–

Photo: Nokia Bluetooth Stereo Headset BH-905
Original photo taken and licensed under creative commons by Me
–

Now, upon hearing the term ‘Bluetooth headset’ you can be forgiven for conjuring up images of ‘traditional earpieces and call-centre esq microphones’. The truth does in fact reveal a pair of sleek looking DJ-esq headphones, equipped with microphone functionality, and capable of connecting wireless-ly and seamlessly to almost any device via Bluetooth – including your mobile phone and Bluetooth enabled laptop (my Mac integrated them within seconds without any need for a separate software install).

As a freelancer, and regular co-worker at places like The Skiff, I spend much of my time wearing a pair of Sony MDR-500 DJ headphones, after four years I’m now on my second pair. Without breaking the bank (available for around £50), and remembering that I’m not a professional DJ or Sound Engineer, the MDR-500′s are my preferred ‘cans’ for both sound quality, environment-noise reduction and build comfort (DJ professional MDR-700′s are available for around £85 but these are unwarranted for my uses).

With the above said, I’ve now tried Nokia’s BH-905′s, and I might never buy another pair of MDR’s (and from a life-long fan of Sony this is big news!).

Nokia’s headset is priced at around £250, that’s £200 more expensive than my beloved Sony’s and I’d suggest the sound quality and build quality is extremely similar, but as a user of audio/video services like Skype and Phreadz, and as a regular attendee of virtual events and sometimes noisy co-working environments, the Nokia headset comes equipped with ten powerful weapons that appeal to me greatly:

Its the first product to feature ‘multi-microphone feed-forward active noise cancellation technology’… meaning its equipped with ten individual microphones that work together to provide more accurate noise cancellation for both voice and music.

For any freelancers or co-workers out there who’d like to make calls to clients without them hearing everything else that’s going on around you, or as a co-worker who’d like to work to the sound of your music (or even in silence) without distraction I suggest that Nokia’s certainly worth a look.

Nokia are convinced they’ve created the best Bluetooth headset ever built, and being totally honest I’m inclined to agree but I feel the £250 pricetag won’t make it the winner it should be.

–
However, when I think how much some people spend on other microphones, headsets and VOIP services, and how ridiculous some Bluetooth earpieces look, I think £250 might actually be warranted – especially if I could actually charge it through the USB port of my Mac (on the move) but from what I’ve seen it currently has to be charged directly from a plug on a mains supply which in my book is its only major flaw – I hope you’re listening Nokia! please correct me if I’m wrong but there was no USB cable in the box I demo’d ? =)

The Headset comes packed in a case with audio cables and adapters galore. Finally I’ll note that the headphones do work via a normal audio-jack if you wish to save Bluetooth juice, but be aware that if they run out of power the noise cancellation feature won’t work (I’m yet to discover if the voice microphone dies at this point too but I’m guessing it does?).

PLEASE NOTE: Micky Fin (Editor of NokiaUsers.net) has since informed me that the Headset does recharge via a MicroUSB FTW!! – many thanks Micky ;-)

Here is Nokia’s explanation of the technology:

–

–
More details can be found here on the official Nokia BH-905 micro-site.

–

To read more content from our Budapest adventures here are some relevant links:

#BudaViral: Social Media Adventures in Budapest with Nokia
Nokia Nseries Campaign: A Storyboard of Secrets from Budapest #BudaViral
Brand Philosophy: Is Nokia a Starfish or a Spider?
-
My Review: Nokia Booklet 3G
Ben’s Review: TheReallyMobileProject.com – Nokia Booklet 3G
Stefanos’ Review (in Greek): Pestaola.gr – Nokia Booklet 3G
-
N97 mini and N900 stuff can be found here: http://thereallymobileproject.com
-