I’ve read a number of reviews about these headsets. Generally positive but a couple of negative ones. I have found these headsets to be a great improvement over my previous Blueant X5 headsets - but I stress not because I think the Blueant’s are rubbish. They’re not.
And the Sony DR-BT21G headsets are a serviceable next generation on from the X5’s. They are smaller in their form factor, have a hidden condenser microphone in the headset piece itself, and pack a reasonable punch as far as music performance goes.
First to their performance on the Bluetooth front. And I have to say it’s a pleasure when paired with my Sony Ericsson P1i - they just love each other. It’s safe to say the relationship between the Sony Headset and the P1i is more like a marriage than a pairing. Switch on the Headsets and they find the P1i in an instant two more pushes of the multifunction button and you’re playing music. Very cool.
Sound quality is good. You’re not going to have a hi fi experience with these headsets but then traffic noise, buses or trains, is where I listen so I’m not expecting an auditory extravaganza - bass and treble seem okay and there is very little drop out. Having the phone in your bag works better than having it on your person I’ve discovered.
Which leads me to my next point. Receiving calls - you really can leave the phone in the bag because the headset is terrific at calls. Incoming calls are easily identified, a press of the multifunction button and you’re in conversation. Music is paused and will resume when the call is finished automatically. Again, very cool. And a bit of a relief as the X5 took some fumbling.
The other improvement over the X5 is you don’t need to have the USB microphone attached to the headset, which quite frankly looked pretty dorky. The Sony Headset has a condenser microphone built into one of the earpieces on the headset and it works really well. It picks up my voice very well - no shouting into the mouthpiece, just speak at a normal level. I was very impressed with its performance on this front.
If I had time to work out how the voice calling functions on the P1i worked I’d try that too, but at this stage I really only use the headsets to receive calls.
My only other gripe is that the headphones don’t seem to play with Vista on my laptop very nicely. I think that is more a Vista problem - a lack of some Bluetooth driver - than a Sony problem. It’s a little disappointing as I was wanting to use them with Skype. But for now it’s still a wired headset for that purpose.
All in all I think the Sony Headset is a worthwhile investment. A little pricey, but if you are using them with a Sony Ericsson phone, probably worth the extra expense for the convenience of seamless operation.
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