[shifuimam]

I'm in the market for a bluetooth headset. I bought a cheapy one for $20 at Fry's that worked for a few months but is now apparently flaking out on me.

I bought a Motorola H500 today on sale at Fry's for $30, but discovered that it doesn't fit my ear. At all. It's way too loose, and I'm not wearing $30 worth of electronics on the side of my face knowing that there's a 90% chance it's going to fall off if I sneeze while I'm walking to my car in the morning.

So. I need a recommendation for a good bluetooth headset that won't cost me my firstborn and my soul. I don't want to spend more than about $30 or $40, and I'm not above buying off eBay.

I've looked for things that fit my needs (below), but there are so many options that it's just impossible to know without some real-life perspective from those who have already found good models.

What I need:
> My ears are small (all of me is pretty small). The ear-hook styles are only going to work for me if there are multiple size options included with the headset. This Motorola I bought is terrible in that regard - it fits my boyfriend's head great, but he has man-ears. I have ears that are even tiny for a woman.
> I will be using this mostly in the car for conference calls and other professional-type calls, so if it picks up too much ambient noise, that's going to be an issue - it's already hard enough to have a conference call where there's a speakerphone on the other end. Adding road noise to that isn't going to help.
> My ear canals are tiny and relatively sensitive to having things jammed in them, so an earbud is okay but needs to be comfortable.
> Battery life doesn't have to be amazing. I'd prefer something that can charge over USB or has a lightweight charger I can take with me between work and home.
> I don't care about looks. The tiny ones are cute and all, but I'm going to be using this thing in my car almost exclusively, so if it looks like something out of Star Trek, I can live with that.

Thanks in advance for any input provided.

[HackManDan]

It's funny, I bought that exact headset at Fry's yesterday. I like it, but I have big ears.

[Railroader]

As you may or may not have known, I just moved to Indiana (southeast Indianapolis) and I have noticed a VERY large number of people who wear their BT phone earpieces continuously.

What's up with that?!?!

I was in the Meijers on Washington and my wife and I were literally the only customers who didn't have one in. It was creepy. Even some cashiers had them in. Whole families had them in. I felt like I was on candid camera.

I probably saw one person in Michigan ever have one in.

What's wrong with just holding the phone to your ear? I seem to remember that studies showed that using one is minimally safer than just talking with the phone to your ear while driving. How about this, just don't talk on your cell while driving. At all!

I feel like an old fuddy-duddy. A luddite. What happened to the good old days where people actually got together and talked face to face? [/RANT]

Good luck finding one to fit your ear. Let us know what model fits small ears.

[shifuimam]

Yeah. It's a thing here with certain cultures or demographics or whatever. A lot of the suburban ghetto types, and a lot of the suburban yuppie types.

I just want one so that I can call in to 5:30pm conference calls on my way home from work without having to worry about running off the road because one hand is glued to my face.

I'm looking forward to Indiana instating a hands-free-while-driving law.

[ghporter]

My H500 is great. It doesn't fall off or get dislodged even when I fumble in putting on my sunglasses. Sound quality is great too. $30 is a good price for 'em.

FWIW, I take mine off when I get out of the car.

[Railroader]

Originally Posted by shifuimam 

Yeah. It's a thing here with certain cultures or demographics or whatever. A lot of the suburban ghetto types, and a lot of the suburban yuppie types..

Not from what I have been seeing. Everyone from truckers, Wal-Mart shoppers, Macy's shoppers, bikers, to bus stop fixtures seems to be wearing them around here. I am just waiting for someone to say "you aren't from around here are you son?" just because I am not wearing one. Kind of like asking for a soda in Atlanta.

[shifuimam]

Originally Posted by ghporter 

My H500 is great. It doesn't fall off or get dislodged even when I fumble in putting on my sunglasses. Sound quality is great too. $30 is a good price for 'em.

FWIW, I take mine off when I get out of the car.

Well, crap. Maybe I'm not doing it right. Everytime I put it on, it swings around and isn't stable at all. It fits the boyfriend's ear great, so I'm starting to think that my dainty ears are the problem.

I called Motorola's bluetooth support line, and the lady on the other end (who seemed to have a hard time forming complete sentences for some reason) told me that Motorola does not offer an alternative-sized ear hook. That's kind of annoying, because wired standard headsets I've had in the past have come with different sizes of ear hooks or earbud covers, depending on the design of the headset. The cheapy headset I have that flaked out has a great ear hook that fits me perfectly. If only I could use that hook with this headset...

[ghporter]

I sometimes have to make sure I've positioned the headset correctly. It does NOT have to point at your mouth. It DOES have to have the bend in the ear loop centered on the part of your ear between the external part and your head. Also, make sure it folds all the way flat when you put it on; if it's not locked flat it can flop around really well!

[turtle777]

Plantronics voyager 510

Many people consider this the best BT headset ever made. I have been very happy with it for almost 2 years.

-t

[Mrjinglesusa]

The Jawbone BT headset has received fantastic reviews - I just preordered a black one today. Watch the video on their site where they turn on the noise cancellation. Pretty impressive if it works that well in real life.

Introducing the brand new Jawbone Bluetooth headset