Jabra Halo 2 Bluetooth headset Reg Hardware Mobile Week Jabra’s Halo 2 is a lightweight, easy-on-the-eye Bluetooth headset that won’t attract the kind of disparaging looks that the typical cyborg-style Bluetooth phone attachment will get you. Jabra Halo 2 Bluetooth headset The Halo 2’s design is about function as much as form. The headset is …
It's been irritating me for ages that there seems to be little traction on stereo headsets. Yeah, there are a few about at any given time, but half fo them are crappy in-ear things with dangly bits (not that sort :-) And I've never seen any in mobile phone shops / general electronics shops / Tescos etc
Most phones these days have A2DP, most PMPs are, in fact, mobile phones, yet most headsets are mono... Why? I genuinely don't get it. If you have a mono headset, you have to have a pair of plugins as well, if you're going to listen to music.
It's nearly as weird as being as bothered about it as I clearly am :-D
I totally agree. I've managed to find some reasonable stereo headsets over the years, but it has taken some trial and error by purchasing things rather than reading reviews (due to the lack of them).
I also find that a stereo headset for calls makes it much easier to hear the other person when in a noisy environment (wireless or wired). Also makes it nice to be able to wander around the office whilst on a call leaving the phone in the desk charger.
I recently wandered into the local Tesco and spotted this iCandy Freedom 180 bluetooth headset for sale for £20.
For £20 quid I thought it well worth a go, and I was damn glad I did. While they won't win and design awards, they sound excellent with bright treble, punchy bass and good volume without distortion. They suffer from very little leakage, so you can whack up the volume on public transport without pissing everyone off. Also work OK in phone profile (for making calls). There is an aux socket, so you can plug in another set of hedphones, or link them to your car's aux-in.
I've had a pair of these since November.
Yes, they do have an on board mic, its hidden down by the USB slot on the right ear.
They *are* a bit flimsy mind, if you sat on them, they would be ruined. The switch (linked to the folding mechanism) doesn't fill you with confidence either. I hate that I have to fold them to switch them off. Also, they don't lock in the folded position, they are just loose, so unless you've got something to put them in, they just flop about.
The velvet padding is a bit crap too, its started peeling away on the one side, quite a bit, doesn't really matter, because the material underneath is fine, but you expect a bit more for £70.
Apparently they have noise cancelling built in too, but It's either useless, or very *very* subtle.
Saying that, I love them. Great headphones, I'd never go back to wired ones now, they feel so restrictive in comparison. These work brilliant with my Galaxy S2, and they've got some good punch to them if you crank it up too. The sound is a little bassy perhaps, but you can tweak all that with your EQ on your music player.
I wonder if these headphones exibit lag making them un-usable for the PC / Laptop.
Eversince I trashed a latop by 'forgeting' my headphones were plugged in when I went to answer the door, I have been looking for a pair that works with the PC and computergames.
All the bluetooth headsets I have tried to date have about a .75second lag to render the sound out of the earphones; you don't noticve this with music as it's not syncing to visuals; and you don't notice it with voice calls as they are lower 'rez' and render in realtime.
It would be nice if El Reg could try these out on a PC game for usablity...
I have a Jabra Halo (1st version) and I love it. Having said that, it's definitely worth mentioning that these headphones don't have a dedicated Play/Pause button and previous/next buttons are actually double tapping the touch sensitive corners.
Android ICS has some issues my headphones, after using the single physical button for any reason, the phone must be restarted to reconnect the stereo audio. I haven't tried any other headphones so it may be an ICS issue, compounded by missing the play/pause button.
Any information on the difference between v1 & v2?
Sennheiser have a few bluetooth headphones too. The sound quality is excellent but OMG they are expensive.
Anyway- regardless of what headphones you have- install the Equalizer app from the android market! It's free, lets you adjust bass and treble etc. (even with spotify), and really makes a difference to music.
This headset only supports Bluetooth Hands-Free Profile version 1.5, not the new version 1.6 which was ratified last year. That means it doesn't support HD Voice. Perhaps not a big deal today, with relatively few phones or networks supporting the standard; and not so important for a headset which will be mainly used for listening to music; but nonetheless a shame to omit.
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