Nokia BH-905 review
Bluetooth headsets.
You know, those things that somehow always manage to have a blinking blue led somewhere. Those things that when worn in public, make you look exactly as you would had you actually had a blue tooth.
Not necessarily.
It turns out that not all bluetooth headsets are created equal. Some may not even be that strange in-your-ear-but-not-quite, over-your-cheek-but-not-close-enough-to-your-mouth type of contraptions.
No, no, some may look from afar as a high-end, overhead, professional, normal, wired, headset.
And cost as much as a Nokia E55. And more than the E52, 5800 and almost as much as the E75 (prices based on nokia.co.uk).
Gulp.
Yes, ladies and gents, the BH-905.
No pix, no vids, no gimmicks.
That's how I roll.
So, do I like it?
Yes.
Why?
It's unbelievably comfortable. Seriously. Everything is cushioned. After a minute, you start to not feel it anymore. That in great contrast to a lot of over-the-head headsets, which you *start* to notice and feel after a minute and have to take off after 30. This? 4 hours? OMG, has it really been so much? I must get back to work! :)
The fact that in the beginning you always have to read the L and R designations does take a little getting used to. You have to do this, since the way it's designed means you'll instinctively want to wear it the other way around, if you've ever worn another over-the-head pair before. This design does seem strange at first, but adds a lot to the overall comfort of wearing it.
The sound quality is phenomenal for a bluetooth headset. What I mean, is that when connected via bluetooth (it also comes with all the cables and adapters you'll ever need if you want to use it as a wired headset, including an airplane adapter -neat), it does take you a while to realize that you're listening to music via a wireless connection.
The bass is just a little bit thinner than I like it, but for 99% of the people, this won't be noticeable (it also depends highly on what music genres you're into, mind). Other than that, the audio quality is the same, no matter which connection method you choose.
I haven't done any scientific tests on battery life, but it was more than enough for me. Best estimate? A few hours. Seriously, I didn't pay attention to that at all. Sorry, it's a bit hard to, when you're listening to music in such high quality. Also nice is that it charges via standard Nokia 2mm jack, which means, for example, that I charged it with my N95's charger.
The volume levels on this thing seem illegal for the EU, but trust me, that's an amazing thing, not a bad one. Your eardrums will surrender long before you've maxed this thing out.
The buttons are all big and nicely placed, it will take you less than a day to get used to their positions. You can skip and repeat tracks from the headset. Tested this even with 3rd-party music players on Symbian, and it works.
It also features a noise cancellation switch, you can use this mode if you so wish or if you're in a very loud environment. It works, but does create an odd feeling of pressure in your ears. Not unbearable by any means, and, again, it is a switch. You also notice its effect a lot less when in loud environments.
I've had long phone conversations from this, and have only let the other parties know I was on a headset at the end of each conversation. No one had noticed it. And I say this in all seriousness and honesty. If you read a lot of headset reviews, you'll notice that almost all of them contain this phrase, and trust me, most of the times, it just isn't true. The BH-905 is helped in achieving this feat by its external mics, which also help with the noise cancellation noted above, but they also 'record' ambient noise when you're talking and filter it out. All very well.
So do I recommend you run out and buy one?
As much as I'd like to, no.
See, there are a few things I really can't agree with here.
First off, the case. It comes with a case. Ok, you say. Well, yes. I don't know if it actually is leather, but it sure feels like it. And it's the only thing in the box. Yes, it's that big. Very useful for travelling, indeed. You can store your headset, charger and all the cables and adapters it comes with in there. Because, they all actually come in there.
You can also say goodbye to a lot of carry-on baggage space.
This does seem like a little bit of overkill to me. And as good as it looks, it does feel like it adds a lot to the price.
Which brings me to the BH-905's biggest shortcoming: the price. I mean seriously... It's a headset. A good one, yes. A perfect one? Not without being able to pair to multiple devices at the same time. Not in my book. But anyway, a very good one.
Still, I'd rather buy an E55. Or save a hundred more pounds and get the N86.
You do whatever you want. I mean, if you have the money to spare, by all means, go get it.
Then there's also the minor annoyance of having the 2mm charging jack and the 2.5mm jack used for connecting the audio cable (if you so wish) in the exact same place on the two different earpieces. Since there's only a .5mm diameter difference between them, it will take some getting used to which is which.
Bluetooth transmission of music has come a long way. And bluetooth headsets have come a long way too. They're not quite at the 'prosumer' level of wired headsets, audio-quality-wise, but for many use cases, close enough. Yet paying this much of a premium (for it being wireless? for the case? your guess is as good as mine!) doesn't make much sense to me.
