Fommy Product Review:

The RIM (OEM) BlackBerry Sound Isolating Headsets provides excellent quality, comfort and audio quality while only losing a bit of convenience compared to bluetooth headsets.

Unlike most designs these days, this headset is all cable, which has its upsides and downsides. It does maintain a lot of convenience by going with a simple one button design, due to the fact that most of your other controls can simply be found at the end of the cable (IE: on your device). Regardless, for the most part, you shouldn't need to touch the device, the one button allows for voice dialing, answering/ending calls, mute and play/pause all, keeping the profile small and simple. The other upside is that because it's connected via jack, you don't have to worry about batteries or any other maintenance. The cable does have a decent length, I do think it could be just a tad shorter though.

This unit does have one standout feature, unlike many units who place the control/microphone at the convergence of the cables, this one puts it near one of the earbuds. This helps to deliver much better outgoing audio quality than most other wired headsets due to better proximity to the mouth. This is also the biggest weakness in my experience, the control button is significantly more troublesome to use, both due to the fact that it is out of sight along with being closely connected to an earbud means you may accidentally or intentionally be removing the earbud quite a bit just to control it. If possible, I think the best design for these types of accessories is to have the microphone placed where it is on this unit, but put the controls at the center or even further down the cable.

Many of these wired designs often suffer from picking up a lot of ambient background noise, but I found this one to be significantly better, apparently thanks to it's "sound-isolating" technology.

One last minor thing, the headset also includes a clip to keep the unit on you at all times and not falling to the ground whenever you pull it out, but it typically comes unattached to the unit when you open the box, so make sure you put the cable through the hook so you don't lose it. I had it literally fly off more than once; so save yourself the hassle and someone's eye: just attach it.

As far as comfort goes, you have a few different options. It comes with the regular soft rubber earbud covers already in place, but it comes with two extra sets for bigger or smaller ears and once you pick the right size they are quite comfortable. And unlike other headset who utilize this design, the shape of the earbuds themselves help secure them in your ear, making them much less prone to simply falling out and off. Overall, I was very pleased with the comfort level of the design, and I am comfortable in saying that I would have no trouble wearing these all day.

This is a great wired headset that delivers excellent comfort and audio quality that surpasses the vast majority of it's peers and competitors, there is still room for improvement though.

Features:

• Lightweight, comfortable and portable -- take it with you anywhere!
• A stereo headset optimized for your BlackBerry Smart phone.
• Convenient for in-car, office, outdoor, or home use.
• BlackBerry Stereo Headset is designed to cut out wind and background noise.
• Patented technology to hear clearer than ever.
• Ensure great sound quality when you are on the go.
• One Touch button to answer or end calls.
• Features advanced noise isolating technology to help eliminate ambient noise.

Specification:

• In-line microphone.
• 3.5mm Headset.
• Color: White.
• Manufacturer: BlackBerry.
• Manufacturer Part No: HDW-16904-002.