Motorola H500 Bluetooth Headset

Motorola's H500 headset is a member of Motorola's 3rd generation of Bluetooth headsets. Like the RAZR styled H3 headset that it shares many components with, the Bluetooth v1.2 compatible H500 is rated for up to 8 hours of talk time and 150 hours of standby time. However, the H500 is both smaller and lighter than the more industrial looking H3, weighing only .6oz (17.6g) and having a body length of only 2.3" (58mm). As such, it can easily fit in a shirt or pants pocket without trouble. Since it is very solidly built and has no easily breakable parts, you won't have to worry about it getting damaged, either.

Recharge your H500 with a miniUSB cable.

Ergonomically, I find the H500 to be the most comfortable and secure fitting of the current lineup of Motorola headsets. The ear-loop is thin enough for use with eyeglasses, yet has a rubber surface that is grippy enough to hold the headset's minimal heft in place for most people. While the ear-loop can be easily removed and flipped for use on either ear, it is not adjustable beyond that. However, when it is flipped, a sensor inside the headset reconfigures the two volume control buttons so that the up volume button is always on the top side, and the down volume button is always on the bottom.

The only other control on the H500 is the multi-function button on the outside face of the H500. The button does not require a lot of pressure to activate, thankfully, and handles power on and off, as well as all of the call control features - excluding volume. Those include answering and ending a call, as well as 3-way call control, hold, and mute functionality. Pairing the headset with a phone is a simple task: just hold the multi-function button for an extra few seconds when turning the H500 on, and the blue LED call indicator will turn on. This means that the headset is ready to be paired, and can be discovered with any phone, PDA, or computer that supports the headset or hands free Bluetooth profiles. As is the case for most headsets on the market, the PIN code for the H500 is "0000".

The previously mentioned blue LED status light can even be turned off if you don't wish to draw any undue attention to yourself. Normally the LED cycles on and off slowly during a call, and will flash briefly once every few seconds otherwise to indicate that it is powered on.

In terms of audio quality, the H500 offers great inbound sound and reasonable outbound performance as well. The only issue with the outbound sound is that it is missing some high frequency response, which makes the otherwise full audio sound a little muffled at times. It is a much more pleasant sound than that which many other handsets offer, but is not necessarily as easy to understand. But with that said, the overall audio performance is still quite good. When using the H500 with various mobile phones and PC Bluetooth adapters the connections remained completely static free.

Like most of the newer Motorola handsets that we've seen released in the past year or so, the Motorola H500 makes use of a miniUSB connection for power. As such, the headset can be recharged with a Motorola miniUSB power adapter as well as with a regular miniUSB cable connected to a desktop or laptop personal computer, which is often much more convenient.