Apple Siri Bluetooth headset

[ColeHarris]

So I'm sure you all remember Apples bluetooth headset that was released in 2007 that had some problems (poor battery life, bad audio quality, lack of buttons, ex...) and was then discontinued in 2009. Well I was wondering with the introduction of Siri do you think Apple will introduce another bluetooth headset?

In my opinion their aren't any headsets on the market that im interested in, there all fat and ugly IMHO. With Siri being such a prominent feature I could see Apple releasing an awesome headset made of aluminum, really thin, maybe different colors, and it would have a dedicated Siri button.

I know this is just speculation and somewhat pointless but I was just curious what your thoughts were.

 

[Aldaris]

Nope, they clearly made enough of a point to demonstrate it in the video with their headphones, guy running, guy driving... I'm guessing the lady making muffins used a hearing aid bluetooth, or just held in the home button...

 

[bruddha]

Bluetooth WORKS GREAT

I have a Plantronics 360 that I used with my 3GS...
Siri loves it on the 4S.
No issues whatsover.
The only thing I have to do is activate Siri from the phone (holding Home button)... because my headset doesn't have the ability to do other than redial last number.


So whatever problems you think there are, at least with the Plantronics, there are none!

 

[3460169]

I opted for a wired headset myself because it's "always on" as opposed to BT headsets which go to sleep to conserve power. I had a Jawbone Era for about 2 days and ultimately returned it because a) it sounded like crap (IMO) and b) I couldn't hear alerts until the Era happened to be awake when the alert came in. For example if you're waiting for some texts to come in, and you're not looking at your phone (because you're driving!), you'll find yourself asking Siri to check your messages every other minute or whatever.

I opted for some Sennheiser earbuds with a mic/remote and obviously have no problems hearing alerts (my phone lives in my pocket when I'm driving, out of sight and mostly out of mind). If, on the other hand, my vehicle was BT enabled it'd be a different story...

 

[macrat]

I'm actually shopping for a cheap Bluetooth headset just to use it as remote shutter for the iPhone 4S camera. In case you guys don't know, on the wired headset, the + volume button works really good in avoiding camera shake when taking pictures.

 

[deeddawg]

Cool trick regarding the wired headset.

However, I just tried using the volume adjust on my bluetooth headset and it doesn't cause the camera to snap a photo. No idea if that's true for all, but it doesn't work in my case. (yes, it's an A2DP capable headset)

 

[WhoDaKat]

Options are lacking...

So I got the Jaybird Freedom ear"phones" and I really liked them. The little fins are genius and they seriously won't come out once you get them in right (which could take a few days of experimenting). Of course, both ears are plugged so your kind of in your own little world. Siri worked fairly well, although it was no match for the iPhones mic. I could have been happy. However, the button on the side of the earpiece was so howl at the moon stupidly hard to press that I ended up taking them back. I seriously feel like its jabbing my brain. Total fail in the age of touch (which several headsets employ).

I'm currently using the Jawbone Era and I'm not thrilled with it. All the reviews say how wonderful it is, but like the poster above, I think the sound quality is not there and the lack of alerts is another total fail. It is programable via the net so perhaps there is hope of improvements. Its not even in the same realm of secure fit as the Jaybirds, and I think the Jb's might even have them on comfort as well. I'm going to be returning them shortly.

Fingers crossed, I'm going to try the Jabra Stone 2 next.

 

[ericrwalker]

would be nice to have one that works well with Siri. I don't have my 4S yet (back ordered).

I have a blueant T1 and I think it will work good, except I always have to say "phone commands" before I talk to the phone. Otherwise I am talking to the headset.

 

[rayward]

I was shocked the other day, when I was having Siri read me a text whilst stuck in traffic, that it works through my car Bluetooth set-up. I guess it makes sense, the car is really acting as a giant BT headset, but it was surprise nonetheless.

So now I know that I just have to hold the home button, and can Siri away to my heart's content without the phone having to leave my pocket.

 

[ericrwalker]

Having to push the button on the phone, rather than the headset, is an issue for me. I wouldn't consider that a fully compatible headset.

I have a Plantronics 360 that I used with my 3GS...
Siri loves it on the 4S.
No issues whatsover.
The only thing I have to do is activate Siri from the phone (holding Home button)... because my headset doesn't have the ability to do other than redial last number.


So whatever problems you think there are, at least with the Plantronics, there are none!

 

[Ledgem]

Joining the discussion a few days late, but I'm using a Motorola H550 (~$20 headset) and it works pretty well. I just tap the main button (no need to hold it down) and it brings up Siri. If the headset was in sleep mode (I think) then there's an occasional 2-4 second delay before Siri comes up, but that's no worse than when you're trying to activate Siri from the home button. Any alert tones play through the phone's speakers; Siri's voice plays through the headset; and audio plays through the headphone cable (I use a male-to-male audio cable linked to my car's auxiliary input; with the headset and Siri, I can control my audio by voice, and the audio fades out when taking calls or issuing commands to Siri).

The only thing I don't like about the headset (and the reason I came to this thread) is that it doesn't have any fancy noise cancellation features. I have to speak louder than normal when driving on the highway, and even when in the quiet of my own home Siri's accuracy isn't quite as good with the headset compared with the phone's internal microphone. I'm trying to find a headset with noise cancellation and a better quality microphone, but it seems that many of these headsets introduce a bunch of other issues!