Review: Jabra BT8030 Bluetooth Stereo Headset/Headphones

Bluetooth is everywhere – you can’t go down the street or on the highway without seeing dozens of folks walking around with their Bluetooth headsets – chatting away.

Bluetooth Stereo Headphone/Headset combos are also becoming more and more popular. Not much new and “revolutionary” has been brought to the table – until now. The Jabra BT 8030 is a very unique and perhaps “groundbreaking” device. It functions as a Bluetooth Headset, a Bluetooth Headphone and as Bluetooth Stereo Speakers – that is a bunch of versatility in one device.

About the Jabra BT 8030 

Here is the “Official line” from Jabra:

First ever Bluetooth speaker and headphone combo!

Connect the BT8030 to your Bluetooth cell phone, PC and media player for a new way to wirelessly enjoy music. Easily transforming from headset for personal enjoyment to speakers for shared listening, its full, rich sound make it ideal for any music lover.

Complete with a mic for speakerphone capabilities, the BT8030 offers flexibility for wherever you go. And its convenient carrying case holds and protects it while not in use.

• First ever Bluetooth speaker and headphone combo — Have music from your Bluetooth-enabled mobile phone, PC or media player.
• 32 hours of streaming music — Listen to your favorite tunes for more than a day straight without a charge.
• 240 hours of standby — With up to 10 Days of standby on a single charge, this headset is ready for action whenever you are.
• Unique design — Easily transforms from comfy headsets for personal listening to stylish speakers for sharing music.
• Dual Bluetooth connectivity — Simultaneously hook up a mobile phone and a music player without wires!
• Speakerphone capabilities — Hold conversations through the built-in microphone.
• Zirene® POWER BASS software — Provides realistic bass notes to complete a full-spectrum of premium life-like sound.
• Bluetooth compliance — Bluetooth 2.0
• Supported Bluetooth profiles — Headset, Handsfree, A2DP, AVRCP
• Compatibility — Jabra BT8030 is compatible with all devices that can transmit audio via the Bluetooth interface (A2DP). The BT8030 can be connected via the USB interface for music playback from a PC.
• Operating range — Up to 33 feet
• Music time — 8 hours in headset mode and in speaker mode
• Talk time — 8 hours in both handsfree- and speakerphone mode
• Standby time — 240 hours
• Charging time — 3 hours
• Weight — 310g
• Dimensions — L1.54 x W.71 X D.47 inches
• Microphone — 2 pcs ECM type. 1 for handsfree and 1 for speaker phone.
• Frequency response — 200 Hz to 3400 Hz
  

Includes:

• Jabra BT8030 Stereo headset/speaker
• Mains AC switched mode charger
• Illustrated user manual on Mini CD
• Quick Start Guide
• Mini USB connector cable

Design

This is one big, honkin headset – there is just no other way to describe it. This thing is huge.  The design concept is that the Jabra BT 8030 is used as an “Over the Ear” style headphone.  Traditionally, larger – over-the-ear models provider a richer sound – and, as I will discuss later, the Jabra live up to that.

Imagine a nicely padded vice on your head and you get the idea of how the BT8030 sits.  It is very tight fitting – but still comfortable.

The headband is adjustable and easily slides to fit the user. On the bottom of the left side of the headphone is the AC charger input and a mini-USB adapter port.  An invisible, but effective microphone is embedded at the bottom of the left hand Earphone as well.

Package Contents

There are plenty of buttons on the Jabra BT8030.  Along the back left of the device is the Power/Pairing button, volume up and down buttons and the call Answer/End button.

Along the back right hand side are remote controls for audio/video sources.  These buttons did not work with all applications – I will talk about this in the “ease of use” section. That being said, the buttons are for Stop/Play, Skip Next and Skip Previous.

One of the very cool features of this device is that it is not just a portable headphone – but it is also a portable speaker.  Just push the small safety release buttons which are located along the top of the headset – and the headphones open up into a portable speaker system.  This was great for having music outside or simply providing better external sound than you can get from the BlackBerry speaker itself. This also makes the BT8030 a tremendously versatile product.

Ease of Use

The good news is that “Pairing” was very easy.  I have found when using my BlackBerry 8320 with other Bluetooth Stereo devices that the initial connection doesn’t always allow for Bluetooth stereo – usually when I connect to my Bluetooth car stereo – the first connection just says “Hands free.” I often need to disconnect and then reconnect to get the little green check mark that says “Bluetooth Stereo Audio.” Fortunately, with the Jabra BT8030 – the connection was perfect every time.

I used the BT8030 as a hands free as well as a stereo headphone/speaker.

BT8030 as a Handsfree Device

Call quality was fine – this was certainly not the most comfortable way to talk on the phone – but there is something said for calls coming to both ears to help provide call clarity. The microphone has some noise cancellation features and it seemed to do a good job of filtering my voice into the call and cutting out background noise on the other end.

Worn As a Handsfree Headset/Headphone

Voice dialing can be initiated by pressing either the call button on the headset or the BlackBerry itself. I could easily use call waiting or cancel calls using the headset – just like any other headset.

BT8030 as a Music Device

I tried both the bundled BlackBerry Media player and the Flipside Music player with the BT8030.  Music sounded great using either (I will talk about sound quality in a bit.) The problem was the use of the convenience buttons on the BT8030.  The buttons for pause/stop did not work using Flipside – but worked beautifully when using the BlackBerry Media player. The Skip/Next button did not work for either player as intended.  On the BlackBerry Media Player, it just went back to the beginning of whatever song I was listening to.

Opened Up - Looks like Something the BatMan Would Use!

The Skip/Previous button did not work on Flipside and it worked…sort of with the BlackBerry Media Player.  What happened was this button functioned as the Skip/Next button – advancing tracks using the BlackBerry Media player.  I don’t know if the product literature is incorrect or if the features just got swapped somehow with the BlackBerry.

Versatility

The Jabra BT8030 is a very versatile device.  It was very cool to go from headphone to speakers just by pushing the little buttons and opening up the unit. I could see taking this as a true portable speaker option when I traveled.  You can have headphones on the Plane and then speakers on the  beach – all with just one unit.

Sound Quality

Bluetooth Stereo is still emergent technology.  Sound compression takes a toll on music quality. That being said, the sound quality of good, Stereo music on the BT8030 was better than any other Bluetooth headphone I have tested.  Bass was incredibly strong and realistic – with a great punch.  The high end was not as strong, but it was passable.

I tried listening to various music genres on this device and was most pleased with Rock and Jazz.  Vocals were good – but sometimes they broke up if the volume was raised.
This unit does not play loudly – when the sound was turned up too high on either the BlackBerry or the Headphones, the sound did, at times, break up.

As Stereo speakers – the sound quality was also quite good – much better than the built in speakers on my BlackBerry or my laptop.  Bass response was not quite as strong when using this in “Speaker mode” but it was fine.

Overall Conclusions

The Jabra BT8030 is an interesting and useful device.  If your budget doesn’t allow for headphones and a separate speaker system – this could be the ticket for you.  Sound quality is good – very good for a stereo Bluetooth Headphone.  Sound when using as speakers was not as loud as I would like – but it was still nice to listen to.

These things are big – really big and they are heavy.  While I found them comfortable for the short term – due to the padding, I found them uncomfortable for prolonged hours of listening.  The remote control buttons also did not work as advertised – but I don’t’ know if that is a BlackBerry issue or an issue with the headphones themselves.
With an MSRP of $249.95 (you can pick them up at ShopCrackBerry.com for $169.95) these things are not cheap – but you do get headphones and speakers in one unit. If you like big, over the ear headphones these might work well for you.