifications

    Reply
  4. x says:
    June 10, 2007 at 5:46 am

    good

    Reply
  5. adi says:
    June 26, 2007 at 6:01 am

    truly tell tht me had buy one in may 2007 and am realy enjoyed it bt many of my friend were not aware of tht whn z saw tht they were suprise

    Reply
  6. Danny says:
    September 20, 2007 at 10:09 am

    Hey, i see you have a macbook pro. and the headset. I have the problem my flash movies won’t play in my browser because of the HS. You know this problem and know how to solve it?

    Hope to get your help

    Reply
  7. Jason says:
    January 10, 2008 at 10:51 pm

    I also bought the Jabra Bt 620s and received it yesterday in the mail($29 from etronics.com) The flashin blue light i kond of like, i just wished they could also make is a solid blue light on both side. If you hold the end call button and play/pause button at same time for about 20 seconds, you’ll see all the colors flashing solid. If you pair it up at the right time, you can get on side solid color, the other flashing(green,red,blue,none). For me, the adaptors are vey hard to find(the cheap ones that works) I bought one from Buy.com $6 after google checkout, and it doesn’t seem to work with my Jabra BT 620s. It shows that it’s paired, but they don’t respond to each other.

    Reply
  8. Dave says:
    February 4, 2008 at 8:11 pm

    How do i pair my Jabra BT620 to my iphone?

    Reply
  9. Laurent says:
    February 27, 2008 at 2:23 pm

    Any insight on when the i-phone will enable wireless streaming audio to this headset (without using the adapter)?
    Thanks

    Reply
  10. Ballepungmoshelvete says:
    March 25, 2008 at 2:15 am

    This headset sucks bigtime! I just threw mine in the garbage, and I feel so much better now.

    It is very uncomfortable, buggy, and the call buttons are rediculously big and sensitive, causing you to make many an unintentional call.

    And did I mention it was buggy? At least with Windows XP and Vista (tested them both) and with the HTC TyTn WM6, it bugs like f***ing h*ll.

    Reply
  11. Meoiswa says:
    May 7, 2009 at 7:16 pm

    Ive been using this for quite some time ago and i certainly recommend them, IF and ONLY IF youre going to buy an adapter from jabra, since they are perfectly tuned to work with this headset. For example, when i connect my Bt620s to my iMac Intel via bluetooth it sounds horrible, (not to mention i just COULDNT connect them to windows via BT) but with the Jabra A120 adapter (the one for common headphones jack) they sound much better than most headphones out there.

    Reply
  12. Rene says:
    December 16, 2009 at 8:23 am

    Fantastic Review, I really like my Jabra headset and it has gone in and out of bags, lost it in the car for a few months Hot Summer and works great.
    Battery last tons of hours. One of my ears is higher than the other so I had to get used to the push on the top with the loop, but all worth it.
    My car stereo died and with the Iphone and jabra headset I barely misssed the radio, anyway I only use internet radio with iPhone slackerradio. I know is silly drive with headphones but low volume you hear all whats around you.

    Happy with it

    Reply

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Jeremy Toeman is a seasoned Product leader with over 20 years experience in the convergence of digital media, mobile entertainment, social entertainment, smart TV and consumer technology. Prior ventures and projects include CNET, Viggle/Dijit/Nextguide, Sling Media, VUDU, Clicker, DivX, Rovi, Mediabolic, Boxee, and many other consumer technology companies. This blog represents his personal opinion and outlook on things.

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