Bluetooth Headsets with Booms

When you think of a phone headset with a "boom," you may think of a slender wand that extends from the earpiece to hold a microphone near the mouth. These traditional headsets are still available, but other less noticeable designs are available as well.

A traditional headset with the microphone extended to the mouth won't win any fashion awards when you're walking down the street. And you may find the microphone gets in the way. But in a noisy environment, it may be just the thing to make sure the sound from your voice is picked up without a lot of background clutter. These kinds of headsets can also be very comfortable to wear, making them a good choice if you spend a lot of time on the phone.

Other designs are less conspicuous. A simple earpiece with a short boom extending just a couple of inches along the cheek can still provide decent audio quality and comfort. On some of these models, the boom can be folded back along the housing to make it even easier to store when not in use. This also prevents the boom from getting snapped off or snagged on anything. In models like this, folding the boom generally activates the off switch as well, so you don't have to worry about whether you remembered to turn the headset off.

For an even less conspicuous look, you can get an earpiece with a wand that curves out of the ear and around back to where the controls and battery are. The boom then extends from this underneath the ear lobe. This takes advantage of the ear itself to hide some (but not all) of the housing.

The sound on these headsets can range from barely acceptable to fantastic. If you can arrange to test drive some models ahead of time, that's definitely the way to go. If not, doing a web search on models that interest you should turn up reviews from contented or unhappy users.

All Bluetooth headsets with booms should be expected to pick up the sound of your voice, even with a fair amount of background noise. The better ones will help eliminate background noise while still making your voice sound natural. With some booms and headsets, listeners will complain of static, low volume, or a "robotic" or "tinny" sound to the voice.

You want a headset that will fit snugly without pinching. A too tight headset will give you a headache. A too loose one can be accidentally brushed or shaken off. Since not everyone's ear is the same shape and size, a flexible ear loop is probably a better bet than an inflexible one.

In general, the larger the headset, the longer the battery life. So there's a bit of a tradeoff. You can get a model that offers 15 hours of talk time and 15 days of standby, but it's likely to be clunky, conspicuous, and uncomfortable to wear for long periods. Another model may offer only 4 hours of talk time and 4 days of standby. But it's small, easily concealed, and more comfortable to wear. Because of its size, though, its controls may be tiny and difficult to use.

Expect a Bluetooth headset with boom to cost anywhere from $50 to $150.