If you are looking for the smallest bluetooth headset on the market, then the chances are you won’t find anything tinier than the Motorola H17. It’s probably the world’s smallest bluetooth headset!
Motorola H17
Motorola has a history of producing ultra-small headsets. The predecessors to the H17 were the H15 and H12, both of which were smaller than your average device. With the H17, Motorola have adopted a new design, whereby the boom mic flips out when you’re using it and flips back again when you don’t need it. Limited size doesn’t mean limited quality however. The H17’s sound is excellent due to the CrystalTalk technology Motorola now includes as standard on many of its headsets. There are also voice alerts on the headset for when the battery is running low for example.
So although the H17 is a mono, as opposed to a stereo bluetooth headset, what does your $79.99 actually get you?
Features
Well, it’s certainly small. Measuring just 1.65″ by 0.67″ and with a thickness of just .39″ and with a nicely-designed oval shape that is incredibly lightweight, you would think that the phone’s controls are too small and fiddly to use, but surprisingly that’s not actually the case. The biggest control is the multifunctional call button on the front of the headset. The little volume rocker and the LED indicator are positioned on the right side with the charger jack on the top.
The boom mic is cleverly folded away under the earpiece. The act of flipping it out switches the unit on and folding it back again switches it off, which is a very easy system to remember and prevents you from wasting the battery.
One of the nice features of the H17 is its RapidConnect technology. Again, found an a number of Motorola phones, this feature will automatically remember the last phone it was paired with an will reconnect automatically when within range.
In Use
So what’s it like to actually wear and operate? Well, there is a selection of rubber rings and ear hooks for fitting around the earpiece. These hooks should suit all sizes of ear. I’ve got fairly big ears but I found the medium one was best for me. Once fitted with the appropriate hook, the device sits well on the ear and feels pretty comfortable. For those that prefer in-ear cushions, the headset comes with a couple of those too (personally I’m not a fan but I know some people like them).
As for features and usage, obviously you have the standard call answering, call ending, voice dial (if that’s available on your phone), last number redial and mute, plus you can easily transfer calls to and from the headset an the phone itself.
A clever feature is the ability to pair the headset with two phones at the same time. This is great if you’re at work for example and you want to connect it with both your landline and your mobile. When you get an incoming call, the voice will announce which of the two phones the call is coming in on. You even have a call hold/call waiting facility so you can switch easily between the two lines. The voice will also tell you if you are muted or, as mentioned earlier, if your battery is running low.
On Test
On test, we had the H17 paired with a Motorola Debut and it worked like a dream. The devices paired with each other without problems and the call quality was excellent, whether we were in a quiet room or a noisy street. You do occasionally get the odd bit of static, but that’s always going to be the case with a bluetooth headset. It certainly wasn’t a problem.
As for the people we called and who called us during the tests, they all said they could hear us fine. No static, no distortion, no obvious signs that we were speaking on a bluetooth headset rather than a normal handset. It even worked pretty well in the wind!
As for battery life, talk time is 5 hours and standby time is 7 days and it comes with a nice quick-charge feature that enables you to charge it for 2 hours talk time in just 15 minutes.
Overall, a great little phone.
Motorola H790
Another one of the smallest bluetooth headsets is another Motorola model, the Motorola H790. It’s slightly longer than the H17 at 2.03″, but it’s a lot skinnier at just 0.27″ and it feels lighter too.
List price is about the same at $79.99, but I’ve seen these headsets on offer for less than $30, so shop around.
It has similar feature to the H17 too, like excellent quality sound due to that CrystalTalk noise-cancelling technology.
It’s a lovely looking device, finished as it is in a nice matt silver colour. We found the controls a little bit more fiddly on the H790 than on the H17, but they are still perfectly useable.
Again, you have various sizes of ear hooks and in-ear fittings, to suit all ears.
In use, we paired it up with an iPhone and it worked fine, although it didn’t have the clarity of the H17 and there was a little bit more static. We’re not sure if that was because of the phone or the headset, maybe to be fair we should pair it up with the Motorola Debut too, but unfortunately we didn’t have one available for the test.
On balance, when comparing the two devices, we were unanimous in preferring the H17. Despite it’s tiny size, it feels more ergonomic, the call quality is slightly better and it just felt all round like a better headset.
But if you’re looking for the smallest bluetooth headset, either of these two models could be right for you.
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