Do you use a bluetooth headset?

[cjvitek]

So the title says it all. Do you use a bluetooth headset for the iPhone? Either for phone calls or for listening to music?

If so, what model/brand do you use, and why?

I have a number of different brands, but I have never used one regularly because I can't find one that fits very well AND has great sound. They usually make my ears sore after a while. Of course, I am not spending $50 or more on them either - if I did I might find one that solves both of those problems. I just can't see spending $50 or more for a headset when I can just use headphones or put the phone against my ear.

I also forget to charge it, so the few cheap ones I have are all dead.

Chris

 

[Jeremy]

Yes, but only when I am in my car driving or sitting at my desk at work. That's about it.

 

[btown11]

i have never used on, or desired to. i could see the convenience if you took a lot of phone calls in a day; but i still make fun of the losers who walk around in wal-mart with their bluetooth. it's like a modern-day earring -- you're more "fresh" if you have a jawbone than a diamond stud. haha.

 

[JustinHorn]

I answered no b/c I never use one for regular use or listening to music most of the time, but I do use a stereo bluetooth headset when I run. I have the Moto S9-HDs. It's nice with the 3.1 voice control over bluetooth b/c I can press a button on the headset and say, "next track" or whatever. My only issue is voice control doesn't work when using Nike+.

 

[chobbs1]

I prefer talking on my Bluetooth headset. I hate holdint the phone up to my ear. So I have my headset on almost all day every day.

I use the Bang Olufson earset 2. It looks big but it is sooo comfortable and the sound is better than my phones speaker. it is also very secure. No matter what I do it absolutely will not fall off. I have owned this headset for nearly two years and it is still working perfectly and does not look any worse for the wear.

@OP. You generally get what you pay for.

 

[Alli]

I'm with chobbs. I love having my hands free and not being tied to holding the phone to my head. I almost always use a bluetooth headset, and I use the Jabra 8030 stereo earbud.

Do I walk around WalMart looking affected? No. Do I get chores done at home while my iPhone is sitting on my desk charging? Absolutely! And if I'm stuck in a long line at the DMV or in the doctor's office, the same earbud will allow me to listen to my favorite podcasts, music, or a movie.

 

[sting7k]

Don't use and never owned one. Wired > Wireless. I use my ultimate ears headset if I want hands free and put the iPhone in my pocket.

 

[chobbs1]

Wires get in the way. That's why we have cell phones and airport extremes and the like. Have you ever had your earbud ripped out of your ears because the wires caught on something?

 

[Brickman]

I use one almost exclusively. Of course I drive and talk on the phone. A Lot! The life of a Salesman. I have gotten so use to it over the years that I use almost exclusively to talk on the phone. In the office, the yard, etc. Almost feels weird now to hold the phone up to my ear.

I use the Jabra JX10II. It is small, light , and lots of cool accessories for charging. It is starting to show it's age though and the "noise reduction" is not that great. Sound quality is excellent though. I will probably upgrade to the Jawbone 2 soon.

I use a wired headset to listen to music. May have to look into the BT ones.

Slightly [OT] I totally agree with the law that requires using a Headset (wired or BT) while driving. As someone who does this for a living, a headset is a MUST. If you drive and text/email while driving, you're an idiot! What I do NOT agree with is the notion of banning ALL use of cell Phones while driving. This is just an example of the PC police taking a good idea and screwing it up! Sorry. Back off soap box. Continue the discussion.

 

[wgary]

I use BlueAnt V1 which is comfortable and has good news reduction. Also allows voice dial from headset. It frees up my hands to drive, take motes, ...

 

[BuesinessTime]

I personally think they're kind of stupid, but I could understand if you're on the phone all the time.

 

[cjvitek]

Slightly [OT] I totally agree with the law that requires using a Headset (wired or BT) while driving. As someone who does this for a living, a headset is a MUST. If you drive and text/email while driving, you're an idiot! What I do NOT agree with is the notion of banning ALL use of cell Phones while driving. This is just an example of the PC police taking a good idea and screwing it up! Sorry. Back off soap box. Continue the discussion.

Except that the data shows using a hands free device isn't much better (if any better) than using the phone directly (for calls - not texting and stuff). The fact simply is that being on a phone call (either with a device, or hands free) while in the car is incredibly distracting, and makes people about 4 times as likely to get into a car accident.

Now, how that compares to eating a burger or something - I am not sure. I don't know if anyone has done that research. And as I said on the podcast, there are things that are more distracting than a phone call as well.

Chris

 

[bergman]

In the car, I prefer a really good hands free. I've received compliments on the sound quality of the Blueant supertooth II for several years. I own a Scala 500 earpiece that works quite well. I bought a Blueant Z9i earpiece for its incredibly enhanced background sound suppression. speaking in a noisy room, callers cannot determine where I am. With the Z9i, I get a better fit using an eargel from an old Jabra. Based on ads on eBay, apparently others feel the same way as I see ads for eargels from Plantronics earpieces offered as compatible.

 

[Brickman]

Except that the data shows using a hands free device isn't much better (if any better) than using the phone directly (for calls - not texting and stuff). The fact simply is that being on a phone call (either with a device, or hands free) while in the car is incredibly distracting, and makes people about 4 times as likely to get into a car accident.

Now, how that compares to eating a burger or something - I am not sure. I don't know if anyone has done that research. And as I said on the podcast, there are things that are more distracting than a phone call as well.

Chris

While I certainly agree that talking on the phone is distracting, that is a given. I find it no more distracting than talking with someone sitting right next to you in the car. I mean is having a person in the car talking with me also 4 times as likely to put me in an accident? (BTW, I do not trust or put much validity in the PC Police's data. But that is just me) Am I now not to have anyone talking to me while I drive? Will I now get a ticket if the Police see me talking to my wife while riding together down the road? Maybe I just should not allow anyone to ride with me at all? Wait, I can not do that because that would be bad for the environment!

Anyway, I hope you tell that I am being silly. Again, I totally support the use of headsets while driving. I know for a fact, from 12 years of personal experience, that driving while holding a phone to your ear is very distracting. The headsets free your hands up to stay on the wheel and allow much better range of motion for your head and vision. I also think that you should use Voice Dialing as much as possible. In my experience, people are distracted the most while dialing a number and driving.

I just think that outlawing the use of all cell phones in the car is going too far. Many people in this country would be severely handicapped in their jobs if they could not conduct business while driving to the next appointment/ job. Not all of us are politicians who can afford to have the tax payers pay for some one to chauffeur us around while they talk on the phone.

 

[cjvitek]

While I certainly agree that talking on the phone is distracting, that is a given. I find it no more distracting than talking with someone sitting right next to you in the car. I mean is having a person in the car talking with me also 4 times as likely to put me in an accident? (BTW, I do not trust or put much validity in the PC Police's data. But that is just me) Am I now not to have anyone talking to me while I drive? Will I now get a ticket if the Police see me talking to my wife while riding together down the road? Maybe I just should not allow anyone to ride with me at all? Wait, I can not do that because that would be bad for the environment!

The data is out there - most studies have shown talking on the phone (either headset or with device) is more distracting than talking to someone next to you. You may not think it is, but you brain behaves differently in both cases. It is not just police data - scientific study and research has demonstrated this.

Talking on a phone causes more of a distraction than talking to someone in the car.

Anyway, I hope you tell that I am being silly.

Yes, I do.

Again, I totally support the use of headsets while driving. I know for a fact, from 12 years of personal experience, that driving while holding a phone to your ear is very distracting. The headsets free your hands up to stay on the wheel and allow much better range of motion for your head and vision. I also think that you should use Voice Dialing as much as possible. In my experience, people are distracted the most while dialing a number and driving.

It's not just a question of freeing the hands, allowing for more range of motion of the head - it's a question of the ability of the brain to focus.

Chris

 

[JustinHorn]

The data is out there - talking on the phone (either headset or with device) [/i]is[/i] more distracting than talking to someone next to you. You may not think it is, but you brain behaves differently in both cases. It is not just police data - scientific study and research has demonstrated this.

Talking on a phone causes more of a distraction than talking to someone in the car.

Do you have any links for this? For some reason I just can't wrap my mind around this one and would be interested to hear the reason why cell phone is worse than a passenger next to you.

 

[cjvitek]

A number of papers have been published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology. I can't reprint them here, (copyright reasons) but I can summarize a couple of them.

Drews et al in 2008 compared a person on the phone, a person talking to a passenger, and a person not talking. Cell phones resulted in more driving errors (interestingly, when talking to a passenger, the conversation often would involve aspects of what the driver was doing).

Horrey and Wickens (2006) showed no difference between passengers and cell phones (either hands free or hand held). This was a meta-analysis however, and as such the results may be questionable. (combining several results which may not have the same parameters, many times the authors didn't even get the data themselves). Caird et al (2008) did a similar meta analysis with similar results, but again, not their own data.

Charlton (2009) compared cell phone use, in car passenger, and out of car passenger (ie, walkie talking or something, but the passenger could see the car). Cell phone and remote passenger was worse than no conversation (duh) and in car passenger. Interestingly, he noted that with in car conversation, the passenger may slow the conversation when approaching a hazard or even warn the driver themselves (which did not happen with the cell phone conversations and only happened very little in the remote conversations). He suggested that conversation modulation was the key to why talking with a passenger was not as bad.

Amado and Ulupinar (2005) looked simply at reaction to visual cues (color and location) comparing simulated cell phone use and talking to a passenger, and found that cell phone use resulted in greater "distraction".

Strayer et al (2003) compared hands free and cell phones and found no difference, and speculated that it had to do with memory and visual recognition of driving cues.

Those are just a few that I found quickly.

 

[chobbs1]

Um..so ..yes. I use a Bluetooth head set every day. If the phone rings and I don't have my headset I will actually go out of my way to put it on. I hate holding the phone.

 

[lonbeehold]

Wires get in the way.

Wireless stereo is one of my favorites feature of 3.0 I could not stand the dangling wires when listening to music. I have the Moto S9-HD. my only real gripe is that they sometimes get tangled in my hair when I take them off. I also like the fact that I can do things with both hands free while wearing the bluetooth to talk on the phone.

 

[Gary86]

I don't use BT headset b/c my radio is my headset. I take call through it.