Gadgetoid

gadg-et-oid [gaj-it-oid]

-adjective

1. having the characteristics or form of a gadget;
resembling a mechanical contrivance or device.

SmallTalk Mini Bluetooth Headset Review

Bluetooth headsets are the one thing I would have thought that no sane individual would want any smaller. It’s not so much that a compact ear piece isn’t more practical, comfortable and convenient. But, rather, that something so small is also far more discrete than I would ever want a bluetooth headset to be. We’ve already got droves of people in the streets seemingly talking to themselves, now the SmallTalk Mini Bluetooth Headset will truly make you have to look closely to separate the businessmen from the crazies.

Yes, this thing is small. Really small. Really, really small. So small, in fact, that it has little more than a flimsy, thin plastic clip to hold it in your ear. It’s not far away from simply staying put with no extra attachment at all. In fact, if it had a proper in-ear, ear-canal filling rubber plug design it would surely stand up to all but the most aggressive of head shaking.

Unfortunately it doesn’t. The ear piece also isn’t the most comfortable in the world, but is fine for long durations if you don’t try to jam it into your ear. The reason for this discomfort is simply due to the lack of varying fit sizes of ear plugs, which you normally get with in-ear-monitors but seem to never find their way into the boxes of Bluetooth headsets. This is forgivable, as the SmallTalk Mini Bluetooth Headset will only set you back a little over £15.

As far as sound quality is concerned, voices are crisp and clear, but you’re never going to want to listen to music through one of these. That is, of course, the case for most bluetooth headsets so taking issue with the sound quality in something barely larger than the tip of my thumb would be an unfair complaint, you should check out bluetooth headphones if you’re into wireless audio.

The SmallTalk Mini charges from an annoyingly custom USB cable which is understandable given that even Micro USB wouldn’t have been small enough to fit on the device. This does mean, however, that you’re in trouble should you lose the charging cable, but it, combined with the Lighter-Socket-to-USB-port adaptor that it comes with should remain safely in your car.

Its small size doesn’t come with any more compromises on functionality, however. The SmallTalk Mini squeezes in a typical multi-function button, plus volume up/down and can be paired with two devices simultaneously if you plan on sharing it with a partner, or have more than one phone.

Overall the SmallTalk Mini Bluetooth Headset is affordable, most probably is the smallest bluetooth headset in the world, and is good enough quality to be usable.

Thursday, April 15th, 2010, iPad, iPhone, Personal Audio.