Did you know that Xbox Live uses a 2.5mm headphone jack? The same jack that many cell phones use? I didn’t until recently, but it’s true. I even found a pretty good one to use -one that doesn’t have the boom arm. I originally bought it for my AudioVox SMT5600, but since it dropped a few calls – the biggest reason for getting rid of the Motorola MPx200 in the first place – I decided to chuck it all for a Bluetooth headset, which freed up the extra hands-free kit…
During the Halo 2 launch event, I bought that all-green Xbox Live headset – the one that came with the original kit keeps popping loose, since I wear glasses – which is made by Plantronics. Part of the sales pitch was “we even use this on our cell phones”… at one point I was using the Halo 2 headset with my MPx200, and it was OK, but it’s got one small snag: since very adjustable which means that you usually have to mess around with it until it feels comfortable, but it was working better than the original kit.
On an unrelated note, I was in Target the other day and noticed that they had a 2.5mm “universal” cell phone headset from Sanyo/GE. I had been using a “universal” version of the Jabra EarSet – a product like that it looks like they’ve discontinued, sadly – with the SMT5600 and it had been working pretty well… the Sanyo/GE set was only $10 and even had a “on/off/mute” button. It also had an ear piece that was the same as my Sony Fontopia headphones which is huge; I hadn’t seen that on any hands-free kit. I figured it was worth a shot.
It worked OK for a little while. At least for a few short phone calls. Then the curse of the MPx200 returned: one call lasted 1:02 minutes, the next 1:12 minutes, and the one after that 7:25 minutes. Feh!
In a fit of rage, I stormed off to the local AT&T Wireless Cingular [Blue] store and took a look at their Bluetooth headsets… I decided on the Cingular-branded Motorola HS820, which reportedly has six hours of active talk time, over a hundred hours of standby time, and a range of 30 feet [according to the box]. It’s got a set of volume buttons, a neat little light up blue indicator, and one big multi-use button.
It weighs almost nothing and its got a hook over the ear which is OK… it’s mostly comfortable. I’d prefer an all in the ear thingy, like Jabra and Sony make, but no one seems to have one like that without a huge behind the ear mount, like Jabra, and this actually works well. In fact, its got a very Star Trek feel to it, which is a plus/minus thing.
When using it with the SMT5600, it paired up with it without any trouble. The big button interacts with it without tweaks or setup – out of the box, it’s fully functional – and it can be used to answer or hand up a call. There’s also other feature that you can use if you press and hold The Button for different options… like dial the last number, three-way calling, and switching between calls. I was even able to use the Windows Mobile Voice Tag to dial via voice, which is something I thought I’d never use, but it worked!
I probably won’t use most of the features, honestly. My biggest concern is that of power – for the phone, if Bluetooth is always active, and for the headset, since it has its own chargeable battery as well. So long as I remember to charge the headset when I charge the handset, there shouldn’t be any issues. Besides, one of the better thought out features on both of them is that you can turn Bluetooth off – it’s an easily toggled option on the phone and the headset can be turned off entirely.
So I’ve got a new unobtrusive headset for the Xbox – it decided hasn’t improved my playing yet – and a neat little wireless working headset for my SmartPhone. I can recommend both of them for anyone that’s interest in these types of things.
Yay for me!
Hi- Can you reccomend a particular bluetooth headset that I can use for XBOX Live as well as my Blackberry 7100? You seem to be one of the few people that have figured out the compatability. Any help you could provide would be much appreciated! Cheers, Brian
Actually, no – I don’t know of any BT adapter that works with the XBox. Logitech is the only company that has a wireless headset that works with XBox right now, and I don’t *think* that’s a Bluetooth headset… if it is, it should work with any BT compliant device of the same version… for that info, check the RIM site – I think most things are 1.2 these days, but I don’t know for sure.
Wrong, there are at least two others that make wireless headsets for the Xbox.
1) http://www.nyko.com/nyko/products/?i=37
2) http://www.ebgames.com/ebx/product/239525.asp
Not entirely wrong – neither of these are Bluetooth, which was the original question. And I’m pretty sure that when this was posted, Logitech was the only one – however, it’s nice to see more companies starting to support Xbox!
Randy,
the logitech wireless headset is NOT bluetooth, rather 2.4 Ghz. I have one and it is great. I too have looked for a bluetooth wireless, but at the present time none exist.
Ya – that’s what I told Mike :)
I’ve never seen this because I don’t want to spend $60 to test it out but, theoretically it should work.
You could try purchasing the Jabra A210 Bluetooth adapter for non-bluetooth phones. It has 2.5mm jack that will plug into the Xbox Communicator. Then you can pair it with any bluetooth Headset.
Whether there will be any complications with the communicator don’t know, but it would be slick if it worked.
Hm. Ya know… it should work, I agree. After all, I’m currently using an “el cheepo” Sanyo/GE model that was designed as a universal cell phone accessory… 2.5mm, plugged right in – graned the hang up/mute button doesn’t do a thing, but it wouldn’t for the BT headset either…
But I agree – there’s no way I want to spend $60 to test it!
Hey if anyone tries the a210 bluetooth out with the xbox let me know.
Yes yes yes It Worked perfect. I got the Jabra A210 and the JABRA BT800. I paired them both(really simple) and plugged to the xbox communicator switch. It is interesting there is no interference and could still hear what people are saying while I go to get some snack to the kitchen. It was like wearing the old headset but with “blue tooth” and more freedom.
The Jabra A210 and Jabra BT500 work with Xbox Live. The only problem occurs if there is no “radio chatter” for anything over a minute, as the A210 goes into standby mode, which is supposed to be easy to exit from with a cell phone, but I could not find a way to do so last night (first time I tried out the new headset with Xbox Live!) on the Xbox Communicator.
Hmmm….I wonder if you took a bluetooth headset and teamed it with a bluetooth usb adapter would it work on the xbox controller. I have an adapter for the xbox controller that allows you to use a usb device, presumably a keyboard ( I think it came with phantasy star but I never used it). Anyone had any luck with that idea?
Xbox-A210 Functionality Update: While playing on Xbox Live!, if the Jabra A210 adapter enters standby mode, just unplug it from the Xbox Communicator and plug it back in.
Why do you need to buy both Jabra A210 and Jabra BT500. Can’t you just buy the BT500 and use it??
*quote*Why do you need to buy both Jabra A210 and Jabra BT500. Can’t you just buy the BT500 and use it??*end quote*
Because you need the bluetooth adapter because not all phones come with bluetooth so you need the adapter(Jabra A210) to make your phone bluetooth. But what I wanna know is that I have a LG VX3200 and the Jabra A210. I just ordered an hs820 and want to know will it still work even though its motorola and that the adapter is jabra and will it work for my phone. Any help is apreciated! Thanks