I've often fancied one of those natty little Bluetooth headsets that let you take a call while your phone is tucked out of harm's way in your bag or pocket, but there are such a confusing array of these that I've never got around to actually settling on one and buying it.

This week, one of my colleagues solved the problem by offering me one he had been given free by a vendor. I won't name the model in question, but I can't say I'm impressed with the device at all, and I'm now glad I didn't waste any of my own money.

It isn't that the device doesn't work. I had no trouble pairing it up with my mobile phone, after which the handset always diverted audio to the headset whenever the latter was switched on.

No, the problem is that nobody can hear a blasted word I'm saying if I use it to make a call.

The headset is one of those fashionably tiny devices that clips comfortably over your ear, but is so small that the microphone part is actually resting against your cheek. An awful lot of these devices share a similar design, but placing the pickup so far away from your mouth is an obvious flaw, surely?

Whenever I tested the headset to make or receive calls, the person at the far end either couldn't hear me at all, or said it sounded like I was speaking to them from the middle of a boiler room.

Has anyone out there had better luck with these devices, or can recommend one that actually works?

12 Mar 2009