Fully utilising your new Bluetooth Headset

After carrying Bluetooth enabled Cell Phone Handset from past 5 years, I am atlast a proud owner of a Bluetooth Headset - Nokia BH-320. Not sure whether its a genuine Nokia piece (as it shows "Made in China"), I could atlast buy one due to the excellent deal I got it for. I picked up the piece from grey market for as less as INR 700 after lots of bargaining & showing competative deals from other shops. It comes in an original Nokia Packaging Box, although without any Manual ;-)

Rest assured, the piece is Brand New & comes with a Charger too. It also comes with a Detachable Ear Loop which could be detached (by pulling lightly) & fixed back, to suit your Headset for Left Ear or Right Ear. Before I start describing its full features, I would first help you out with Pairing this device with your Phone. Since it did not come with a Manual, it was an R&D exercise pairing it with my Handset, since the usual method of pairing using Discovery Mode doesn't always work with this.

Pairing - To turn on the Headset you need to keep the CALL BUTTON pressed for around 3-4 secs. Once its turned on you can find that a small Blue Light keeps blinking above the Call Button, indicating that the Headset is in Discoverable mode. Now you can Turn On Bluetooth on your Handset & start with the option of New Paired Device. If the Phone shows you BH-320 on the screen, then its great, you can Pair your Phone with the Headset using the Passkey "0000". If not, you first need to TURN OFF your Headset by pressing the CALL BUTTON for 3-4 secs. Now initiate Pairing from your Cell Phone using New Paired Device & keep the CALL BUTTON pressed on your Headset until it shows BH-320 on the screen. Once paired, you can connect to the Headset (Audio Device) & explore its features (works with Nokia Phones) listed below -

1. Call Pickup - On Phone ring, just press the CALL BUTTON on the Headset once & you get connected.
2. Call Reject - On Phone ring, just keep the CALL BUTTON pressed for 2 secs & the call gets rejected.
3. Volume Control (for Music Player & Call) - Use the + & - buttons provided on the top of the Headset to Control the Volume.
4. Voice Dialing & Voice Commands - When the Phone is in Stanby Mode you can use this excellent feature of Voice Dialing & Voice Commands by pressing the CALL BUTTON once. Within 2-3 secs after the CALL BUTTON is pressed you would hear a very short Musical Tone after which you can Speak & initiate the Voice Dialing / Commands. P.S: The screen at this time shows Speak Now. This feature is really helpful at places where you cannot remove the Phone from your pocket to search the Contact List.
5. Auto Switch-Off - If the Headset looses pairing with your Phone either due to range or due to Bluetooth being turned off from the Phone, the Headset automatically switches off after 5 mins of idle time.
6. Range - The Headset has a range of 10 meters & this could significantly reduce due to EMI (Electro-Magnetic Interference) of other Radio devices in the vicinity.
   
7. Battery Life - The Box talks about 150 hours of Standby Time (Time during which the Headset is paired but not being used for Calls / Music) & 6 hours of Call Time. Currently I am getting a Call Time of 3.5 - 4 hrs approximately, probably because its new. While on Call if the Headset runs low on Battery, it starts emitting short beeps & the LED colour turns from Blue to Green. It charges to its peak within 1.5 to 2 hrs with a 5.7 V, 800 mA Charger.
   

Its been almost 10 days with this Headset & I am quite happy with it. There are other similar models available like N95 which also boast of similar functionalities. I have also paired the Headset with my Windows Mobile Phone. Unfortunately with Windows Mobile, I found the Volume to be less during Calls & that this Headset cannot be used with the Windows Media Player. With Windows Mobile, it can only work as a Hands-free. You can also pair this Headset with a Desktop or Laptop, if they have an built-in Bluetooth Support or you have a Bluetooth Dongle which supports Audio Gateway profile in Windows.

I am anyways very impressed with the Headset looking into the Price & the quality its offering. Why don't you hunt for one in the grey market, probably you could pick-up a cheaper deal!!!