Wireless stereo using the Motorola HT820 bluetooth headset

One thing I don’t like having on my notebook is a lot of wires. Bluetooth technology has been a boon for me ‘coz it allows me to connect things to my notebook without all those wires. It may not be as fast as I want it to be but it’s available now and until wireless USB goes mainstream it’s the only thing available right now.

It comes complete with it’s own case plus a charger with several plug adaptors for probably every type of electric outlet available around the globe. It also comes with with a cable that allows you to connect the headset directly to your computer’s stereo output jack in case your headset ran out of juice which I doubt will ever happen.

I have always loved using my Motorola HT820 stereo bluetooth headset so I decided to write a post about it here. I think the price of the Motorola stereo bluetooth headset is about US$60 if you’re shopping for one right now and I tell you it’s a bargain at that price.

The Motorola HT820 bluetooth headphones has actually two bluetooth profiles — Handsfree headset with microphone and stereo headphone. If you use a Sony Ericsson K810i like I do, it’s a perfect pair. Actually a great trio in my case where I have a stereo bluetooth enabled laptop.

If you just want to listen to music using your K810i mobile phone, the sound is great and you can control / monitor phone calls while listening to music without having to get your mobile phone from out of your pocket. You’ll hear a beep when there’s an incoming call when you’re listening to music. You can answer the call by just pushing the left button on the HT820 headset. Hanging up is just as easy, just push the button again.

The “+” and “-” buttons on the left side of the headset controls the volume while the “<” and “>” buttons control next/previous music file in the currently being played music list.

Here’s the best part of wireless bluetooth when you’re on your desk creating a blog article for instance. If you have ripped and transferred all of your audio CDs to your notebook like I have, you can listen to endless music. What I did was connect my Motorola HT820 to my notebook as a stereo headset and listen to music being played from my laptop. All the while, I connected the Sony Ericsson K810i to the HT820 using the handsfree profile so that I will still get a beep when there’s an incoming phone call from my mobile phone.

It’s a great combination! I can walk around the room without having to bother myself about wires. I tested the range of the bluetooth headphones and didn’t find any signal degradation even at about 5 meters from my desk.

I have been using my Motorola HT820 bluetooth headset for about a year (I think). What I basically do is charge the batteries in the evening for about a couple of hours and use it in the day. I haven’t find a situation that I had ran out of battery so I got curious as to how long does it really take before the battery ran out. After a full charge, I actually get about 12 hours of continuous music with the HT820 headset with it! I wonder if there are bluetooth headphones with replaceable rechargeable batteries — now that would be cool!

Come to think of it, what makes wearing the Motorola HT820 for several hours is its design. The headphone have padded earpieces that are soft enough to make wearing them comfortable even for several hours. What’s also not so obvious is the soft rubber molds that ran fits around your ears to hold them in place. Instead of the plastic frame bearing on your ears when you are wearing it, the softer rubber is more comfortable.

Besides all of the above, the thing I really like about the Motorola HT820 stereo bluetooth headphone is the quality of music / sound output. The channel separation is great. Try listening to the Queen’s Greatest Hits album and you’ll know what I mean. It has a wide frequency response enough for you to hear and distinguish the different musical instruments and the vocals. The sound reproduction is actually so good that I even thought, when I’m watching movies, I heard a real door knocking when it was actually from the movie I was watching.

I don’t know how long the battery life on this thing is. If I can’t replace them to continue using it and it would be time for me to buy a replacement, I would surely have a very high expectation on what my next headset would be considering the listening pleasure that the Motorola HT820 has provided.