Review: FREETALK Wireless Stereo Headset
Iain Laskey thinks this headset should be better in a crowded market
| Product | FREETALK Wireless Stereo Headset |
|---|---|
| Company | Skype |
| Web | www.skype.com |
| Price | £49.99 |
| We like | Good sound, wireless works well |
| We don't like | Mic quality, low comfort, slips off easily, fiddly buttons |
| Rating | 7/10 |
| Requirements |
For anyone who makes a lot of calls Skype is a wonderful things assuming the person they are calling is also on Skype. Even calls to people with normal telephones can be done cheaply and easily, especially when used in conjunction with Skype's ability to embed links in web pages within your browser allowing you to call a number on a web site just by clicking on it.
Of course, such activities do require some sort of speaker and microphone arrangement on your PC and in most cases, it's far easier to make use of one of the huge range of headphone and microphone combinations out there.
The FREETALK wireless headset can be bought directly from Skype via their web site and promises the freedom to wander about unencumbered by cables as you make your Skype calls.
There are two parts to the system. A small pod connects to a spare USB socket (supports USB 1.1 and above) and acts as the wireless transmitter and charger for the headset. This is done via a separate cable that plugs in to the headset. You can use them whilst charging but you obviously lose the freedom to wander about.
The headset itself consists of a metal band with a thin layer of padding underneath to which the left and right ear pieces attached via sliding wire mounts. The microphone is unusually on the left hand side with the right hand side containing the on/off switch, pairing (for use when the transmitter can't fine the headset) and a volume rocker switch. After an initial charge of a couple of hours, it's ready to go.
In Use
No drivers were required, as soon as the USB cable was connected, the PC identified it correctly and we were ready to go.
Initial impressions weren't particularly favorable. It's not that comfortable to wear. The amount of padding on the ear pieces is minimal and the whole thing has a tendency to slip off if you look down too quickly which isn't too good for an item intended to be used on the move.
However, the sound quality of the speakers was generally quite good with lots of detail and a well balanced sound. On both voice calls and music they produced a perfectly acceptable sound but the lack of deeper bass did let the side down a bit and as a result, games lacked any real oomph. Stereo positioning was effective though with some pieces of music exhibiting subtelties lost on other headphones. External sounds tended to leak in fairly easily due to the design which could be either distracting or useful depending on your needs.
The range seems quite acceptable and we noticed no problems when wandering about. The manufacturers claim 20 meters which we didn't verify but moving from room to room worked fine with no loss of signal at any time.
We did feel the microphone was a bit low-fi for the price. Whether this was due to lack of bandwidth being wireless or the hardware itself we couldn't say.
The power and volume controls aren't particularly easy to use without a lot of practice and we found we had to take them off, adjust the volume and pop them back on again which is far from ideal. It's also very easy to forget about the on/off switch with there being a danger of finding them being dead next time you go to use them. We did manage to get a full day's use out of a single charge though so as long as you get used to leaving them on charge overnight, they're fine.
One nice touch though is that you can answer Skype calls by pressing the 'Pair' button on the side but this is small and again, tricky to hit with confidence.
Conclusion
We were a little disappointed by the FREETALK wireless headset. On paper they looks good - wireless, remote answering of calls and no batteries to buy but the poor design of the band, lack of long term comfort and mediocre mic quality are all worrying for the price and detract too much from the flexibility of being able to talk and walk. With so many similar devices around, we feel the otherwise good sound is marred by the poor physical design.
