BlueTrek BIZZ Review: MicroSD + BT?

Here's a twist on the seemingly endless supply of Bluetooth headsets: when not in use, have it double as a microSD USB flash drive.

Eh? Sounds pretty cool, right? Just pull off the back and stick'er into your nearest computer friend and you have your BT friend doing double duty -- not to mention getting charged.

Sounds good and in principle it's a great idea. Unfortunately, the BlueTrek's Bizz ($79.95) headset gets the principle without really delivering on the details.

Wanna know why? Read on for the biz on the BIZZ (puns are free on Thursdays around here)

Throwing Down Specs

• BT 2.0
• 10 grams (0.36 oz)
• 6 hrs talk time (10 days standby)
• Integrated microSD card reader

What's in the Box?

• Bizz BT headset
• USB extension for the headset
• Basic Manual (full is only online)
• Lanyard
• Spare ear hook
• Alternative rubber ear covers
• USB car adapter
• 512mb microSD

Overall, a nice package.

Bizz as Headset?

The main function of the Bizz is obviously a BT headset. How'd it fair? Not bad, but not great. It was certainly very comfortable, in fact I rather enjoyed wearing it.

But in terms of actual BT use? Eh.

First, on the Treo 800w it would not even work. This was tried on two different devices, with one being factory-fresh. All that we got was ear piecing static. Maybe there is someone out there with a different experience, but we can't recommend this for Treo 800w users.

On the Moto Q9c and Sprint Mogul, it at least worked. Call quality was fine and more than suitable. When it works, it works fairly well. However, this is one of those new fangled "simple" BT headsets: no volume controls (have to use your phone), no secondary button. Nope, just one single button.

We're okay with the "one button" approach but we really miss on-board volume controls. We'd appreciate if the industry steered away from that as it sort of makes our BT headsets...well, less "hands-free" than we would like. Also, this is a no-frills headset: no noise-cancellation or any other advanced features like available on the JawBone or BlueAnt.

Overall as Headset: B (when it works) and F (if Treo 800w)

Bizz as Card Reader

So the night job of the Bizz is to serve as your microSD USB card reader. Pretty neat if you think about it. Take your microSD from your phone and plop her in the Bizz and you're good to go. Or, just put a spare microSD into the Bizz and have it as a dedicated thumb drive.

BlueTrek was nice enough to throw in a 512mb microSD card into the mix. Now this may sound harsh but with 8GB cards now available and 4GB going for so cheap, who honestly needs a 512mb? (Yeah, pretty crazy we can write-off 512mb of storage in 2008).

Interestingly, the Bizz was not recognized by my Asus laptop nor my Dell desktop "naked". That is, just inserting the USB-end resulted in no recognition. However, using the included (and handy) USB extension cable, all of a sudden it worked. Go figure. (Ed Note: Worked fine on a Mac! :p)

That might not be a deal killer and perhaps your experience will be different, but if we have to carry around the USB extension cable, why even bother using the Bizz? Might as well just carry a USB drive unless you are set on the "Bizz as card reader" function.

Plus, lets not kid ourselves: swapping in and out microSD cards is a bit of a pain, making you yearn for the much-easier to handle miniSD. While not too hard, swapping the card out of the Bizz wasn't exactly easy either. Also, the USB plug was sensitive to losing the connection with a mere jostle, not inspiring confidence of solid, stable connection.

Overall as card reader: C

Final Thoughts

We were pretty psyched for the Bizz when it came out, but our enthusiasm has waned considerably since using it. It's not terrible, but it's not really that great either with lots of compromises all around.

BlueTrek is certainly a company to watch but right now, we're going to have to give the BlueTrek's Bizz ($79.95) a pass.