Windows Phone Thoughts: IOGear Bluetooth Stereo Headphone Kit Reviewed

Comfort
According to the specifications, the headphones weigh about 0.20 lbs (about 3.2 oz or 90.7 grams) which to my head, feels quite light. A good deal lighter than the Radio Shack and AudioVox full-ear enclosure headphones from the '70s that I used to wear. Instead of an over-the-head support, they utilize the more currently common hook-over-the-ear, behind the head concept.


Figure 13: Wearing the IOGear Bluetooth Stereo Headphones. Not too geeky, is it?

Generally, they feel like you’re wearing a pair of those fluffy winter earmuffs. I tested them for longevity by listening to music all during an 8-hour work day, (yes, it was one of those days where I just have to write, and not particularly deal with anyone – it happens...). At the end of the day, the headphones were still pretty comfortable, and I didn’t feel like there were big gouges in my ears.

I also tried wearing the headphones with the microphone attachment on the way home on my bike, paired with my phone. Again, the fit was comfortable, and my bike helmet straps came over top of the earpieces to keep everything in place securely. The nice thing about the design is that it doesn’t completely block out external sounds, while giving full-body to what you want to hear. Thus, I was easily able to hear traffic noise, etc., while I was biking. The pairing worked well on the bike, easily able to connect to the phone in the panniers over the back wheel, and it kept me available and connected all the way home. Because I wear a yellow reflective biking jacket similar to the local constabulary, many people said I looked just like one of the bike patrol with the mic in front of my face.

Battery Life
As mentioned above, the headphones and audio transmitter come with LithiumIon rechargeable batteries built-in. I didn’t see any way to access them without taking the headphones apart. A charger is provided which takes approximately 2 hours to fully charge them – either separately or simultaneously. I wasn’t able to get accurate readings on the charge levels, but I ran the headphones and audio transmitter playing music throughout an 8-hour day with no problems, and there still appeared to be charge in the batteries at the end of the day. The specifications provided by IOGear say the batteries are 550 mAh and the power consumption is 42mA for a straight link, 83mA for music playback and 49mA for talking through the headset. Thus, if you work the math, you should be able to get at least 6-7 hours of music playback (I did better!) and 11 hours of talk time when connected to a phone.

Conclusions
This is definitely a package I could grow to love and use each day. I felt sad when I had to send the sample back to IOGear, since the headphones met so many of my requirements. Oh well, at least I have something specific to put on my Christmas Wish List this year.

Actually, the picture doesn't look as geeky as I thought it would. As a consultant working for Fujitsu, Don loves having the only bluetooth-enabled cubicle in the building.