Jabra BT3030 Bluetooth Stereo Headset Review

I was rather curious to find out exactly why the new Jabra BT3030 pictured below has so rapidly climbed to become one of the Top 3 bestselling Bluetooth Stereo Headphones in our store. 

The answer lies in the fact that the Jabra BT3030 offers a very cool new twist on the idea of wirelessly playing and controlling your music as well as answering calls.  It provides you with a small (2” x 1.2” x 0.7”) and ultralight (only 20 grams) Bluetooth Controller that has a high quality built-in microphone and a 3.5mm strereo connector jack (pictured below) which allows you to plug-in literally any wired headset of your choice – ideal to future-proof your listening experience as you’ll be able to upgrade your headset as frequently as you want.

Aside from the Bluetooth Controller the Jabra BT3030 kit includes its own 3.5mm wired headset (pictured below) which deliver very good sound quality along with a set of three comfort rubber ear gels in sizes S, M and L to fit the particular shape of your ear.  It also offers a very healthy 8 hours Talk Time, 7 hours Music Playback and 230 hours Standby.

For some reason the Jabra BT3030 designers thought that a “Dog Tag” design was very cool but if like me you consider that wearing the metal lanyard (below) around your neck to be less than appealing you can nonetheless easily remove it and instead attach the included Clothing Clip to the back of the unit and fit it to your shirt or pants.  Additionally, while the kit includes a miniUSB wall charger there is unfortunately no miniUSB cable that would allow you to charge the unit via your PC.

Having said this, the overall Dog Tag design does have a few appealing elements.  I like the steel look of the front and back faceplates as well as the fact that the entire controller is surrounded by a large black rubber band which protects it nicely against any bumps and scratches. 

Overall, the large and easily accessible dedicated controls for music Play/Pause/Stop, Next/Previous Track, Volume Up/Down and Call Answer/End as well as the LED indicator lighting through the front Jabra logo combined with an ultralight unit, high quality microphone and built-in 3.5mm headphone connector plug all contribute to make the Jabra BT3030 a perfect solution for wireless music and calls.

Worthwhile alternatives include the Plantronics Voyager 855 Bluetooth Headset (see my review) and Motorola S9 Stereo Bluetooth Headset (see my review).

Please Note: In order to use all of the Bluetooth music features of the BT3030 – Bluetooth Advanced Audio Distribution (A2DP) and Audio Video Remote Control (AVRCP) – Palm OS Treo and Centro owners will first have to install the Softick Audio Gateway software (see my full review for additional information).

Finally, the Jabra BT3030 is also compatible with the Moto Q and BlackBerry.

Treonauts are always looking for new solutions…