bluetooth headsets that can also stream music?

shunx · Post by **shunx** » Mon Feb 01, 2010 4:51 am

I have a headset for my iPhone but it doesn't do music. Looking for one that will allow me to talk on the phone and listen to music as well. Any ideas?

Pgh · Post by **Pgh** » Mon Feb 01, 2010 7:12 pm

There are a bunch. Go to Google or Amazon and search for "bluetooth stereo headset" (or headphones or earbuds).

A couple of examples:

Sony DRBT50 Stereo Bluetooth Headset
Sony DRBT101 Stereo Bluetooth Headset
JABRA BT620s - Headset ( behind-the-neck ) - wireless - Bluetooth

I got the "Plantronics Voyager 855 Bluetooth Headset" recently and it's great if you're not too much of an audiophile. It sounds pretty good once you've mounted the correct size of ear-pieces and it's very compact. But battery life when listening in stereo is slightly disappointing - around 3 -4 hours.

Post by **NeilBlanchard** » Tue Feb 02, 2010 6:11 am

It doesn't appear that any of these have a built in microphone? That would be cool...

Pgh · Post by **Pgh** » Tue Feb 02, 2010 8:35 am

I think they all have microphones - not sure about the Jabra though.

The Plantronics and the Sonys I listed definitely have mics. The Plantronics is just like a standard Bluetooth earpiece and microphone for cell phones, but it has an add-on earpiece for stereo reception. I use it for music, DVDs, etc.

Pgh · Post by **Pgh** » Tue Feb 02, 2010 8:51 am

I checked - all those that I listed have microphones for use with cell phones and have stereo reception for music too.

The Plantronics is a discontinued item but it's still widely available. I like it a lot because it's so small and the second earpiece can be detached when it's not needed. (But I'm not one of those people who walks around wearing the earpiece all the time.)

Post by **NeilBlanchard** » Tue Feb 02, 2010 10:26 am

Thanks for checking -- here's an interesting unit:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6875982261

Pgh · Post by **Pgh** » Tue Feb 02, 2010 11:03 am

I've used non-BlueTooth "behind the head" headphones but didn't like that type.

I found this comparison test of BlueTooth stereo headphones from last fall:

http://gizmodo.com/5369490/bluetooth-he ... t-the-best

But as I've mentioned above - I really like small size and versatility of the Plantronics 855.

I may look into the Sony DRBT50 for serious listening.

haddenharley · Post by **haddenharley** » Fri Feb 19, 2010 2:43 am

The same MONO headset streams audio from the media player app on my wife's Blackberry Bold as well as from any other "stereo audio related" app which is what is confusing me. It also streams the iPhone Voice Recorder recordings fine.I'm not sure how Blackberry is doing it. Typically the only way to get audio to a mono cell phone headset is to send it a phone call. Perhaps Blackberry presents it as a phone call and then once established sends the audio over.
In any event, I don't think there are too many people terribly interested in listening to low quality mono audio on a cell phone BT headset, which is probably a key reason that Apple isn't burning midnight oil to try to get this working.