Tiny BH-220 Bluetooth Headset Review

Overview
The BH 220 Bluetooth headset comes with several accessories. The package contains the small main unit, six replacement gels, power adapter, neck-strap, pouch and a manual. I am testing the headset with my Bluetooth enabled Sony Ericsson T630. First I have to charge the headset for about 3 hours. The manual says that the red light on the AC adaptor goes out when the headset is fully charged. Well in my test it never changed to green or went out. Not sure if this is an issue with this particular unit or if the manual is wrong. After charging the BH 220 the Bluetooth pairing is the next step. The manual describes pretty well how to do that. First the BH 220 needs to put into pairing mode, during a period of 60 seconds the headset is visible to other Bluetooth devices and can be registered. To switch into pairing mode I have to hold the big function button and a volume button for 5 seconds. On the T630 I then choose to discover a new device. The BH 220 registers as "Bh220" and needs 1234 as pass-code. The whole pairing was easy and worked right away.

The Bluetooth headset comes with a ear hook that can be placed into the main unit for wearing it either on the left or right ear. The manual also suggest to be able to wear the main-unit without a earhook, but i did not trust wearing it without it, as i had the feeling it might fall out. I tried several of the gels provided to find the best fit for my ear. The BH 220 is very light and feels good to wear.

Usage
To answer a call I just need to press the big function button when I hear the ring sound in the headset. When I saw that the microphone is on the outer side of the headset I was wondering how well it would work, because it is actually far from my mouth and it is also not a bone-conducting head-set. Testing it with some friends it worked really well and they could hear me good. Only issue I encountered was that when turning to volume to high the other party gets an echo. Keeping the volume lower fixed the echo. The BH 220 reject a call by holding the function button for 2 seconds. To end a call you guessed it I just need to push the function button. Also if I pick up the call on the handset I can still transfer it to the headset with the function button. This Bluetooth headset also supports last number redial activated through pushing one of the volume buttons. Be careful here, as I several times called somebody by accident while handling the headset. If the mobile phone is configured for voice activated dialing, then the BH 220 is supporting this as well.

Conclusion
The 8Com Wireless BH 220 Bluetooth headset is a a great low-cost choice for a wireless headset for a Bluetooth enabled phone. The headset is very small and light-weight, which makes it comfortable to wear. The sound quality is good. I do not have a direct comparison with bone conducting headsets or headsets that feature a boom microphone, but the headset is definitely usable. As said above if the volume is turned up to high a echo can occur.

How to Buy
8Com Wireless sells the BH 220 Bluetooth headset for $44.95 in their online store.

Specifications