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The Nokia BH-701 bluetooth headset was supplied on a trial basis along with the Nokia E71 smartphone in the same package. Since the bluetooth headset doesn’t normally come with the Nokia E71 smartphone device, I thought that it would be more appropriate to have a separate review for it so that’s why there’s a review of it here rather than having it included in the Nokia E71 review (although it was included in the picture for the E71 smartphone review)

At first glance, the Nokia BH-701 bluetooth headset seemed quite odd. Being someone who doesn’t really spend too much time on bluetooth headsets (The Treo bluetooth headset is the only other bluetooth headset I own), I found the Nokia BH-701’s appearance seemed weird. Rather than the typical hook you’d normally find on a bluetooth headset that you place over the flaps of your ear, the Nokia BH-701 has quite a different design. It has a circular ring connected to the headset that surrounds the headset. At first, I wasn’t sure what to make of it. Thankfully the package included a manual, so obviously I dug into the manual to figure out how it works.

Basically, you use the circular ring as a replacement for the “hook” and place it over your ear flaps. Of course, quite similar to other bluetooth headsets, make sure you fit the soft rubbery covered earpiece inside your ear for a comfortable fit. If anyone ever “thought” that the typical bluetooth headsets look like they’re something from Star Trek, I’m sure they’ll think the Nokia BH-701 is an alien concoction. I’m not sure if “geeky” is the word to describe the appearance of the BH-701 headset on your ear but “different” certainly is.

For those who want to skip over all the detailed review and just want a summary, you can jump to the review summary

Near the top of the metallic side of the bluetooth headset, there is a circular button. That’s the power button which also acts to pair the device with your smartphone, computer or other bluetooth devices. Press it and you’ll turn on/off the device. Press and hold and you will initiate the pairing discovery mode. When it has paired with a device, the headset will flash in green. When it is not paired with anything it will flash in blue. When it’s charging, the light will be a solid red. Pairing is very similar to other bluetooth headsets, press and hold and ensure that both devices to be paired are in “discoverable” mode. Then enter the default pairing code to connect the two devices. Normally, it’s a very straightforward and easy process.

The volume button, to my surprise is a very tiny little point that sticks out on one side of the headset. If you look at the side picture of the headset, you’ll see it. It’s very tiny. To raise the volume, pull up on the button towards the top and vice versa to bring the volume down. You may need to push or pull on the button a few times to bring up or down the volume level as holding it doesn’t automatically cause the volume to gradually increase or decrease.

Specs and Details

(taken from Nokia USA, Nokia Europe website)

Nokia Bluetooth Headset BH-701

Overview

Nokia Bluetooth Headset BH-701 - Uniquely practical

The Nokia Bluetooth Headset BH-701 is for you if you want to stand out from the crowd with the distinctive design, featuring stainless steel ear loop, and easy-to-use call handling features which are a winning blend of elegance and convenience.

With a Nokia Bluetooth Headset BH-701 you can:

* experience all the benefits of hands-free wireless communication, without compromising your unique sense of style
* answer and end calls, control the volume, power on and off, and – depending on your phone – voice dial and redial
* check the status of the headset and calls with the blue, green, and red LED indicators
* keep the headset handy when not in use with the stylish headset strap or carrying pouch
* talk up to 6 hours, with up to 160 hours’ standby time

Technical specifications

Weight

* 13.3 g

Dimensions

* 55 x 14 x 10.7 mm

Interfaces

* Bluetooth 2.0 with EDR. Hands-free 1.5 (HFP) and Headset 1.1 (HSP) profiles.

Talk time

* Up to 6 hours

Standby time

* Up to 160 hours

Operating temperature

* - 15°C up to +55°C

Battery

* 75 mAh, Lithium-Ion Polymer

Sales package contents

* Nokia Bluetooth Headset BH-701
* Headset strap
* Soft pouch
* Nokia charger AC-3E
* User guide

Click on the thumbnail images for a bigger picture

Slideshow of the above pictures

Audio qualilty comparison

I have made a few recordings with my Treo 750 smartphone of the audio that comes from the Nokia BH-701 headset, the Nokia E71 smartphone built-in speakers, the supplied Nokia wired headphones. I used VITO Audio Notes (Handango, MobiHand) recording program to do the recording of a jazz radio station streamed through the very excellent Mobbler program (a Last.fm client for the Symbian S60 devices). The volume was kept at the same level and no changes were made for all three recordings.

recording of audio from Nokia BH-701 bluetooth heaset

recording of audio from E71 speakers

recording of audio from supplied Nokia headphone

I have tried and listened to audio from the BH-701 on several different occasions with the headset at different proximities to the smartphone with similar results. Each time, I notice the crackling in the music and the frequent disruption. I have not, however placed or receive any calls with the bluetooth headset so can not comment on whether this occurs during calls.

Product Video

Originally, I was getting “errors” at YouTube after trying to upload many times so I uploaded over to Blip.tv. So for this review, the videos are available at both Youtube and Blip.tv. They’re both the same video.

Video at Blip.tv

Video at YouTube

Here are my observations:

I will first focus on the positives of the bluetooth headset. I like how lightweight it is. Pairing with devices is fairly simple and straightforward. I really like how the headset can support music playback, which many headsets do not. This enables me to listen to music, albeit in mono and in one ear but it’s still better than not being able to. These are some of the good points I have observed. Now, with the not so good points.

Aside from looking a bit strange with the circular ring around my ears, and my uneasiness about doing so outside of the house, the Nokia BH-701 bluetooth headset isn’t likely going to be something I’ll be considering for a future purchase. It’s not the looks (I can deal with that) but mainly the quality, or more specifically, the lack of audio quality of the headset that forces me to provide these observations.

I was a bit surprised to find that the sound quality of the bluetooth headset seemed even worse than my Palm Treo bluetooth headset, which I thought wasn’t great(but I got it for free with the Treo 650). Mind you, I only owned and tried these two different bluetooth headsets so I really can’t comment on the quality of bluetooth headsets. As you may notice in the recordings I made, sound quality of the bluetooth headset was the worst when compared to the internal speaker of the E71 and the supplied Nokia headphones. Unfortunately, since my Treo bluetooth headset couldn’t support music playback, it was not possible for me to compare the audio quality with it. In the sample and during a few times I used the bluetooth headset to listen to music on Mobler, the music would experience frequent cut outs or disruptions, which was quite annoying. Regardless of where the headset was worn in proximity to the smartphone, the end result was the same. That was quite disappointing since I was expecting much better quality than what I got.

Now, this may be due to the specific unit model I reviewed so I am only commenting on my experience with this particular unit. You may experience something completely different. Please keep that in mind.

The volume button was so tiny that I missed it when I first used it, looking for a volume button. I was also a bit surprised that I needed to keep pressing the button either up or down to bring the volume up or down rather than the typical press and hold and have the volume adjust gradually upwards or downwards. That’s not really a big deal, but I thought I’d comment on that.

Of course, the circular ring is something I seem to have a problem with. I personally do not like this design and it makes me look even more weird than with other typical bluetooth headsets. I don’t know. The combination of the these points is enough to deter me from considering this for a bluetooth headset. Perhaps you may feel differently.

Review Summary

As with everything in life, there are products of a specific brand name, that doesn’t live up to the name. The Nokia BH-701 bluetooth headset unfortunately is one that, in my view doesn’t live up to my high expectation. Perhaps, I was thinking that Nokia makes great quality phones and smartphones that their bluetooth headsets would be just a great. I don’t know. All I found was that the quality was worse than my Treo bluetooth headset, which I wasn’t impressed with either. The main feature I really did like about the BH-701 is that it supported music and smartphone audio playback, something that my Treo bluetooth headset can’t do. The audio quality isn’t great either. As well, when the music gets cut out or disrupted frequently ever few seconds, it is unacceptable. I can’t imagine being on the phone and only being able to hear snippets of the conversation. It does not do, at least for me. Again, this may be due to my particular headset unit and you may experience something completely different. As for me, I think maybe I should be looking at something like the Plantronics Explorer bluetooth headset if I wanted a bluetooth headset since I’m very happy with my Plantronics wired computer headphone as it delivers great sound.

Nokia BH-701 bluetooth headset at Buy.com

Nokia BH-701 bluetooth headset at Amazon.com

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