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Product: Jabra BT500 Bluetooth headset
Price: $199.99
Rating:  Average 6.6/10
Pros: Comfortable behind the ear fit, easy handset pairing, comfortable ear gels, long talk time and standby time.
Cons: Poor outdoor connection, hard to press buttons, behind the ear headset.
Overall: The Jabra BT500 does a good job to make hands-free talking a better experience, especially when in doors. If you like the behind the ear fit then this is a good headset for you, otherwise look for other options.

Right out of the box this headset drew my attention, its cool futuristic look was like nothing I had ever seen before. The light weight comfortable feel was welcoming in my hands and the instructions on pairing the device was simple. Within a matter of minutes (after charging the headset before hand,) I was paired and chatting away. The headset fits comfortably behind your ear and although you look like a star trek character, you feel like a CEO. It has the look of a person who feels important, and hey if you get the urge to…say it, “I feel important.“ At first the headset was a little loud but when I lowered the volume on both my phone, and the headset, it was a decently comfortable volume. In my opinion, Bluetooth wireless products should be used for moments when you can not use your hands. For example, driving…good time to use it, standing in an elevator…not a good time.

Read our breakdown of the Design, comfortability, and performance.

Design- 7 - With features such as call back, pairing, powering on and off, voice dialing, mute, reject call, and volume controls the headset seems to have a plethora of buttons and functionality. Unfortunately, the buttons are very hard making it hard to press while sitting on your ear. One nice feature is the charger input is a USB mini jack, allowing you to utilize both your PC as well as many of the now almost standard USB chargers out there. The BT500 provides 8 hours of talk time and 10 days of standby time

Comfortability- 7 - The BT500 was built as an improvement of one of the the best headsets out there, it’s big brother the Jabra BT250. The new model is 30% slimmer and lighter than the older model and has improved talk time. We found that 30% lighter meant that we could wear it at least 30% longer without ear fatigue. The headset sits behind your ear in a very futuristic sort of way, without a large bulge. Equipped with extra ear gels, the user can alternate between his/her ear of choice and find the size for the optimum fit.

Performance - 6 - The performance was not bad for a headset but I’ve noticed that the 30 ft. range is not always perfect. Often I’ve had to keep my phone within 10 ft to hear clearly. When your outside it is a little more difficult to get good service, and for the most part people can tell the difference between the headset and being on the phone. As mentioned, the buttons are hard to press while wearing, so while the dedicated buttons are nice they are almost worthless.

Editors Note - All sub-categories were weighted equally.

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