Filed under: Portable Audio

The first thing you may have noticed about the iLuv i202 headphones up there is the lack of wires. Oh sure, they’re Bluetooth 1.2 so there’s no need to jack into your DAP. However, unlike all the other stereo-capable Bluetooth headphones we’ve seen, these lack any type of connectivity between the cans — No little wire, no strap, nothing. So either they’re being a bit devious with the product shots or we’ve got a first here. Nevertheless, they bring a nice looking design along with support for A2DP (stereo) and AVRCP (remote control) profiles on top of the handsfree and headset profiles to make ‘em equally at home with your Bluetooth cellphone in and out of the car or for listening to your MP3 player. Yes, iPod too just as long as you don’t mind lugging around the included iLuv Bluetooth transmitter. The i202 features a 200 hour standy time and will seamlessly switch between music and incoming calls with up to 13-hours of talk time or 14-hours of stereo audio before needing to pull a charge over the included USB power adapter. Each can weighs 51-grams with one sporting play/pause/skip/volume controls for AVRCP-equipped devices. $90 and shipping now. iLuv also has a set of i903 noise-canceling Bluetooth Headphones available with all the same features but 300 hours standby / 8 hours audio / 9 hours talk time. Yours for $100 — picture after the break.

[Via iLounge]

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The day was black friday, the day after thanksgiving, 2005. Shoppers were rampant in the city of Metairie, Louisiana. I had originally intended to go to best buy or circuit city to buy a cheap laptop, but even at 4 am the lines were around the block. As I sat in my car, defeated and pondering my next destination, I noticed a Radio Shack circular which featured the Plantronics M2500 for $9.99 after a $20 mail-in rebate. I decided to pick it up because it was by far the cheapest price I had ever seen on a bluetooth headset. I brought it home and found I would have to plug it into the included charger for a few hours until the LED indicator turned green. After it turned green, I yanked out the manual and with a few button clicks here and there I had successfully paired the M2500 with my XV6600 pocket pc phone. I made some test calls to 1-800-safe-auto to see if the thing would even work and it did. I tried to see how far away from my phone I could go with the headset to check out the range, and started to hear static at the 8-10 foot range. I then tried to use the headset from another room and it worked great, with no static, although I was really only about 5 feet away. The headset couldn’t be easier to use… there is a easy-to-find volume control knob on the back of the headset. The answer/hang up/redial button sits on the mouthpiece area and is a breeze to operate. You can also redial the last number dialed by pressing that button twice, which has already come in handy on more than one occasion.

On the downside I must mention that this headset requires a good bit of earlobe tugging before it starts to fit right. It starts to become a real pain in the ass after a while but I am starting to get used to it. The only other complaint I have is that many times I get static while wearing the headset and having the phone in my pocket. The headset works great through walls but not from my pocket? I’m not sure what to think about that.

Pros: Price, Ease of use, Range out of pocket, Buttons

Cons: Hard to get perfect on ear, Range from pocket

gadgetPhreak Rating: 71 out of 100