What Makes A Good Headset?

by Dave Klecha

As an over-the-road IT consultant, I find the question of headsets and handsfree kits rather important. Many days I find myself behind the wheel more than I spend in a client’s office, which means I have all kinds of time to field client calls, drop leads to salesmen, and otherwise converse with the office. And since I like my vehicular safety, a handsfree device is a necessity.

If only I could find a good one.

My biggest problem is comfort: I can’t get one that hangs snugly on my ear, nor one that fits well in the ear canal. And, well, if it’s uncomfortable, you’re unlikely to use it all the time, making it ineffective as a handsfree device. I’ve owned four or five headsets before my current one, and none of them have even been tolerable. So: unfortunately, Best Buy won’t let you try them on in the store, but look for one that appears that it could be tolerable to wear for extended periods.

Ease of use is another issue that I often have trouble with. Again, it’s hard to tell from looking at it on the shelf, but check around, maybe read Amazon reviews and see what other people have to say. I’ve owned a couple of Bluetooth headsets that used one button for every function they tried to cram into the things, and it drove me crazy. I could never adjust the volume how I wanted, and I can’t count how many calls I hung up on when I thought I was answering them.

And then there’s size. Personally, the bigger headset the better, for me. I’m not trying to impress anyone when I’m on the phone, unlike your average Hollywood agent, so I could care less what I look like. Okay, maybe I don’t want to look like the kid in the picture above, but you get my meaning. I’ve gone for the smaller units because they’re sleek and sexy, only to find that the speaker and mic are too close together, or it’s too fragile, or I can’t keep track of the damn thing.

Other key considerations are good battery life and durability. My last headset ran out of juice after about an hour of talktime, which sucked, and it had a little rubber flange that was supposed to increase comfort, but ended up ripping partway and tickling my ear when I had it on. Not ideal, either way.

So kids, don’t do like your Uncle Dave did. Put some thought into your headset purchase, keeping in mind what you’ll be using it for and how much. Otherwise, you could end up running through several hundred dollars in lemons.

Photo above courtesy Bug Eyed Monster’s Six Million Dollar Man toy page. Thanks BEM!