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The BlackBerry as a consumer device has finally arrived. It is no longer just a business phone. Now that the BlackBerry lineup of devices has begun growing at a rapid pace, people are starting to pay close attention to the expanding multimedia functions provided by RIM.

Folks are diving into podcast listening, watching their favorite videos, and storing large numbers of pics and music on their high capacity SD cards. On top of all of that, there is an ever expanding market for BlackBerry Accessories that allow access to all the multimedia goodness.

Today we are going to take a look at the Sony Ericsson HBH-DS970 Stereo Bluetooth Headset. It promises to deliver superior sound while maintaining all of your phone and music functionality with no wires involved.

Introducing the Sony Ericsson HBH-DS970 Stereo Bluetooth Headset

The Sony Ericsson HBH-DS970 Stereo Bluetooth Headset is comprised of two ear buds attached to a lanyard leading to the main device unit. The ear buds come with a variety of sizes so that you can be sure to get a snug fit and trap in all that audio greatness.

The entire setup is worn around the neck with the main device unit hanging across your chest like a pendant. This is not the standard form for Bluetooth headphones, but it did not prove to be an issue aside from the fact that you always have this pendant swinging around. I did not do any kind of exercising while testing it out but I imagine it could get pretty annoying rather quickly. The length of the lanyard cord is adjustable though, so you can play with it until it sits as comfortably as possible around your neck.

Because the pendant style setup involves a continuous loop around your neck there could be a potential choking hazard if it were to get caught on something. To combat this, Sony has included two handy safety release points on each ear. These will snap apart once any significant pressure is applied. Rest assured, the Sony Ericsson HBH-DS970 Stereo Bluetooth Headset will not choke you.

As far as the mechanics of the Sony Bluetooth headset are concerned, everything is as you would expect from a set of wireless headphones. There is a microphone located below the right ear bud which makes talking to your contacts easy. In most cases you only have to speak in normal tones in order to be heard properly. Due to the exposed nature of the microphone however, wind interference was occasionally an issue during testing. This was remedied by cupping a hand around the microphone during particularly windy moments.

Tell me about the buttons

There is a call handling button located just below the left ear bud that easily connects and disconnects you from any incoming call. While it felt a bit awkward reaching up to my ear to initiate the function, I got used to it pretty quick. Given that I would prefer to wear the whole unit underneath my jacket or sweatshirt on most occasions, the placement of the call handling button is actually ideal.

The actual pendant portion of the Bluetooth unit is where most of your switches and buttons are. All of the standards are included. You will find volume controls, track skip controls, an on/off button and play/pause for your music. There is a small backlit display that gives you a visual indicator of when the device is ready for pairing or currently paired, battery status, Bluetooth status and more. This display is also used for track information when playing music through the headphones.

As far as pairing goes, the process could not be simpler. Just initiate the pairing on the Sony headset and use your BlackBerry to discover it. The pairing code is the standard 0000. Pairing with my BlackBerry Bold took less than 30 seconds and I was up and running.

The Sony Ericsson HBH-DS970 Stereo Bluetooth Headset is capable of pairing with multiple devices at once (up to 10). There is a switch on the side of the pendant unit that allows you to select single connection mode or multiple connection. If you are only pairing with your BlackBerry you will choose single but if you have another media device you would like to stream from you can use the multi-connect function to hook the headphones up to all of them. It is important to note that if you want to listen to music, the last device you pair will have to be the one broadcasting the music.

My Overall Impression

Let me start off by saying that I had high expectations for the Sony Ericsson HBH-DS970 Stereo Bluetooth Headset. It looked stylish with its orange and black color scheme. It promised great quality sound and it was wireless! I hate wires and was in search of a truly portable, wire free solution to music on my BlackBerry.

The reality of what I received was slightly less impressive than what I had envisioned.

The unit looked slick but I am not really a fan of the whole pendant hanging around the neck look at all. As I said above, not entirely a deal breaker but just awkward overall.

The promised sound quality was delivered as far as I am concerned, the Sony HBH-DS970 performed head and shoulders above a wide variety of ear buds, and headsets I had been using previously. The ability to swap out the default ear buds for one size larger made all the difference in the world. Plus I am sure the people on the bus were appreciative of the fact that I could no get some decent volume without forcing them to listen to my carefully crafted playlist. (seriously – I took a poll).

Using all the functions of the Bluetooth headset was intuitive enough, the only major issue with talking on the phone was the wind factor as described above.

I did however have some serious issues with the Bluetooth connectivity on the particular model I received for testing. The standard operating distance should have been up to 30 feet. During my testing however, I could not get more than 4 feet away from the device without sound clipping in and out. This happened on both music and phone calls. As a matter of fact, often enough, whenever I physically moved the BlackBerry out of the line of sight of the Sony HBH-DS970 it would clip clip away.

I do not want to dismiss a quality product because I may have received a faulty one so I went ahead and read some other reviews of the Sony HBH-DS970 online. Nobody else complained of the types of issues I have been experiencing so I am willing to chalk it up to a bad batch.

I guess it is just a case of buyer beware as usual. If you find your unit is clipping audio, send it back right away and get one that works.

The Sony Ericsson HBH-DS970 Stereo Bluetooth Headset can be purchased from the BBGeeks Store for $89.95.

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