I finally found a pair worth a try. The Logitech Freepulse headset uses Bluetooth 2.0 and the reviews said that its battery lasts six hours. You can get them at Newegg for 88.99 but I picked mine up at Best Buy for 99.00.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6826104023
I had to drive up to Las Vegas this year for Christmas so I was able to test them out quite a bit.
First, the battery actually does last six hours. I got stuck in Holiday traffic approaching Hoover Dam so ended up listening to them for six hours straight.
The connection is outstanding. About 3.5 hours into the trip, I had to resync the headphones with the base unit but other than that, no connection problems. The sound quality was very good. I listened to an hour or so of music along with the Podcasts. These headsets aren't going to win any awards for audio quality but they aren't bad at all. (they don't compare to my Sennheiser HD-485's for example) For podcasts, they were exceptional.
The range is listed at 33 feet and that's also accurate. At a gas station, I left my headset on while going into the store and the audio source remained rock solid. The audio did break up past 33+ feet though.
The headset comfort is questionable. The style has a wire around the back connecting the two earphones which hook onto your ears using rubber rings. When I first got them, they were a little tight but the wire is actually bendable so if you get these, I suggest you adjust it by gently bending it if you have a fat head or pinhead. After making that adjustment, I was able to wear them for 5+ hours straight both going to Vegas and returning.
The nice thing about these wireless headphones is that they work on any player you can plug a 3.5mm stereo audio jack into so you could use these with your home computer, home theater or laptop (or PSP/DS Lite I assume).
I'm impressed! Hate wires! Especially for headphones. Those Apple commercials showing neon headphone cords flapping around are retarded. That's the last thing you want to show. Cords are annoying and get in the way.
Pros:
-Bluetooth 2.0 works great
-Volume control/Mute is seamlessly integrated into the right headphone.
-rechargeable batter really does last six hours
-versatile. small base unit will plug into any 3.5mm stereo jack
-takes about two hours to charge them.
-audio tone sounds when you've maxed the volume on the headset control, tone sounds when sync'd, tone sounds when switching from base boost and back.
Cons:
-some reviews say either they fit or don't. I'd buy them locally at a Best Buy in case you need to return them. I'd also remind you to adjust the back wire to loosen or tighten them depending on how they feel after wearing them a bit. I was comfortable wearing them for five hours but that's probably the max before you need a break.
These rock and I hope are a sign of things to come for Bluetooth 2.0 headphones.
New Technology
Thankfully, wireless audio technology has improved. Last year’s wireless headphones used Bluetooth 1.2 radios, which promised to let you hear near-CD quality sound up to 33 feet away from your iPod. Practically, though, few Bluetooth 1.2 accessories achieved the 33-foot distance - Logitech’s prior Headphones were the rare exception that came close - and they didn’t match much less expensive corded alternatives in sound quality. By contrast, FreePulse is the first iPod wireless system to use a Bluetooth 2.0+EDR radio, which sends audio data faster while consuming less power. Consequently, Bluetooth 2.0+EDR accessories can sound better without requiring big batteries, though no promises have been made about better distance performance.
FreePulse makes unexpectedly good use of the new Bluetooth technology. For reasons unknown, its distance performance has improved from last year’s model - we were able to walk significantly more than 33 feet away from the iPod and still hear its music playing, which was impressive in two ways. Many wireless headsets suffer from frequent interruptions while you’re walking, and though they do happen from time to time with Freepulse, they’re comparatively infrequent and gracefully handled with very brief silences. Additionally, the sheer distance we achieved was surprising. We could routinely place the iPod and FreePulse transmitter in one room and walk to the far end of another with the headset - distances around 50 feet away - and still hear our music playing clearly.
I don't think the review knew you could bend the wire to make the fit looser or tighter...I didn't either until I tried it.Superior Comfort
From a comfort standpoint, FreePulse delivers partially on the promise of its higher-tech chipset. Though both of Logitech’s designs use foam-covered speakers that fit on the outsides of your ears rather than inside the canals like Apple’s iPod pack-ins, this year’s model feels lighter and less bulky than last year’s. The old five-button-and-switch control system has been simplified to a two-position volume rocker and power button combination, found on the right earpiece, and there’s less hard plastic around the speakers, replaced by soft rubber rings that loop over the tops of your ears to hold the earpieces in place. Similarly, last year’s uncomfortable hard plastic neck and ear loop has been replaced by a softer, rubber-coated neckband that most users will find entirely unobtrusive, though it’s reinforced internally with carbon spring-steel and still serves to link the earpieces together in the same way as before.
There’s only one significant problem here. As with last year’s model, Logitech provides no way for users to resize the headband or earpieces to fit different head or ear sizes. While our male testers found that the headset fit snugly, a female tester with a smaller head found the earpieces droopy and the overall experience uncomfortable, despite her preference for over-the-ear headphones. All testers found the earphones fatiguing over the course of an hour of use, with the female tester finding them uncomfortable most quickly, and commenting that they didn’t sound right because they weren’t properly centered on her ears.
'Other Bluetooth 2.0+EDR enabled devices in the pipeline" but you don't need to wait for anything as long as you can plug the 3.5mm base into it. (works fine with Creative Zen players)Pricing and Conclusions
The biggest offset to any complaints people may have about FreePulse is Logitech’s smart, aggressive price point. At $100, this is the least expensive major-brand pair of Bluetooth headphones we’ve seen, and the fact that FreePulse uses the latest Bluetooth 2.0+EDR standard makes the price even more impressive. There may be few Bluetooth 2.0-compatible devices available today, but Apple’s Bluetooth-enabled computers all include 2.0+EDR chips these days, and are just waiting for the company - or someone else - to release supporting software. Other Bluetooth 2.0-ready hardware is just around the corner, which will make the FreePulse headphones an able companion for non-iPod applications.
