From a product positioning perspective, the best way
to enter a crowded market with a new product is to find an untapped niche
and exploit it. With so many heavyweights producing bluetooth headsets, a
company named Allways has come out
with a product that is unique. The Allways wireless headset differentiates
itself by being the only bluetooth headset that clips on to your glasses
as well as being able to loop around your ear.
This unit has great sound clarity and has
exchangeable color plates for the fashion conscious. The headset weighs
under an ounce and has a short microphone. Wind noise was not excessive and
the claimed talk time, while not tested in this review, is six hours --
which is quite good. So is the 130 hour standby time which was not
evaluated either.
What I did find is that this device is uniquely good
in some ways and lacking in others. The ear loop that comes with the
headset is quite good. At first, the headset seemed very loose on my ear
but I decided to mold the loop tightly around my ear and was surprised to
learn that this headset is very secure when properly adjusted. It was also
very comfortable to wear but could be fatiguing for some after long
periods of use. Using a SonyEricsson T610 phone, I was less than
successful in having all of my calls successfully sent to the headset.
Approximately 50 percent of my calls stayed in the phone and had to be
transferred manually. The range of the device is not incredible either. It
was about half of what others have
been in prior tests -- 15 feet. This is not a big liability in my opinion,
as you usually don�t wander too far from a bluetooth phone.
Where the headset shines is its ability to clip over
your glasses. When used in this configuration, by replacing the ear loop
with a specially designed glasses clip, you get a very secure and comfortable
headset experience. It takes a few moments to switch from the loop to the
clip, but once this is achieved you have a very comfortable wireless
experience.
I suggest you don�t overlook how important this
ability is. It is not very comfortable to wear glasses and a bluetooth
headset together. Here is a unique solution that should appeal to my
myopic brothers and sisters out there as well as those that live in
excessively sunny climates.
At an average street
price of over $80 I think this device is as good a value as it is
unique. On the other hand, it isn't as small as others on the market. The
flipside to the size is great battery life, which is above average for the
size. The Allways Wireless Headset is a good solution to a common problem
and definitely worth considering. I recommend trying the headset as long
as you have a refund policy in place, as I believe that personal taste
will be the deciding factor in being happy with this device.
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Rich Tehrani is TMC's president. He welcomes your comments.
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