Logitech H800 Wireless Headset product reviews

Over the years, since I got my first pair of Sony cordless headphones - back when the original Playstation was still young - I have tried a number of cordless headphone solutions. You see... my desk is a little crowded, and I HATE cables getting in the way of typing, mousing, etc. Cordless is the only way for me... but every set I have been able to afford has had the same issue - batteries. Most of them wouldn't accept rechargeables, and even those that do are still annoying since you have to stop what you are doing, swap batteries, then restart the movie/show/stream, or lose the use of them while they sit on a recharger overnight. And if they decide to die on you in the middle of RECORDING something... well... that's just 10x the hassle.

So, when I saw these come in to the review queue, I knew I had to be the one to trial them, and that's exactly what I have been doing for a month now. I will never give these up, and I have found my new favourite brand... because I *LOVE* these! Fitted with a rechargeable Lithium Ion battery, these goes for AGES between recharges... and I don't have to swap batteries, or hang them on a charger stand, I can just turn them into a cabled set by plugging in the USB cable. Yes, I still hate having the cable there, but it's long enough that it can hang under my right arm, leaving it free to reach for the keyboard, mouse or a pen without getting tangled, and after a few hours the headset is fully recharged and I can unplug and keep going, now cordless, totally uninterrupted... not even a small pause in the sound.

Add to that the swing-down boom microphone that allows me to use this on Skype, or - if I have it tethered to my phone via Bluetooth - answer an incoming call, and this becomes a seriously functional set of headwear! If I want to listen to music while I work, having these on is comfortable, even while wearing my prescription glasses, and the 12m range is brilliant because it means a quick trip to the beer fridge while doing a stint of work in the evening doesn't mean I have to stop the music even!

There were only two small issues I had with the headset, and they ARE small issues really.
1 - These use a dedicated USB transceiver, aka dongle. I would have really preferred it if they were compliant with the Unify transceiver that currently resides in my machine, and handles my mouse and keyboard. Even with a swag of USB ports on my machine, I am hard pressed to free up one on the PC itself, because I run a LOT of USB devices, and they all have to plug in somewhere.
2 - Switching the headset between 'paired' devices is not easy. The headset only likes to be paired with a single device, so it's either my phone, my tablet or my laptop. Thankfully, the headet has two 'connection' settings - Bluetooth and Dongle - Dongle is the PC, so I just have to wrestle with which device I pair via Bluetooth. The technology is here to allow devices to carry a memory of what they are paired with, and have several connections active at once, so it shouldn't be a biggie for the next iteration of these to have multi-device pairing capability. Plus, the manual doesn't clearly cover how to put them into Pairing Mode again... I'll give you that process at the bottom of this review.

However, if you look at the price tag on these, they aren't bargain-bin material, but nor are they all-the-bells-and-whistles either, so what you are getting for the price is still pretty amazing, even with these two small let-downs. Also, the ability to fold them up into a more compact form is brilliant for those who want to chuck them in the laptop bag or purse for sounds on the go. You have track-jump controls, volume controls, mute mic, and pick-up/drop call... all on your right ear. PLUS, if you have it paired to your phone, when you get an incoming call it will mute all other playback automatically. Brilliant!

Overall, I guess it comes down to what you expect to get for $170 these days. If you want something that covers every bass with a 5-star rating, then you are sadly mistaken. If you expect to get something that does a passable job but nothing spectacular, then you are underestimating these. For this price-point they are a steal. This one set of headphone replaces 3 other sets, for me! A set of really comfortable playback-only Infrared cordless headphones for when I am working at the PC, a set of not-at-all comfortable Bluetooth headphones for when I want sounds on the move, and a corded set of headphones with a boom mic for when I am doing Skype calls or video-clip voiceovers. The combined price of any two of those is already more than the pricetag of these, so if I hadn't received these for review, I probably would have looked at buying a set anyway! And you should too...

How to reset the headset into Pairing Mode:
    • Put the selector switch into the Bluetooth position and wait at least 2 seconds. The blue LED should be blinking slowly, indicating 'seeking connection'.
    •  Hold the Track Selector forward in the NEXT TRACK position, and press-&-hold the VOLUME UP button until the blue LED starts to blink rapidly - This should take a slow 5-count at the most.
    •  Tell your chosen device to rescan for nearby devices, and you should be all set.