So it's been over a year since I bought (and reviewed) my Nokia N82, and there have been times when I wanted a hassle free way to listen to music.
Especially during winter- when you're all bundled up and don't want to mess around with wires.
Bluetooth is the obvious solution. I already have a small Bluetooth earpiece(also by Nokia), but that's only suited for taking calls though it can play back music.
The battery drains out fast.
I Googled a bit, and found what I was looking for at the URL provided with this review.
Looks and ergonomics - While the image on the site was captivating with its red highlights, I could only find one in black with a silver finish. A multicolored status LED blinks discreetly near the controls- green when turned on, blue when connected to a device, and red when shutting down or low battery.The headphones are wraparound and fit behind the ear. They weigh 105g as per the site- this is ok for short use but can feel heavy over long periods. If you happen to be wearing glasses, then it's a little uncomfortable to put these on, and your ears may hurt after a while.
Package contents - The headphones come with their own charger, and a nice black velvet carrying pouch. And of course the instruction manual that nobody reads :P
Ease of use - Pairing the headphones is the first step- for this one just has to keep the call key pressed till it blinks blue rapidly- then enter the passcode on your phone or laptop(more on that later)
Another highlight is the set of music controls present. The right speaker has 4 buttons on it- one to take incoming calls (and activate voice commands if you keep it pressed, just like on most Nokia handsets) and 3 for music playback- previous/next song buttons and a play/pause button. Of course you have to first activate the music player on your phone. And if you've connected to your laptop, you can even control playback in Winamp or Windows Media Player! Volume controls are provided along the circumference of the right speaker.
Sound quality- Sound quality is very good. Music playback sounds crystal clear, even at higher volume. Range is specified as around 10 ft- It works fine even through walls.
You can leave your phone on the table at home and listen to music /take calls anywhere inside as you move about. A couple of times my friends couldn't hear me clearly- but I'd blame Vodafone Bangalore since that happens even without using any handsfree.
Battery life/charging: The battery life is great- per the site the talk/music time is 11 hours. I think it's a decent claim- I've averaged an hour or more of usage daily and fully charged it only once in the past fortnight since I bought it. Can't say the same for my phone's own battery- after a year now I have to charge it once a day if I use bluetooth extensively. Charging time is also pretty less- gets fully charged within an hour.
Using with a laptop: I use this with my Thinkpad T60p that has a Bluetooth radio. Microsoft provides a Bluetooth stack in Windows XP- but I had to install separate drivers from Lenovo for it to work with Nokia PC Suite (for my phone). You don't need PC Suite for this (obviously), and it supports 2 Bluetooth profiles- Handsfree Audio and Stereo Audio. Both can be connected at the same time- but (obviously again) you cannot connect simultaneously to your phone and laptop. It got detected and connected instantly, and because of that I've sometimes had problems where if I switch on the headphones anywhere near my laptop, they connect, and I can't then connect to my phone instead!
Headset audio is compatible with Skype and other voice chat applications; you can simply set the audio device to use as Bluetooth Audio. Stereo audio is self explanatory- it acts as a replacement for the computer's built in sound and is used when listening to music or playing games. Also as I earlier mentioned, you can control Winamp playback with the music keys.
Price: On the expensive side, at Rs. 7680 in May 2008.
Summary: A great way to listen to music and take calls on the move without the hassles of wires.
