SoundID 300 Bluetooth headset

SoundID 300 Bluetooth headset sets out to be THE most comfortable Bluetooth headset on market. No matter how small or lightweight your Bluetooth headset might be, there’s a limit to just how long you can wear it on your ear before becoming uncomfortable. The problem lies in the ear-plug design. That little piece of awkwardly-shaped plastic squeezed inside your ear canal isn’t going to sit there long-term without some irritation kicking in. But, what if an ear doctor designed the ear-plug for maximum comfort? Well, then you’d have the SoundID 300 Bluetooth headset.

Designed by an ear doctor at Stanford University (along with a team of acoustics experts and engineers), the SoundID 300 Bluetooth headset sets out to be THE most comfortable Bluetooth headset on market. Period. And, it touts noise cancellation technology and adaptive acoustics for better voice clarity.

But, is it really possible to go all-day wearing a hands-free headset without feeling any in-ear irritation? Read on and find out.

SoundID 300 Bluetooth headset

Pros:

• All-day comfort
• Adaptive acoustics
• Noise cancelling
• Sleek, minimalist design

Cons:

• No battery-life meter
• Noise cancellation not perfect with background speech

The SoundID 300’s (and the lower-end SoundID 200) fame to claim is its ergonomic ear-plug design that improves voice clarity and gives the SoundID 300 day-long wearability. The SoundID boasts NoiseNavigation technology that uses the dual beam-forming microphones to isolate speech and algorithms to help reduce background noise. The PersonalSound feature offers three adaptive-acoustics settings that tweaks the conversation to best fit your hearing preference. And, the Automatic Volume Control feature automatically adjusts headset volume to match changing ambient noise levels.

So, does the SoundID 300 really deliver on its promise of long-term comfort? Indeed it does. With a couple caveats (there always are).

Ergonomics
In terms of ergonomics, the SoundID 300 just can’t be beat. At first glance, the strangely-shaped ear-plug and protruding loop of plastic doesn’t look all that comfortable. But, stick the headset in your ear and twist upward (to push that plastic loop up against your ear lobe), and you’re in for a surprise. Rather than trying to cram itself into your ear canal, the SoundID 300’s RealComfort ear-plugs gently slip inside your ear canal and even more gently props itself up against your ear. This tiny little headset tips the scales at just 8 grams, so you can be sure it won’t weigh you down.

When was the last time you wore a headset all day without an iota of discomfort? Have you ever forgotten that your headset was on your ear? With the SoundID 300, you can wear it all day and you might even forget that it’s on your ear at the end of the day.

The headset comes with a variety of patented RealComfort ear-plugs that help you tailor-fit your SoundID 300 to your ear’s shape. Remember, the RealComfort ear-plugs were designed by an ear doctor, and the SoundID proves that it is the single-most comfortable headset we’ve ever worn.

Sound Quality
What good is a Bluetooth headset if you can’t hear the caller on the other end. The SoundID 300’s specially-designed ear-plugs help channel the audio into your ear, which makes for a clear conversation on its own. The incoming conversation (what the headset-wearer hears) is tweaked by SoundID’s PersonalSound technology, automatically enhancing different frequencies to better fit your own personal hearing preference – older users might not have the same high-frequency hearing abilities as a teenager. PersonalSound offers three distinct audio profiles to improve speech clarity without raising the volume.

The NoiseNavigation technology works to clean up your conversation, helping your listener hear your voice, and your voice only. Dual beam-forming microphones and a sprinkling of magical “algorithm dust” helps the SoundID 300 isolate just your voice and send it along to the listener. In theory, the system should work well, but it’s not perfect. “Droning” noises like those from background wind and coffee shop blenders are easily isolated and suppressed. Background noises from TV, radio or someone talking too loud on their cellphone aren’t as effectively suppressed. This particular drawback is common to many dual-microphone noise-cancellation solutions – it’s hard to distinguish legitimate speech from background speech.

Battery Life
SoundID claims 6 hours of talk-time or 9 days of stand-by time on the SoundID 300. We did our darnedest to test that 6 hour talk-time limit, but after a day and a half of making excuses to talk to friends on the phone, the SoundID 300 is still going strong. Unfortunately, we have no idea just how much charge is actually left – a battery-life indicator would be incredibly helpful.

Overall
The SoundID 300 is a damn good Bluetooth headset. It’s noise-suppression systems aren’t as robust as the class-leading Jawbone2, but it’s definitely on par with other dual-mic setups. PersonalSound is cool, but we didn’t find ourselves needing anything other than the default setting. And, we’d like to see future SoundID headsets featuring battery-meters. It can be nerve-racking wondering when the battery on our headset is going to quit on us.

In the end, the SoundID 300 performs where it counts – this is THE most comfortable headset on market.

The SoundID 300 goes on April 15 for about $100, which is a nice little discount from the $120 MSRP.

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