Stereo Blues

The new generation of Bluetooth headsets is all going stereo— thanks to some interesting tweaks in technology.

Nokia Bluetooth Headset BH-604
This headset is large in every way. While other headsets try and look discreet, a little too discreet at times—which can make the world think that you have gone crazy talking to yourself—the BH-604 has no such illusions. That is good, because while the small size of some headsets makes them convenient to wear, the ridiculously small buttons usually make them a pain to use. Not here. This headset has ‘BIG’ buttons to manipulate music on your mobile and a large button to accept or reject calls.
SPECS: Talktime 20 hours; Standby 300 hours
PRICE: Rs 7,000

Jabra BT8030
Technically, this is a hybrid headpiece. It works both as a headphone and a wireless speaker-phone system if you connect it to your laptop. The easy-to-transform design makes it a breeze to use and syncing this, as with most Jabra devices, is easy as well. And while the headset piece might be a bit pricey, it effectively does the job of two things at one go and sounds a lot better than most laptop speakers. With big batteries, it out-muscles the competition in performance.
SPECS: Talktime 32 hours (26 hours music playback); Standby 600 hours
PRICE: Rs 9,000-10,000

Motorola S805
Got yourself a new ROKR or RAZR2 from Motorola recently? Well, then you should consider this optional accessory. The S805 DJ headset from Motorola has a comfortable fit, easy to use buttons and actually is rather simple to pair with any mobile device. Comfortable to wear, easy to use and rather inexpensive... what more can you ask for?
SPECS: Talktime 20 hours; Standby 230 hours
PRICE: Rs 6,000

Cardo S-2
The Cardo S-2 might be the best stereo Bluetooth headset available from a stand-alone headset company. These foldable headphones are comfortable to wear, easy to tuck away and the earpieces are well cushioned. The controls are all located on the right earpiece and are easy to access. Coming at a nice price, this is fantastic value for money.
SPECS: Talktime 8 hours; Standby 250 hours
PRICE: Rs 3,000-3,500

(Compiled by Kushan Mitra)