The Motorola HF 820 - Turn you cell phone into a speaker phone
The Motorola HF 820 is a hands free speaker for your cell phone. It uses Bluetooth to connect so it can be used by a variety of phone without connecting any wires.
This device is a great idea and works pretty well. Two exceptions are the speaker and a design flaw that's driving me crazy.
While the speaker is usable it can sometimes have a "scratchie" quality and seems to clip the ends off some audio streams. In a perfect world, it would have a little broader volume range. It is however, still quite usable.
Over all I have been quite impressed with the quality of this device. If the problem I'm about to describe doesn't send up any red flags, then I highly recommend this device.
The HF 820 has a built in battery that can be charged with a standard Motorola phone charging cable.
The device has a thumb wheel on the side which adjust the speaker volume and ,when pushed in, also serves as the power on/off button. This is where the problem starts.
This is supposed to be a mobile device. However, with a push-button power button that sticks out from the side of the device, it is prone to getting turned on and off by accident.
Throwing it into a bag or briefacse, you are almost certain to have it turn on and off randomly. For a Bluetooth device, this is awful. For a speaker phone this is worse.
I first realized this problem while running through an airport when my phone rang and the speaker phone had come on inside my bag. In short, I tried to answer a call but could not talk to the caller because HF 820 had taken posession of my phone.
On any other device I would simply remove the batteries while traveling. Sadly, the battery isn't removable.
Again, this is otherwise a great device. The Motorola HF 820 is built very solid. It has mute capabilities (important for those long conference calls when you are in a noisy place. )
As I use this more, I will post updates here.
This device is a great idea and works pretty well. Two exceptions are the speaker and a design flaw that's driving me crazy.
While the speaker is usable it can sometimes have a "scratchie" quality and seems to clip the ends off some audio streams. In a perfect world, it would have a little broader volume range. It is however, still quite usable.
Over all I have been quite impressed with the quality of this device. If the problem I'm about to describe doesn't send up any red flags, then I highly recommend this device.
The HF 820 has a built in battery that can be charged with a standard Motorola phone charging cable.
The device has a thumb wheel on the side which adjust the speaker volume and ,when pushed in, also serves as the power on/off button. This is where the problem starts.
This is supposed to be a mobile device. However, with a push-button power button that sticks out from the side of the device, it is prone to getting turned on and off by accident.
Throwing it into a bag or briefacse, you are almost certain to have it turn on and off randomly. For a Bluetooth device, this is awful. For a speaker phone this is worse.
I first realized this problem while running through an airport when my phone rang and the speaker phone had come on inside my bag. In short, I tried to answer a call but could not talk to the caller because HF 820 had taken posession of my phone.
On any other device I would simply remove the batteries while traveling. Sadly, the battery isn't removable.
Again, this is otherwise a great device. The Motorola HF 820 is built very solid. It has mute capabilities (important for those long conference calls when you are in a noisy place. )
As I use this more, I will post updates here.
posted by Christian Farmer at 8:49 PM
3 comments
