Jabra Talk

If you're looking to buy your first Bluetooth headset, you're probably not looking for a pricey, top-of-the-line model with a ton of features you never even knew existed. Chances are you're looking for something more like the $29.99 (list) Jabra Talk. It's easy to set up and use, and you can find it out there for well under its list price, which makes it about as much of an investment as a large pepperoni pizza. But let's make this clear: The Jabra Talk?isn't a great headset. The fit could be better, and noise cancellation is pretty poor. Still, if you're new to Bluetooth, it sounds pretty good and is a reasonably priced entry point.

Design, Fit, and Pairing
The Jabra Talk looks like your run-of-the-mill Bluetooth headset. It measures 0.95 by 2.1 by 0.65 inches (HWD) and weighs 0.35 ounces. It's made mostly of matte black plastic, with a silver plastic line that runs along the outer edge, and a chunky strip that separates the front of the headset's face from the button on the other side. Controls are sparse. There's a power switch on the inside of the headset, right next to the earpiece. Two hidden LED lights indicate Bluetooth connectivity and battery life. Volume control is located on the bottom of the headset, and is easy to toggle while you're on a call. A multifunction Call button is located right next to your ear, and can be used to answer and end calls, redial numbers, and trigger voice dialing.

The headset uses an in-ear design and comes with three different size silicone ear buds and two different plastic hooks. I'm not a fan of the hook, even though they do make the fit more secure. I wasn't thrilled with the fit of any of the ear buds, either, but I found the middle size the most comfortable to wear without needing to hook myself in. Luckily, because the headset is light, once I established the proper fit I practically forgot it was there.

The Talk is automatically set to pairing mode the first time you turn it on. For subsequent pairings, all you have to do is hold down the Call button for a few seconds until the Bluetooth indicator begins to flash. From there, simply follow the instructions on your device for a standard Bluetooth pairing procedure. For this review, I had no trouble pairing the Talk with an Apple iPhone 4S?and a Sony Xperia ZL.

Sound Quality, Noise Cancellation, and Conclusions
Once paired, you can initiate voice dialing by holding down the Call button for a couple of seconds. It will initiate whatever voice control you use, like Google Voice or Siri. I had no trouble making calls, asking Siri to play some music, or having Google Voice open up the calendar app. You can tap the Call button once to answer or end a call, and twice to redial the last number you were connected to.

Call quality is mixed. With the Talk in your ear, voices can sound a little digitized, with some fuzz around the edge, but overall volume goes loud and calls sound clear enough that you won't have trouble understanding anyone. But on the other end, calls made with the Talk have very low volume and sound a bit muffled. Even worse is that it sounds like there is next to no noise cancellation, so it's easy for your voice to get lost if you're calling from a noisy place. Calls made indoors were mostly fine, but this isn't the right headset for you if you plan to use it a lot while on the go.

The Jabra Talk doesn't have many additional features, but it supports A2DP, so you can use it to listen to streaming media like apps, audiobooks, music, and podcasts. The headset gets pretty loud, so volume isn't a problem, but for music, bass is basically nonexistent. Still, it sounds fine for podcasts, and most people don't use mono headsets for music anyway.

Range was fine; I was able to clear the standard 20 feet before sound started to break up. And battery life is okay, at 5 hours and 21 minutes. Jabra claims the headset can last up to eight days on standby.

The Jabra Talk doesn't have a ton of cool features or bar-setting performance. And if you plan to use it outdoors, its lousy noise cancellation means you should probably look for a different headset. But for just over $20, depending on where you buy it, I don't want to knock the Talk too hard. It's still a perfectly decent headset, especially if this is your first time using Bluetooth. It's actually a better choice than the similarly priced Samsung HM1800, since that headset lacks A2DP.

But if you're willing to spend a little more, the Plantronics M55?is our Editors' Choice for budget Bluetooth headsets. It costs nearly twice the price, but it has better call quality and noise cancellation, much longer battery life, and a sleeker design. The Plantronics Marque 2 M165?is another good option, while the Sony SBH20?gets you a unique clip-on design, along with excellent stereo sound quality through a pair of wired earbuds.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/a7ZR-FyjpVM/0,2817,2418224,00.asp

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