TECH REVIEW - Bluetooth Headset
Sony Ericsson HBH-65
After my Sony Ericsson HBH-35 headset finally spontaneously dissassembled itself through old age and excessive use, I decided to try a smaller, more unobtrusive headset, the Sony Ericsson HBH-65. What a mistake.
INCLUDED ACCESSORIES
The Sony Ericsson HBH-65 is supplied with a Sony Ericsson mains adaptor for charging, and a manual. You'd think this reduces the opportunity for things to louse up, and you'd be wrong..
TEST EQUIPMENT
For the purpose of this review, the HBH-65 headset was paired to a Sony Ericsson P800 mobile phone and a Sony Ericsson T610 mobile phone.
USEABILITY
In principle, the Sony Ericsson HBH-65 headset should be very straightforward to use, one main control button to switch it on and off, and small volume buttons on the top and bottom of the main boom. Althogh the earpiece is made of a hard plastic, it is actually quite comfortable, and certainly stays fixed on the ear.
The HBH-65 headset is very unobtrusive, and certainly not a mugger magnet like many bluetooth headsets. Even the LED that flashes when the headset is on, is not so bright that it draws attention to the wearer. From that perspective, it ticks all the right boxes.
Like the majority of Bluetooth headsets, this headset can be fitted on either the left ear or the right ear.
BATTERY LIFE
The HBH-65 headset would have had a better battery life if its battery had been replaced with a root vegetable such as a potato. It was useless, and seemed to lose charge if you looked at it the wrong way. Talk time was very poor, and standby time didn't seem marvellous. Obviously, a small headset will always need to make compromises in terms of battery power, but I think this goes over the limit in terms of being too short a battery life to be of any use.
BATTERY CHARGING CABLE
As with so many other headsets, the HBH-65 uses a custom charging connector, this time, the incredibly poorly designed Sony Ericsson phone charging connector. There isn't much more that can be said here other than at some point, the charger connector will break, because Sony Ericsson phone connectors are so poorly designed.
AUDIO QUALITY - MOBILE PHONE
The audio quality of the HBH-65 was not marvellous. People on the other end kept saying "speak louder", which kind of says it all. That was use indoors. Outdoors, one might as well give up before starting. It was truly useless.
BLUETOOTH PAIRING
This was where the HBH-65 headset excelled at being useless. It continually had to have its Bluetooth connection re-paired with the mobile phones it was tested with, it had a habit of dropping the connection for no good reason. That just isn't a reliable headset, and does not reflect well on Sony Ericsson.
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION
| Model Name | HBH-65 |
|---|---|
| Model Number | HBH-65 |
| Manufacturer | Sony Ericsson |
| Type | Bluetooth headset |
| Bluetooth Version (headset) | V1.1 |
| Talk Time | 2-3 hours |
| Standby Time | 24 hours |
| Battery Type | Lithium |
| Battery Charge Type | Charged via standard Sony Ericsson mains adaptor |
PROS
- Small
- Unobtrusive
CONS
- Useless Battery Life
- Nearly non-existent sound quality outdoors
- Custom charging connector is not very robust
- Doesn't pair very well
CONCLUSIONS
Looks nice but has useless battery life, and pretty poor for being heard when in use, which kind of negates the purpose of it. Avoid. Unless you like buying things that don't work very well, and unless you like stress and frustration.
| Sound Quality: |
2/5 |
| Battery Life: |
1/5 |
| Bluetooth Connectivity: |
2/5 |
| Ergonomics: |
4/5 |
| Build Quality: |
3/5 |
| Overall: |
2.4/5 |
