Motorola H800 Slider Bluetooth Headset: Cool But Overpriced

Over the past two weeks I’ve had a highly unusual experience.  Namely, people have been repeatedly telling me that they can actually hear me better when I’m using the new Jawbone headset (see my review) than when speaking directly into my Treo…  This is quite a statement as no other wireless Bluetooth headset that I’ve owned and used to date has ever quite managed to achieve this feat and I have typically had to make a compromise of one sort or another to select my preferred headset.

Given the fact that the Jawbone performs so exceptionally well paired with my Treo it has naturally significantly raised the bar for my reviews of any future Bluetooth headsets trying to compete at the top end of the price and performance scale.  This is therefore what was on my mind when I set out to review the new Motorola H800 Bluetooth Headset (pictured here).

From a product design perspective there’s no doubt that the H800 is an extremely appealing, highly ‘pocketable’ and comfortable to wear headset – it’s thin and has a ‘solid’ and elegant build with no loose bits that could potentially go missing.

Additionally, a feature which now appears to set all the latest Motorola Bluetooth headsets apart is their highly useful “power switch” functionality which quickly let’s you completely switch your headset On/Off instead of letting it drain precious battery life in Standby mode.  In the case of the H800 the power switch comes in the form of a “slider” – you simply press the Call Button (silver bar on the left above) which lets the microphone slide out (above right) and automatically turns your headset On and connects to your Treo.  To turn Off you simply push the microphone slider back in and there’s also a side Lock button to protect from accidentally switching your headset On in your pocket.

The H800 comes with a Micro USB wall charger which (somewhat inconveniently) plugs at the bottom of the headset (image above).  A small Mini USB adapter is also included to use other Motorola chargers.

Finally, the H800 is also almost identical to the Jawbone (comparative photos above) in terms of size, shape and weight.  However, as I mentioned earlier, once you go beyond mere looks and delve into the rather more important matter of inbound and outbound sound quality the Jawbone wins the contest by a wide margin with its far superior (rather amazing) noise shield capabilities.

Additionally, given the fact that the Jawbone Noise Shield headset is a mere $20 more expensive than the Motorola H800 Bluetooth Headset there is even less of an issue in my mind as to what headset I would choose.  Having said this however, I will again repeat that I really like the ‘power switch’ capabilities of the H800 as well as its highly pocketable format – future generations of Jawbone could do well to copy some of this to make an even more superb headset.

Treonauts always look for the best of the best…