Bulky, but great sound and convenience

These are now my 5th pair of bluetooth wireless headphones and I think I've finally found one that does just what I want: great sounding streaming music from my iPod and simultaneously make or take calls from my Blackberry.

In my typical fashion, let's begin with the good, move on to the bad and then finish with those things that need improvement.

GOOD

Excellent sound quality - Clear, clean and LOUD. What more can I say about it. This may seem obvious but apparently some people don't understand the many different profiles available with Bluetooth devices and which ones are necessary to get good sound quality from these headphones. In order to hear quality audio, your Bluetooth source must support the Advanced Audio Distribution Profile (A2DP). Many of the USB dongle devices and quite a few built-in Bluetooth laptops (including MacBooks) and phones DON'T support this profile. How will you know? First check the documentation to see if A2DP is listed as a supported profile. If not, try pairing with the headphones. If you hear tinny sounding music in mono, your device probably only supports the Headset and Handsfree (HPF) profiles. You'll need to find some other hardware or maybe a software upgrade.

Convenient - My S805s are paired with my iPod equipped with Wi-Gear's iMuffs MA110 Dock Adapter. This adapter is powered by the iPod and supports both the A2DP and Audio Video Remote Control (AVRCP) profiles allowing the headphone to control the volume, play/pause and next/prev track of the iPod while getting the great sound you expect. With no wires to get tangled or swing around when you move, these are great for workouts on the treadmill or elliptical.

Battery Life - Motorola claims that these fully charged headphones will operate in standby mode for up 30 days! I haven't had an opportunity to test this out and I not quite sure exactly what is "standby" mode, but I do know that the music play time is good for about a week of bus rides and occasional office use--about 15 hours. Not bad for the volume and quality.

Nice carrying case - the S805 comes with a durable semi-rigid zippered ballistic nylon case that holds the headphones with the earpieces folded flat at 2 inches thick. There's even a strap inside to conveniently hold the charger and the wired adapter cable.

Elegant Design - The headphones are very nice to look at once you get past the bulk (more on that next). They are symmetrically designed with a single button on each earpiece. One side controls the phone the other the music. The volume and track skip controls are ingeniously integrated into the rubber trim rings of each earpiece. Twist the left one forward or backward to change the volume or the right one to skip or repeat tracks.

BAD

Bulky - While the over-the-ear design is really effective at blocking outside noise, they are also very large and rather obvious. Especially with the blinking blue lights on the side. This attracts a lot of strange looks since you resemble a Borg. BTW, the blue lights can be turn off but I often forget since they default to "ON" after your recharge.

Cheap plastic parts - These definitely aren't your Bose QuietComforts. Most of the plastic pieces feel very cheap and appear as if they would easily break if dropped. The little rubber flap covering the charging and wired adapter ports is very flimsy and I don't expect it to last very long. The volume adjustment control dial and the track control dial have a lot of slop and wiggle room. I'd have to say that the case is better made than the headphones.

Short Wired Adapter - The wired adapter cord is very short. Less than a meter long so you need to be very close to your wired device.

NEEDS IMPROVEMENT

Scratchy Fabric on Headband - The fabric inside of the headband is same acoustic fabric as the inside of the earpieces. I often take these off and dangle them around my neck but the fabric is kind of irritating. A smooth fabric would be much more comfortable.

Earpiece Cushions - The soft vinyl earpieces aren't too uncomfortable, but the do make the area around my ears all sweaty, especially during a workout. They're also kind of tight so they don't slip off your head but the pressure begin to get uncomfortable after a while. But if don't like the headphones with eartips that go into your ears, these are minor issues.

Complicated Controls - Although two buttons make for elegant design, it also makes for a confusing array of functions that you must remember to control them. Press and hold for 6 seconds for pairing mode. Press and hold for 2 seconds to turn them off. Press, hold and wait for three blinks to turn off. Short press to answer a call, long press to reject a call or answer a call waiting or redial the last call (all depending on the current state). Yikes! That's a lot to remember.

Minimal Instructions - The instruction booklet is a double-sided sheet of paper with a minimal amount of information to get you started. There are two paragraphs of troubleshooting along with a support number and web URL. If you can't get these to work as expected, don't expect to get much help.