Jabra bt3030 - Motorola Q Forum

blazinazn · 02-01-2008, 10:04 AM

I've been searching extensively for a "good" compact pair of bluetooth stereo headphones. I owned the Motorola HT820's but they were uncomfortable and bulky. I was thinking about going with the Motorola S9s but I've heard horrible things about them. I also thought about getting the Motorola S805's but they are way to big.

I've been looking for earbud type wireless bluetooth headphones. I saw the Sony Ericsson HBH-S970 but heard the battery life was terrible plus there wasn't a clip.

I've spent countless hours and finally decided to try the Jabra BT3030. I've ordered them but haven't gotten them. I've tried doing research and finding reviews online the the info is scarce and hard to come by. I was wondering why? Are they just so new that no one has heard/tried them??

Even doing a search here yielded no results/discussions. So I thought I'd start a thread and see if anyone has given these a shot:

http://www.cellularaccessory.com/jabrabt3030.html

I bought it from this site for 53 dollars and am expeciting it today in the mail. You can hook up any standard 3.5mm headphones and it has a built in mic on the unit. You can also use it to control your media player. Don't know if it will work with TCPMP but I guess I'll find. Just wanted to see if anyone has actually owned/tried these.

Any info will be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

obfuscated7ruth · 02-05-2008, 10:04 PM

wow, just the thread i was looking for. I'm in the same situation, but I didnt order it yet. How do you like the bt3030? I think you dont see reviews for it because bluetooth earbuds really haven't caugh on. When you walk into a store, no one carry bluetooth earbuds so no one bother reviewing them i guess. Well anyways, how do you like them? good sound quality?

blazinazn · 02-06-2008, 06:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by obfuscated7ruth

wow, just the thread i was looking for. I'm in the same situation, but I didnt order it yet. How do you like the bt3030? I think you dont see reviews for it because bluetooth earbuds really haven't caugh on. When you walk into a store, no one carry bluetooth earbuds so no one bother reviewing them i guess. Well anyways, how do you like them? good sound quality?

I think people are turned off by the fact that there are still wires. But it's from a little unit that you can wear around your neck or on your hip pocket/belt.

Since the last time I posted I have received and used the unit so I guess I can give a short review of my thoughts on these so far.

1) To me the sound quality is comparable to non-blue tooth. Now I did read some reviews saying it wasn't loud enough here on a forum but to me I think they are fine.

2) To get the full functionality to work with this unit, you must use Windows Media Player. I found this to be a bummer because I use TCPMP for music and video. Skipping tracks and volume control DO NOT WORK with TCPMP. I'm ok with that because WMP is ok to play music and I just use TCPMP whenever I want to watch video. To make the sound quality better, when listening to music with WMP open, hold down the side wheel scroll and turn the volume all the way DOWN. It was this way with my old Motorla BT820's as well. It makes the sound quality and volume go way up. When I had the WMP volme up the volume was loud but not jam out can't hear anything loud like when you turn the volume all the way down in WMP.

3) According to Jabra's site, this thing has about 7 hours of music playback. I would say that's about spot on. I used this unit from 8am till about 5pm (minus lunch and some breaks in between, playback time may actually be longer)

4) I love the fact that I can plug any standard 3.5 MM headphones into these things. I plugged my gaming headphones as seen here:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16826159412

The sound quality was still good. In the manual it said some headphones will sound different/distorted because the unit may not be able to push out what it needs for the headphones. Didn't find that to be the case. Now it wasn't the same as earbuds but it was still good.

5) The unit has a built in mic on the actual unit. That's why you are able to use any standard headphones with these. I haven't had the chance to test the mic or the talk time because I mainly use the unit at work. From the other reviews I have read, people have said they've worn this under a shirt and the other person could still here them perfectly fine. The mic has some sort of DSP to help eliminate background noise but like I said, I haven't tested them.

6) The headphones that come with the unit are nice. They have different size plugs that you can try and it fits in like an earplug. BUT the cord is extremely short so you would have to use the lanyard that it came with. You wouldn't be able to put this on your belt (like i choose to do because it comes with a clip also) and use the standard headphones that came with it.

7) Didn't have a problem with incoming calls stopping the music and being able to answer the call with the unit or phone. I tested this by calling myself from my office phone since no one else calls me

WMP did have a problem resuming the music after the call ended a few times even though it was set to resume the music when the call ended in the settings of WMP. Eventually it did work though. Also, the sound quality of the music seemed worse after receiving/ending a call. I'm not sure if it had to do with me not having the volume down in WMP but who knows. I'll test that and report back to see if that's the case.

Well I guess that wasn't a "short" review but I wanted to write a good/thorough review. This has been something I've been looking for for awhile. I like that I can stream my music over bluetooth AND not miss a call if need be AND not be stuck to one pair of insanely hideous and/or crappy headphones. I hope this review has helped you. If anyone has any other questions or concerns feel free to ask.

Also, you may want to give this unit a look:

Sony Ericsson HBH-DS220
http://www.amazon.com/Sony-Ericsson-...301241&sr=8-22

I was also looking at the Sony Ericsson HBH-DS970's:

http://www.amazon.com/Sony-Ericsson-...301241&sr=8-22

But from everything I have read these only have 6 hours of playback time, only 1 more hour than the Jabra bt3030's but that hour can make a difference. And again, you are tied to one set of headphones with this unit.

Happy hunting!

obfuscated7ruth · 02-06-2008, 09:01 AM

thanks for the mini review. Does the mic pick up your voice when you have the jabra on your belt? or do you have to move it?

blazinazn · 02-06-2008, 09:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by obfuscated7ruth

thanks for the mini review. Does the mic pick up your voice when you have the jabra on your belt? or do you have to move it?

No problem. I haven't had a chance to really test the mic out at all. If someone ever calls me I'll let ya know

obfuscated7ruth · 02-06-2008, 11:14 AM

ok cool thanks.

obfuscated7ruth · 02-12-2008, 02:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blazinazn

I think people are turned off by the fact that there are still wires. But it's from a little unit that you can wear around your neck or on your hip pocket/belt.

Since the last time I posted I have received and used the unit so I guess I can give a short review of my thoughts on these so far.

1) To me the sound quality is comparable to non-blue tooth. Now I did read some reviews saying it wasn't loud enough here on a forum but to me I think they are fine.

2) To get the full functionality to work with this unit, you must use Windows Media Player. I found this to be a bummer because I use TCPMP for music and video. Skipping tracks and volume control DO NOT WORK with TCPMP. I'm ok with that because WMP is ok to play music and I just use TCPMP whenever I want to watch video. To make the sound quality better, when listening to music with WMP open, hold down the side wheel scroll and turn the volume all the way DOWN. It was this way with my old Motorla BT820's as well. It makes the sound quality and volume go way up. When I had the WMP volme up the volume was loud but not jam out can't hear anything loud like when you turn the volume all the way down in WMP.

3) According to Jabra's site, this thing has about 7 hours of music playback. I would say that's about spot on. I used this unit from 8am till about 5pm (minus lunch and some breaks in between, playback time may actually be longer)

4) I love the fact that I can plug any standard 3.5 MM headphones into these things. I plugged my gaming headphones as seen here:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16826159412

The sound quality was still good. In the manual it said some headphones will sound different/distorted because the unit may not be able to push out what it needs for the headphones. Didn't find that to be the case. Now it wasn't the same as earbuds but it was still good.

5) The unit has a built in mic on the actual unit. That's why you are able to use any standard headphones with these. I haven't had the chance to test the mic or the talk time because I mainly use the unit at work. From the other reviews I have read, people have said they've worn this under a shirt and the other person could still here them perfectly fine. The mic has some sort of DSP to help eliminate background noise but like I said, I haven't tested them.

6) The headphones that come with the unit are nice. They have different size plugs that you can try and it fits in like an earplug. BUT the cord is extremely short so you would have to use the lanyard that it came with. You wouldn't be able to put this on your belt (like i choose to do because it comes with a clip also) and use the standard headphones that came with it.

7) Didn't have a problem with incoming calls stopping the music and being able to answer the call with the unit or phone. I tested this by calling myself from my office phone since no one else calls me

WMP did have a problem resuming the music after the call ended a few times even though it was set to resume the music when the call ended in the settings of WMP. Eventually it did work though. Also, the sound quality of the music seemed worse after receiving/ending a call. I'm not sure if it had to do with me not having the volume down in WMP but who knows. I'll test that and report back to see if that's the case.

Well I guess that wasn't a "short" review but I wanted to write a good/thorough review. This has been something I've been looking for for awhile. I like that I can stream my music over bluetooth AND not miss a call if need be AND not be stuck to one pair of insanely hideous and/or crappy headphones. I hope this review has helped you. If anyone has any other questions or concerns feel free to ask.

Also, you may want to give this unit a look:

Sony Ericsson HBH-DS220
http://www.amazon.com/Sony-Ericsson-...301241&sr=8-22

I was also looking at the Sony Ericsson HBH-DS970's:

http://www.amazon.com/Sony-Ericsson-...301241&sr=8-22

But from everything I have read these only have 6 hours of playback time, only 1 more hour than the Jabra bt3030's but that hour can make a difference. And again, you are tied to one set of headphones with this unit.

Happy hunting!

bought my own, I must say i'm impress with the sound. Almost cant even tell it's bluetooth.

blazinazn · 02-12-2008, 06:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by obfuscated7ruth

bought my own, I must say i'm impress with the sound. Almost cant even tell it's bluetooth.

I agree, you aren't losing much with sound quality with these. Glad you like it.

wouterk · 02-13-2008, 06:50 AM

Hi all,

I use the Jabra 3030 with my Q9 also and I must say that the sound quality is very good.

No complaints there.

I do have troubles with the media player picking up the playback after a phonecall. Most of the time there will be no resuming of the playback (using Windows Media player and after receiving a call) or it will resume after a couple of minutes (so the media player is playing but no sound comes through the headset). This is a bummer!

I have yet to find to a way to fix this.
How are your experiences?
Wouter

blazinazn · 02-13-2008, 07:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wouterk

Hi all,

I use the Jabra 3030 with my Q9 also and I must say that the sound quality is very good.

No complaints there.

I do have troubles with the media player picking up the playback after a phonecall. Most of the time there will be no resuming of the playback (using Windows Media player and after receiving a call) or it will resume after a couple of minutes (so the media player is playing but no sound comes through the headset). This is a bummer!

I have yet to find to a way to fix this.
How are your experiences?
Wouter

I have the same problem as well. It's hit or miss with me. Sometimes it will resume after playing and sometimes it won't. Has it ever worked for you?