I'm sure that there have been plenty of threads on Bluetooth headsets. But I am hard-of-hearing and my concern is primarily volume and answering calls. So here are my questions.
Can anyone recommend a headset with very good volume? If the highest setting hurts your ears, that is what I need.
Do any headsets 'ring' in your ear? I can't always hear the phone or feel the vibration. Having a headset that lets me know the phone is ringing is critical.
I know that some headsets vibrate. Any recommendations regarding this feature?
I'll post my .02, not an expert here but i'll share what i'm using. I'm currently using the Jabra BT250v. The best part of the design I feel is the earpiece itself. It fits into your ear, channeling the sound into your ear, allowing you to hear better. Other bluetooth models on the market just sit on your ear, letting sound escape around the earpiece. Audio quality is good enough that I can hear a caller in a busy airport or restaurant, and the microphone picks up very well, footsteps can even be heard at times (given right conditions). I've own several other bluetooth earpieces and have fallen back to this one as it's the clearest audio quality, both in the mic and speaker. This one does ring in the ear and vibrate as well, and you can answer your phone with the press of a button. Setup is easy, and pairs with the phone automatically, even if you walked out of range. Not sure if it's loud enough for your purposes, but maybe the earpiece itself would cover that. You can use your finger to hold the earpiece in closer if you're in a really noisy environment and it "seems" to get louder, only that it's just closer to the eardrum. Average going price should be around $50.
Here's a link to the manufacture's website, although I'd suggest looking around as they can be had for cheaper, and may even be found at your local electronics/phone store.
I too am a huge fan of the in-ear style, so much better in the audio department in both clarity and loudness. Also, every design that i've tried with an in-ear gel has been way, way, more comfortable during extended use than any of the on-ear ones. Some people find the in-ear gel to be "uncomfortable" but i think that's mostly due to the fact that it feels weird. Once you overcome that odd feeling, then you're good to go for hours of continuous wear. With the on-ear ones, i find that while it doesn't feel as weird when you first try it out, once you've been wearing it for a while you actually start to feel pain on the ridges of your ear that the speaker is resting on - it goes beyond annoying or weird, and becomes downright painful (again, my opinion, maybe i just have sensitive ear ridges ).
a tip for finding one you like: buy one at a big box retailer that has a satisfaction guaranteed return policy. When i was shopping around for one last year, i literally tried out about 5-7 headsets at best buy by purchasing one initially, then returning/exchanging about once a week until i was happy. sure, you can always find cheaper prices online, but once you buy it, you're pretty much stuck with it. in the end, i landed on a wired headset because i'm too picky.
Last edited by a_lazy_dude : 12-07-2007 at 06:43 PM.
I decided to try the Jabra 250v since it was the only one that Best Buy had with the vibrate feature. With my hearing, I cannot always hear the phone ring. Since I wear hearing aids, having something in my ear is normal for me. I take the hearing aid out, and put the Jabra in. It doesn't feel any different than my normal hearing aid.
I just wish the minigel would go down further into my ear canal. I can hear OK on the Jabra, but just OK. I'm going to check with my hearing aid provider. They might be able to make me a custom earmold that will go in deeper (which helps me a lot).
The Jabra 250v is suppose to come with two lengths of the minigel inserts. I've found that the longer one fits snuggly against the ear and does seal in the ear canal if pressed in with a finger. While that does defeat the purpose of hands free, it's useful if you're in a large crowded, noisy environment. I've included a link to a website that sells the replacement minigel inserts in case you only got one type. Note of caution, I'm not endorsing this website, and do not know if it is safe to purchase from this company, just only using it to show an example.
It did come with both. I've got the longer one on, but with my hearing loss, I need it to go even further into my ear canal - like my hearing aid does. If I press the earpiece with my finger, I can hear on it pretty well. Now I just have to figure out how to make it go that far in without holding it.
My hearing-aid supplier makes custom molds for hearing aids, so they might be able to make a custom mold for the Jabra. If not, they have special small tubing that is used on some aids to funnel the sound right into the canal. They might be able to fit some of that into the existing minigel and extend its reach.
I can hope.
What is great is that the Jabra does vibrate and ring in my ear. I know when I'm getting a call, which is the critical thing.
I'm deaf in my right ear and have some diminished hearing in my left, and I've also struggled with finding a Bluetooth headset that would fit comfortably down in my ear and give me enough volume so that I could actually hear my callers talking without constantly asking them to repeat themselves. The one headset that has worked better than any other I've tried is the Plantronics Voyager 510. It is an older headset and a bit larger than some of the others that are out there, but I haven't been able to find anything that comes close to rivaling the volume and sound quality, even in the newer Plantronics models. The headset comes with several different ear pieces so that you can pick the one that best fits in your ear, and when it comes to call volume, there have been times that I've actually had to turn the volume DOWN because it is so loud. I recently bought the Voyager 520 because it is a newer model and I thought it would be just as good or better, but I am going to take it back because it doesn't fit in my ear nearly as well and the volume isn't anywhere near as loud. If you aren't completely happy with the headset you are currently wearing, you might consider giving this one a try. Hope this helps!
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