TreoCentral's James Hrodmadka reviews the Motorola H500 bluetooth headet. Read on for the full review.
One day, for every person in the world there will be a different headset. There is a myriad of options available for users, from rare flip-boom headsets like the Motorola HS850 to the more traditional Sony Ericsson HBH-600. The Motorola H500 is a traditional headset yet has eye-catching looks. But is it more than just a pretty face?
Pairing
To pair the H500, power it on then hold the talk button for about 6-8 seconds. A blue LED on the outline of the Motorola will turn solid. Passcode is 0000. Pairing was quick and easy, and I like the LED outline—it really shows Motorola's attention to detail.
Features
The first thing you notice about the Motorola H500 is how sleek and elegant it looks. The housing is an attractive dark gray plastic, and there are also chrome accents near the talk button. The buttons are very small, so if you have pudgy fingers you may have trouble with them.
The volume buttons are positioned above and below the boom and are positioned near the back. One handy feature of Motorola headsets is that the volume buttons switch when you change ears, so Volume Up is always on top.
Speaking of switching ears, you just pull on the earloop to remove it from the H500 then flip it around and reattach it. The speaker has soft rubber around it, making the H500 feel very comfortable against the ear.
One unique feature I liked was the charging connector, which is a standard mini-USB2 port. I was able to charge the H500 with a USB cable from a Canon SD400 camera. I'm not sure if it fully charged the headset, but it's nice to be able to charge the H500 in a pinch.
Usability
As with other newer headsets, the H500 automatically connects to the Treo 650 when making/receiving calls. Sound quality, however, was quite poor. Audio was scratchy, and I could not move very far from the Treo without it getting even worse. Parties on the other side complained about me cutting in and out if I moved just a few feet away from the Treo. I also tried the H500 with my Sony Ericsson K700 phone just to make sure it wasn't my Treo. Audio was better, but I still heard periodic noises. Normally audio quality on my end is always good no matter what headset I use, so I was very surprised by how poor the H500 sounded.
The headset is very light and feels comfortable to wear. The earloop is very flexible, though it doesn't secure the H500 as well as I would have liked. When I quickly turn my head the headset noticeably bounces against the ear. You won't be wearing this headset while running or doing any significant physical activities.
Conclusion
As I said in my Motorola HS850 review, Sound quality, usability, price—pick two. The H500 fails on sound quality. It is on the high-end in price but offers very good battery life and sleek looks and is very comfortable to wear.
| Ratings (out of 5)Features: 4Usability: 3Sound Quality: 2Cost/Benefit: 3Overall: 2 | ProsAutoconnectsVolume buttons change when switching earsSleek lookStandard USB mini portConsSpotty sound qualityButtons are too small |
(First posted at TreoCentral on Sep 12, 2005
