With more states adopting mobile phone and texting laws for drivers, and with our incessant need to multitask and get things done quickly, Bluetooth headsets continue to gain in popularity.  The trouble is finding a high performance, high quality headset that will fit your specific needs.

Pros: Small and very compact, good sound quality, lightweight, comfortable in ear or over ear fit, very easy to use, quick charge and good battery life, easy to locate volume controls

Cons: Inconsistent performance from MotoSpeak app on Android phone, occasional distortion when using earpiece to control volume

Price range: $66 – $99 online

The Motorola H17txt is a lightweight and comfortable Bluetooth headset option that provides good voice quality and ease of use.  With its flip open on and off power boom, easy to locate while wearing volume controls, and its ability to talk to you and tell you who’s calling and texting when you can’t see your phone, this headset should definitely be on final list for consideration.

Comfort

We can all agree that if your Bluetooth headset isn’t comfortable, you just aren’t going to wear it.  Motorola obviously took their time when considering this and came up with a headset that is so lightweight and comfortable to wear, I often forgot it was even there.  With two ways to wear the device, either in ear or over the ear, using one of three ear loops, you have many option for fit and comfort.  Motorola provides two sizes of in ear gels with very flexible support loops.  I was unable to find anyone that couldn’t make one of the two ear gels work and all agreed that the headset was very comfortable.

Sound

Sound quality was good for both the wearer and the caller.  I made several hundred test calls using the Bluetooth headset and about 75% of the time the person on the other end of the phone was surprised when I told them I was calling from a headset.  Most people thought the sound quality was nearly as good as when I was talking to them with the phone up against my ear.  I never received a single complaint about voice echoing back to the caller.

Noise cancellation was pretty good too.  Wind noise, even in moderate wind situations was detectable, but not overwhelming.  In most situations, it was more noticeable within my own ear than it was to most of the callers I spoke with in somewhat windy environments.   Background noise was also handled pretty well by the H17.  Again, voices and sounds were detectable, but were not overwhelming to the person on the other end of the phone.  The voice of the wearer is clearly transmitted and is the dominant thing the person on the other end of the phone will hear.  There are headsets out there that do a better job of cancelling out noise and wind, but you have to pay quite a bit more to get that level of cancellation.  For the price, this headset performs its noise cancellation duties surprisingly well.

I did notice when testing the volume up and down levels, that if I used the headset volume rocker to adjust volume rather than the phone, the volume would get a little loud too quickly, to the point of slight distortion.  This was easier to control using the phone volume.  This wasn’t always an issue, and certainly wasn’t a big enough deal to cause a problem.

Design

The H17 is very small which lends itself to comfort and fit.  It stays in your ear, and doesn’t move around, even when you aren’t using an ear hook.

The talk button is a great size and its location makes it easy to find and use.  When I pushed the button while the device was in my ear, I didn’t have any concerns that it was going to fall out of my ear and it didn’t push into my ear too far.

The volume buttons are in a comfortable place and are also easy to use.  The presence of an up and down rocker makes finding a comfortable volume level quick and easy.

The charging light is located right in the middle of the volume rocker.  It’s a bit difficult to see and you have to be holding it at a perfect angle to tell whether you have a green, fully charged indicator or an amber, charging indicator.  I’d like to see that light enlarged just a bit to make it easier to see.

I liked the flip out boom.  This is a frequent feature found on Motorola Bluetooth headsets.  I found it very easy to power on the headset, get it in my ear, and have it pair up with my phone in enough time to answer any call that came in.  I prefer flipping open the boom to powering on a headset every time I need to use it.   I also liked the connection notification after powering on the device.  After you receive the headset connected notification, the headset informs you of the battery level too.  The voice they use for notifications is nice.  It wasn’t at all computerized.

The headset is visually appealing and sleek looking.  The Motorola logo is apparent, but doesn’t overwhelm the device.  The silver in the logo looks nice against the mostly black device.  The ear hooks are clear and not very noticeable to others when in use.

Extras

The H17 work in conjunction with the MotoSpeak app when used with some Android and Blackberry devices.  The purpose of the app is to read text messages that you receive, as well as the name or phone number of the person sending you the message.  I love the idea of the app, especially for use while driving.  Most of the time, the feature worked great.  However, there were plenty of times when it read only parts of the message, and a few times when it only read the name of the sender.  I’m unclear as to why this was occurring.  It’s hard for me to recommend the app until the point at which it is much more consistent in its functionality.

A2DP is also present on the H17 and performs well.  Generally, I’m not overly impressed with the audio quality of a single Bluetooth headset as a way to listen to my music.  With the H17, audio quality is pretty good and it works well to listen to audio when streaming a YouTube video or something like that from your phone or Bluetooth equipped laptop.  I don’t believe I would use the device to listen to music through my phone or computer unless it was my only option, but it is a nice extra feature to have and I like knowing that it’s there if I need it.

The Bottom Line

The H17 is the most comfortable Bluetooth headset I have used, to date.  I would recommend it highly to anyone looking for a small, comfortable solution.  There are more expensive models out there that will do a superior job of noise and wind cancellation, but this device performs admirably considering its competitive price point.  I really like the idea of the MotoSpeak app to read texts and sender information to you so you can watch the road while driving, however, I can’t recommend the app until it works more consistently.  With that in mind, the MotoSpeak app is what I consider an extra and is not critical to the functionality of the device.  I am very comfortable recommending that you take a close look at the Motorola H17txt if you are in the market for a quality Bluetooth headset.

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