Jabra BT500: Winner of CES "Best Bluetooth Headset" Award

This is the third or fourth generation of the trusty Jabra Bluetooth headset that I've been using for the past several years (I have the BT200, which I believe was their original headset)--makes me want to upgrade to see just how much they've improved the unit.

I also have a Motorola Bluetooth headset--the HS820--and the old Jabra beats it hands-down in the quality of the microphone and the audio quality (mostly due to the in-ear design IMHO). The main problem I've had with the older Jabra is that it's based on the original Bluetooth spec--and as such, it's somewhat susceptible to interference from other 2.4 GHz devices (like WiFi).

Interestingly, I've had very little interference issues with the Jabra since I upgraded to the Blackberry 7105t last week--the main reason for purchasing the Moto headset was because of the interference issues in my office. The main reason, however, was because the old Jabra did not support the Bluetooth audio profile required by my cell phone at the time...an issue that the 7105t apparently does not suffer from.

Major improvements in the BT500 ($120 at Hello Direct): USB (PC) charging, battery status LEDS, support for Bluetooth 1.2 (headset and hands-free profiles), 8 hours talk/240 hours standby time.

It does not appear that the BT500 has a couple of the features of its competition, including the ability to vibrate when the phone rings, and customized ring tones--but those are minor inconveniences, given the overall quality of the Jabra design.