I read several reviews here from people that had tried to use regular Bluetooth dongles to pair with their headsets, but none of them seemed completely happy with the result. I decided not to chance it and bought the BUA-100 even though it is somewhat pricey compared to other Bluetooth adapters.

It does not work with Bluetooth devices other than Plantronics headsets, so you are not getting a multi use Bluetooth adapter in this, more like just a dongle to connect your headset to your PC.

The button on the dongle allows you to easily pair it with your headset. Just put your headset into pairing mode then push the button on the dongle. They will be paired in a second or two.

For range, it behaves as standard Bluetooth. When I walk away from my pc, I can get about 15 feel or so before I hear a little static, which gets progressively worse the farther you go.

All in all I am very happy with the combination of this and the voyager 510 headset and would recommend it to others.

See larger image Plantronics Bluetooth USB Adapter BUA-100 (Electronics) List Price: $66.99 USD New From: $60.00 In Stock Used from: $49.99 In Stock

The AT&T store hates me, but you can benefit from my exhaustive (and expensive) research!

I have an iPhone 4 and I’ve been looking for a good bluetooth headset. I’m most concerned about sound quality. I want the person on the other phone to have no idea that I’m even using a bluetooth headset. I also want to be able to hear them just as well as I can with my iPhone.

So I went to the AT&T store and asked to demo a few bluetooth headsets to see which one sounded the best. I was rudely told that I couldn’t try any of them, but I could buy whatever I liked and there was a 30 day refund policy with no restocking fee.

So I grabbed my credit card and purchased:

• Aliph Jawbone Icon (obvious first choice)
• Jabra Stone
• Sound ID 510
• BlueAnt Q1
• Plantronics Voyager Pro

Yup, I really did!

Note that I already owned a Motorola H17 and compared that as well.

Then I got together with a friend with another iPhone 4, and we both took turns listening with and talking with each headset while the other person listened and talked with the iPhone (no headset).

We also tried introducing background noise, mostly just a fan and a TV, nothing extreme (like a jet engine or a wind tunnel or anything).

Aren’t you just dying to know what I came up with?

When it came to listening quality, or how the headsets sounded when I listened to someone else talking into an iPhone 4 without a headset, the Aliph Jawbone Icon and the Plantronics Voyager Pro definitely tied for first place, leaving everything else seriously in the dust. I make special note of how disgustingly poor the sound from the Sound ID 510 was despite its gimmicky little iPhone app which did allow you to change the sound but in all cases it was various flavors of awful and bad compared to the Icon and the Pro.

But what was even more dramatic was the way the voice quality was transmitted through these headphones (in other words, what I sounded like to the other person when I spoke through them).

THE PLANTRONICS VOYAGER PRO ABSOLUTELY CRUSHED EVERYTHING ELSE, ESPECIALLY THE ALIPH JAWBONE ICON!

Now I’m definitely not a Plantronics fanboy at all, in fact I think the Voyager Pro is funny looking and kind of large and dorky. But when speaking through it, I sound just the same as I do speaking through the iPhone 4 without a bluetooth headset, and it definitely transmits the best audio, really the only one that was comparable in quality to not using a bluetooth headset. And the listening audio quality was similarly just as good as no headset (admittedly listening quality was good on the Aliph Jawbone Icon as well).

Voice transmission quality of the Jabra Stone was really pretty terrible. The BlueAnt was just so-so both talking and listening. Listening quality on the Sound ID was rock bottom.

I thought the Jawbone Icon won points for style, but you know it’s not very pocket friendly, and actually when I put it in my pocket those sharp two corners on the front poked the wang out of my thigh over and over; believe it or not the Plantronics Voyager Pro, which looks large and bulky when deployed, folds up very flat that it is much more pocket friendly than the Icon, and equally pocket friendly to everything else on the list.

Also I had to do AN INCREDIBLE AMOUNT OF EAR GEL ADJUSTMENTS to get the Icon to feel like it wasn’t about to fall out of my ear, and it was uncomfortable after a while; the Plantronics Voyager Pro felt very stable and painless right out of the box with no adjustments.

I will say that if you wear really large frame glasses the Plantronics Voyager Pro might get in the way of your glasses earpiece (I’m just guessing, although I have worn sunglasses with the Voyager Pro with no problems).

So there you have it, if you primary concern is sound quality (and it should be), both sending and receiving, Plantronics Voyager Pro for the win!!!

….and I had to box up all the other ones and brave the wrath of the AT&T employees when I returned them all!

I hope that others benefit from my crazy experiment!

See larger image Plantronics Voyager PRO Bluetooth Headset (Wireless Phone Accessory) List Price: $99.99 USD New From: $66.99 In Stock Used from: $46.09 In Stock Release date May 29, 2009.

Technical Details

• Dual-microphone AudioIQ2® noise-cancelling technology retains natural sound of your voice
• Pivoting mic boom lets you wear headset on either ear
• Includes micro USB charging connection
• Three layers of WindSmart technology–stainless steel mic screens, acoustic fabrics, and an electronic filter help block intrusive wind noise
• What’s in the Box: headset, AC wall/travel charger, three soft gel eartips, two foam eartip covers, and a printed user manual

Comfort:

I’ve seen a few reviews where this headset is less comfortable. Compared to the Motorola H500, I think it’s much more comfortable as it’s more flexible (doesn’t look like it in the pictures though). The grasp of the ear clip is not as strong, and that means it might feel a bit less secure on your ear, but it’s also wearable for long periods of time. The Motorola H500 was tight enough on my ear that after 30 minutes, the pressure on the back of my ear was painful – not good when conference calls are usually over 30 minutes long. Additionally, with 3 sizes for the ear-piece, once I got the correct size attached to the Voyager 510, it helped make the whole set fit more snugly and securely.

Listening Quality:

With the Motorola H500, major static was present even with the phone held right next to the headset. None of that is present with the Plantronics Voyager 510. I should note that in terms of volume, the Voyager was significantly less loud until I got the right ear piece in. Not that the ear piece is snug (and not a few millimeters away from my ear) I can hear just fine. As the Motorola comes with a single ear piece, I never got it quite so dialed in.

Transmission Quality:

Often people who I called complained about the incredibly bad quality of my signal with the Motorola H500. When I was in a perfectly silent room, the H500 was ok. When in the car, it was almost totally unsuable if I had to speak. I’m not sure if the Plantronics noise reduction really works, but people don’t complain about my voice quality, and I certainly don’t have to yell to be heard.

People noted that they received me louder with the Motorola, but were happier with the Plantronics as I didn’t cut in and out.

Range:

Range was poor on the Motorola. If I had the phone clipped to the belt and the H500 on the opposite ear (so my body was between the phone and headset), the reception would cut in and out. If I walked more than 10 feet away from the phone, the H500 would cut in and out. With the Plantronics, I can walk up to 20 feet away without problems. The only issue is if there is a wall between the phone and the Plantronics. Otherwise reception and range are much better than the H500.

Controls:

Yes – everyone is right about the on/off button being poorly placed and not user friendly on the Plantronics Voyager 510. That said, I don’t use it anyway in favor of just controlling functions from the phone. The only headset functions I use on the headset are increasing the volume control which works well and easily. One nice feature of the Plantronics is the ability to switch a call back to the phone. This was not available on the Motorola. User friendly controls go to the Motorola in this case, but just barely because of the way I personally use the headset.

Overall I obviously am keeping the Plantronics. It’s larger than the Motorola by far and less stable on the ear. However, it’s more comfortable, has much better reception and transmission quality. 2 thumbs up!!

Specifications

• Talk time: Up to 6 hours
• Standby time: Up to 100 hours
• Bluetooth version: 1.2 (supports headset and hands-free profiles)
• Wearing style: Over-the-ear; boom swivels for wearing on either ear
• Headset controls: Volume, mute, call answer/end, voice-activated dialing (must be supported by your phone)
• Adaptive Frequency Hopping: Yes (helps to avoid interference for co-existence with Wi-Fi/WLAN)
• Supports analog and digital office phones: Yes