Jabra BT3030 Street Bluetooth Stereo Mobile Headphones

...I hate the dog tag thing. Sure, if you're in the military or in certain non-governmental aid organisations, it's nice to know that your remains will be identifiable if the worst should happen and your head is cleaved from your shoulders as if it was never there. However, this scenario is unlikely to unfold as you're walking down the street, listening to some tunes - unless you happen to have some Bjork in your playlist.

Now, apparently, dog tags are in fashion. Now i'm not a fashion guru, i'm just an average guy, but unfortunately, in my opinion, it's a kind of Topshop, high-street fashion statement - you know, the kind of 'I've got a tribal style wooden necklace and rings that leave a green stain on my fingers' sort of look. In a word - tacky.

Now luckily, for those of us who don't much care for this look, the metal-bead lanyard is easily detached. When you do this, a miraculous thing happens, the BT3030 becomes a beacon of RAZResque laser-cut style that can be attached to your clothing anywhere. Moreover, you won't look so stupid wearing it - again, my opinion. Score +1 to the BT3030.

So with that controversial appearance bit out of the way, on to the performance:

In a word, incredible. I hate wireless things on principle. I still use a wired mouse and keyboard, because I like the responsiveness. I still use wires to transfer my pictures from my bluetooth enabled digital camera, because I like the transfer speed ; and I never use wifi, because I like the speed of gigabit ethernet. But here is a device that actually performs as well as the wired alternative. Score +1 to the BT3030.

Easily paired with an LG Viewty, the BT3030 automatically opens your MP3 player and navigates to your last played playlist when you press the play/pause button. It's that easy! Score +1 to the BT3030.

Once you hit play again, the level of volume and sound quality is extremely pleasing - but ONLY IF YOU USE DECENT HEADPHONES. Sadly, the headphones supplied with the BT3030 are not decent. I opted for some dependable Sony headphones at an extra £20, but at £40 the Jabra's should have cut the mustard. No score for the BT3030 here, despite the unit's excellent sound quality with third-party earphones.

Finally, call quality. Having a call come in through both ears, right in your ear canal, takes some getting used to. However, remove one earbud, and you're back on familiar territory. The sound is crisp and the caller is easily understood with minimal distortion. Apparently, the microphone is good to, but you'd have to ask someone on the other end of the line from me. I've not had anyone go "WHAT?!?" yet whilst i've been chatting to them. So score another for the BT3030.

So, 4 out of a possible 5.

Very good...

(Make sure your phone's bluetooth has audio distribution and AV Remote protocols, and you'll be fine!!)

*Overall*
The BT3030 is probably OK if you're planning to wear it in the office or at home and you get a kick out of thinking you're in the army. But if you're planning on using this during physical activity, or you have any interest in sound quality then you may want to choose another product.

Overall score: 2/5

*Design*
The BT3030 is styled to look like a dog tag. There is a metal tab at the top through which a chain passes however this tab is not a complete loop of metal and is just embedded into the plastic. As a result, the tab is not very strong and after 3 weeks of daily use in the gym (running, rowing, cross-training) the tab fell out leaving no way to attach the chain.
The supplied chain is silver although after a couple of days of use the silver coating began to wear off revealing the copper underneath - like a cheap watch!
The BT3030 also comes with a detachable clip so that you can fasten it directly to your clothing however the design of the clip is such that it only has a very small contact point where it is attached and I found that it slid off thin material very easily.
The biggest design issue with the BT3030 is the lack of a "hold" switch that deactivates the rest of the controls. Something like this is (I think) essential because without it it's very easy to accidentally press one of the buttons when trying to clip/unclip the device from your clothes. I found that I often accidentally pressed the previous/next track buttons when trying to change the volume. The lack of any tactile feedback on the buttons means that it's very difficuly to use the device without looking at it - all of the buttons are completely flat and feel the same.

Design: 2/5

*Sound Quality*
I can't say I was overly impressed with the sound quality on the BT3030 which I had paired with an HTC HD2.
While bass and midrange were reproduced fairly well, there was a horrible digital "mush" where the very top end should have been and this was very distracting.
The volume on the device is OK and it was easily able to get above the background noise of a busy gym using the supplied ear-bud type headphones.

Sound Quality: 3/5

*Battery life*
I found that with the volume on the BT3030 turned up loud enough to beat the background noise of the gym, the battery life was around 4.5 hours.

Battery life: 3/5

*Reliability*
As I mentioned previously, the metal tab through which the neck-chain passes fell off after about 3 weeks. Even worse, after about a month the device started to turn itself off without warning after about 60 minutes of use and then refused to turn back on - or would turn back on and then turn off again after a few seconds. I suspected that this was the battery although there wasn't the usual audable "low battery" beep in the headphones. I chose to return the BT3030 for a refund rather than a replacement.

Reliability: 1/5

I brought this bad boy as i need a new headset for my PS3 and pleased I did - it has an incredible, very clear and comfortable set of earphones and an very long usage time - This is a must for anyone who loves gaming

Price a bit much but as they say 'You get what you pay for' and you sure do here

PS3 MUST

These Bluetooth Headphones Are What I Bought To Replace My Sony Bluetooth Headphones, Which After A Year Of Aggressive Abuse One Of The Headphones Has Given Up The Fight, Now Only One of The Ears Has Constant Music, The Other I Have Too Adjust, But As I Was Saying, Bought These Too Replace... Oh Yes, This Headset Is Top Notch... W!CK3D... Absobloodylutely Fantastic... I Have Only 2 Little Problems... It Seems To Dislike Connecting When I Tell It Too, So Instead Of Being Able Too Disconnect Then Reconnect When I Please I Have Too Turn The Headset Off And On... And My Other Problem Is The Right Ear Bud Has Torn... So i Had Too Change Too A Large Ear Bud So I Could Keep The Suction, But Other Than These 2 Things I LOVE It, Range Is Bloody Fantastic, Looks Great, Phones Are Good No Need Too Buy Extra Ones Expecting The Included Ones Too Be Crap, And The Best Feature Other Than The Obvious Is That Even If You Do Damage The Wire On These Headphones You Can Buy More Because It Has A Jack... How Good Is That??? :P

Had this headset for a year now and still works like new. U can also use this on a ps3 if u want to chat with mates and when it runs out of power i use the ps3 or my computer to charge it up.
Best bluetooth headset i have ever used!