Jabra BT800 Reviewed

Posted
by
Kyle McInnes
on April 15, 2005, at 8:36 AM
in Reviews
.
Comments: 17 responses
17 Comments

Jabra BT800
As far as BlueTooth headsets, the Jabra BT800 is cutting edge with its large external LCD display. Jabra being known as one of the more premiere hardware manufactures of headsets we’re not surprised that the company is pushing the borders of BlueTooth hands free technology. The BT800 is loaded with features but it may be a case of being too much. Read further to see what we have to say …


The Jabra BT800 is a very beautiful piece of hardware that feels like it is built solid. The headset is a bit large weighing in at 28 grams and measures at 2.68″ x 1.30″ x .98″ in size. The added bulkiness is not really a surprise with the addition of a LCD display and increase functionality over other headsets. Compared to other models it may feel like wearing a tank but it’s actually quite comfortable over time.

The most distinguishable feature of the headset is the large LCD display. The LCD screen provides Caller ID information, last redial number, and an ability to change your headset ring tones or set it to vibration mode. Now you may be thinking to yourself why a headset needs a LCD display. Well you’re right, other than the ‘cool’ factor we found there’s no real purpose for it. The only time we use the LCD display was to change ring tones or set the headset to vibration mode. Everything is done faster through your Blackberry instead of trying to play with the small buttons on the BT800.

Handling calls is as easy as pushing the separate buttons for answering and ending a call. Two buttons on the bottom handles most of the call functionality including answering, redialing, hanging up, and rejecting. Features also include an easy volume control and a combination menu and mute button. All of these buttons are relatively easy to access and use.

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  • Eric

    I disagree about the usefulness of the display. If I am walking around and the phone rings, I would love to be able to just look at the display to see who is calling before I answer. Instead with my BT200, I need to put the headset in my ear, pull the blackberry out to see who it is, and then answer.

  • Eric

    I disagree about the usefulness of the display. If I am walking around and the phone rings, I would love to be able to just look at the display to see who is calling before I answer. Instead with my BT200, I need to put the headset in my ear, pull the blackberry out to see who it is, and then answer.

  • Richard

    This review is really incomplete. Did you even try using it with a Blackberry? It is incompatible with the 7290 and 7100G that I have, this was confirmed by Jabra’s technical support team. The incompatibility means the mute button doesn’t work, answering a call requires several presses of the answer button and you can’t dial out from the received call list that the LCD is so useful for. The company says they don’t know when a fix will be available.

  • Richard

    This review is really incomplete. Did you even try using it with a Blackberry? It is incompatible with the 7290 and 7100G that I have, this was confirmed by Jabra’s technical support team. The incompatibility means the mute button doesn’t work, answering a call requires several presses of the answer button and you can’t dial out from the received call list that the LCD is so useful for. The company says they don’t know when a fix will be available.

  • Richard

    This review is really incomplete. Did you even try using it with a Blackberry? It is incompatible with the 7290 and 7100G that I have, this was confirmed by Jabra’s technical support team. The incompatibility means the mute button doesn’t work, answering a call requires several presses of the answer button and you can’t dial out from the received call list that the LCD is so useful for. The company says they don’t know when a fix will be available.

  • Matt

    I have an e-mail into Jabra on compatibility with the 7100-series. It would be great to see who is calling right on the headset. Has anyone tried it yet? I currently have a Motorola HS820 and it seems to lose connection with my 7100t after being idle for and hour or so. Any other headsets work better? Thanks much! -m

  • Matt

    I have an e-mail into Jabra on compatibility with the 7100-series. It would be great to see who is calling right on the headset. Has anyone tried it yet? I currently have a Motorola HS820 and it seems to lose connection with my 7100t after being idle for and hour or so. Any other headsets work better? Thanks much! -m

  • Richard

    Matt, the LCD display works great, it shows the incoming caller ID# (no name), although in direct light and at certain angles it can be very difficult to read, and while wearing polarized sunglasses (in the car) it is difficult to read because of the stress marks in the plastic screen that show up.

    When a call comes in, you see the number straight away, but I do find it frustrating to have to press the answer button in the headset 3-4 times (if my handset is locked – company policy pushed via BES). There have been many occasions where I have missed calls while trying to get the headset to answer the call. When the handset is unlocked, there’s no problem answering or dialing. You can even initiate outbound calls from the headset from the built in list of the last 10 received calls (it can’t access your built in phone book though). the mute button just doesn’t work though with either BB phone, so you need to mute from the handset.

    I haven’t had any Bluetooth disconnect problems with the bt800, although for a few weeks I would get a abrupt call drop with a fast busy while using the headset that hadn’t happened when using just the handset, but I blame Cingular cellular service for that. I haven’t had any recently. I have kept the headset on all day, and have also talked continuously on it for a few hours with no problems (I like the battery life on it!). If Jabra ever fixes the locked handset problems and the mute can be made to work, then this will be a great headset, but as it is, if you use it with a Blackberry, I’d hold off buying it until Jabra fixes the problems.

  • Richard

    Matt, the LCD display works great, it shows the incoming caller ID# (no name), although in direct light and at certain angles it can be very difficult to read, and while wearing polarized sunglasses (in the car) it is difficult to read because of the stress marks in the plastic screen that show up.

    When a call comes in, you see the number straight away, but I do find it frustrating to have to press the answer button in the headset 3-4 times (if my handset is locked – company policy pushed via BES). There have been many occasions where I have missed calls while trying to get the headset to answer the call. When the handset is unlocked, there’s no problem answering or dialing. You can even initiate outbound calls from the headset from the built in list of the last 10 received calls (it can’t access your built in phone book though). the mute button just doesn’t work though with either BB phone, so you need to mute from the handset.

    I haven’t had any Bluetooth disconnect problems with the bt800, although for a few weeks I would get a abrupt call drop with a fast busy while using the headset that hadn’t happened when using just the handset, but I blame Cingular cellular service for that. I haven’t had any recently. I have kept the headset on all day, and have also talked continuously on it for a few hours with no problems (I like the battery life on it!). If Jabra ever fixes the locked handset problems and the mute can be made to work, then this will be a great headset, but as it is, if you use it with a Blackberry, I’d hold off buying it until Jabra fixes the problems.

  • Jamie

    BT800 sucks badly. Released way too soon. Nice paper weight beside my 7100t. Jabra needs to bite the bullet and write some code for this dumb piece of plastic………

  • Jamie

    BT800 sucks badly. Released way too soon. Nice paper weight beside my 7100t. Jabra needs to bite the bullet and write some code for this dumb piece of plastic………

  • Tony

    I just called Jabra and they have the BT800 on the incompatibilty list with BlackBerry (the 7290 and 7100) because of the answering problem. You have to press the answer key several times to answer a phone call. Very frustrating. As cool as this is, don’t buy it.

  • Tony

    I just called Jabra and they have the BT800 on the incompatibilty list with BlackBerry (the 7290 and 7100) because of the answering problem. You have to press the answer key several times to answer a phone call. Very frustrating. As cool as this is, don’t buy it.

  • Tony

    I just called Jabra and they have the BT800 on the incompatibilty list with BlackBerry (the 7290 and 7100) because of the answering problem. You have to press the answer key several times to answer a phone call. Very frustrating. As cool as this is, don’t buy it.

  • Jon

    I haven’t decided if the BT800 is good or bad as of yet….

    The UBS charger thing doesn’t work. I have tried it but nothing happens. The thing never charged and the battery went dead.

    It could have something to do with me plugging in the charger backwards. I found it way to easy to plug the cable in the wrong way and that could have damaged the circuitry. HOWEVER, I know that it is very simple to protect the circuits from this sort of stuff…..Hey Jabra, fire your dumbass who designed this flaw or use a connector that either can’t be plugged in upside down or move the pins around so it doesn’t matter which way this device is plugged in.

    I just plugged this in on the USB and the BT800 got hot to the touch and guess what? The smoke got out and now it doesn’t work….

  • Jon

    I haven’t decided if the BT800 is good or bad as of yet….

    The UBS charger thing doesn’t work. I have tried it but nothing happens. The thing never charged and the battery went dead.

    It could have something to do with me plugging in the charger backwards. I found it way to easy to plug the cable in the wrong way and that could have damaged the circuitry. HOWEVER, I know that it is very simple to protect the circuits from this sort of stuff…..Hey Jabra, fire your dumbass who designed this flaw or use a connector that either can’t be plugged in upside down or move the pins around so it doesn’t matter which way this device is plugged in.

    I just plugged this in on the USB and the BT800 got hot to the touch and guess what? The smoke got out and now it doesn’t work….

  • Jon

    I haven’t decided if the BT800 is good or bad as of yet….

    The UBS charger thing doesn’t work. I have tried it but nothing happens. The thing never charged and the battery went dead.

    It could have something to do with me plugging in the charger backwards. I found it way to easy to plug the cable in the wrong way and that could have damaged the circuitry. HOWEVER, I know that it is very simple to protect the circuits from this sort of stuff…..Hey Jabra, fire your dumbass who designed this flaw or use a connector that either can’t be plugged in upside down or move the pins around so it doesn’t matter which way this device is plugged in.

    I just plugged this in on the USB and the BT800 got hot to the touch and guess what? The smoke got out and now it doesn’t work….