Review: Motorola HS-850

James Hromadka of TreoCentral reviews the Motorols HS850 bluetooth headset. Read on for the full review.

Bluetooth headsets for me have always been a mixed bag. Sound quality, usability, price—pick 2, as you never seem to get all iii in a headset. The Motorola HS850 is an improved version of the HS810 [read review], so I had high hopes that Motorola would have fixed some of the issues the review raised, and that the HS850 would fill up the bill and have all iii characteristics of a good headset.

Setup

The HS850 offers upwardly to viii hours of talk time or 200 hours of standby time. Charging the device completely takes most ii hours. Its earpiece can be worn on either ear, and the device has a boom mic that folds abroad when not in employ. Pairing the HS850 is uncomplicated enough. Agree the multifunction button down for three seconds, then open up the boom mic when the blue LED is lit. Go through the Treo's Easily-free Setup, and y'all're done.

Usability

I found that the boom is incredibly convenient. Open up information technology to plow the headset on; close the boom to turn the headset off. Other headsets commonly require holding a push button for a few seconds, and I always forgot to practice that, then the battery would run out sooner. Because of the boom, in that location is no worrying about leaving the headset on. That 200 hours of standby time turns into weeks of time between charges if you only use the headset in the auto as I practise. The headset is also very tiny when closed, so you can go along it in your pocket or hang information technology around your neck with the included lanyard.

The multifunction (MF) push is used just like any other headset, such as answering or hanging up a telephone call. There are volume buttons on the top and bottom of the headset. The manual has instructions on how to configure which push button is "volume up." Speaking of the manual, information technology has instructions in over fifteen languages, yet is curtailed (English version is nine pages) and articulate. The illustrations on changing the earpiece betwixt correct and left ears are useful, and in that location are tables that outline the MF push'due south uses, warning tone & LED meanings.

If a call comes in and the boom is open, but press the multifunction button to answer the call. If the boom is closed, opening the blast does not answer the phone call. You tin either wait for the Treo to connect to the HS850 or press the MF button twice—in one case to connect, once to answer. Interestingly plenty, the HS850 manual says y'all merely accept to open up the nail to answer a telephone call. This quick-answer feature works when I use the HS850 with some other phone (Sony Ericsson K700) merely not with the Treo. About the simply thing I found annoying with the HS850 is that after completing a call, the Treo would get out of headset mode. I would so take to press the MF button to enter headset fashion (the Bluetooth icon turns into a headset) again. I arraign the Treo 650 for this quirkiness, and it does non backbite much from the HS850's otherwise perfect usability.

Audio quality is excellent on the HS850. The speaker output is better than the one on the Treo 650. In normal situations, I have to max the Treo's handset book, while the HS850 I can keep turned down a bit. The microphone on the HS850 is also very good. People did not even know I was using a headset when talking to them, and I believe that is the all-time examination of a Bluetooth headset.

Conclusion

So does the Motorola HS850 come across the three-tier test for headsets? Absolutely. With excellent audio quality, a folding nail mic that keeps yous from leaving the device on, and bombardment life that makes the boosted toll worthwhile, the HS850 should be on the shortlist of anyone looking for a Bluetooth headset.

Ratings (out of five) design: v comfort: 4 sound quality: iv cost/benefit: iv Overall: iv

Pros Neat battery life Diminutive size Excellent audio quality Cons simply a little some quirkiness in easily-free mode

(Originally published at TreoCentral on Mar 22, 2005)

Source: https://www.windowscentral.com/review-motorola-hs-850

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