Review: Plantronics Pulsar 260 Bluetooth Stereo Headset — Nirvana or Near Missa??

Posted by: dgoldring on Apr 14 2007

 

Recently, I started thinking about what features my ideal earphones would include.  Of course, first and foremost, they would have to be Bluetooth capable.  Once you start using Bluetooth headphones and experiencing the freedom of that untethered feeling, it is hard to go back to using traditional wired headphones.  So, any headphones that I am going to invest money in would have to be Bluetooth enabled (the fact that many devices are still not Bluetooth enabled and do not have high quality audio (A2DP and AVRCP) drivers included as standard fare is a topic for another article).  Second, I have tested many headphones, earphones and headsets, and I have found that the best sound quality is consistently delivered by the in the ear, silicone style earbuds.  Third, I have to be able to carry them in my backpack or gear bag, which means they must be flexible or foldable, so I can easily carry them in my bag.  Finally, I do not like to miss calls while I am listening to music, so they must be able to connect with my phone as well.  So, to recap, my ideal headphones are:

• Bluetooth enabled with A2DP and AVRCP compatibility
• Silicone earbuds
• Flexible
• Compatible with both my MP3 player and my phone.

Of course, this is all hypothetical.  This is the headphone/headset I would like in an ideal world.  In the real world, I have found fantastic and flexible silicone earbuds that were not Bluetooth enabled and could not connect to my phone.  I have found great Bluetooth headphones that were made of hard plastic and were completely inflexible over the ear, "can" style headphones.  None of the headphones I have tested, however, met my criteria.  Until now.  Recently Plantronics released a new Bluetooth headset, the Pulsar 260, a flexible Bluetooth headset, design to work equally well with music and communications.  So, will the Pulsar 260 Bluetooth Stereo Headset live up to the expectations of my ideal headphones? And if so, will they produce the Sound and the Fury, or will the sound provide just a whisper of the Wind in the Willows?  Read past the break to find out what I though of the Pulsar 260’s sound and performance.

 

What’s In The Box:  The Pulsar 260 comes packaged with everything you need to satisfy your high quality listening needs.  First, of course, you get the headset, along with a Bluetooth pendant.  The pendant can clip onto your shirt, collar or lapel, or slide snugly into a pocket.  Additionally, you will find:

• a lanyard to strap the pendant around your neck
• an audio-out cable which allows you to plug the pendant into any speaker system with an input jack
• 3 sizes of silicone earbuds to ensure a perfect fit every time
• a standard mini-USB charging cable
• a quick Start Guide

Look and Style: Well, I already described for you how I would design my dream stereo headphones or headset.  I have to say, the Plantronics measures up to my design in every facet.  Unlike other Bluetooth stereo headphones, I have used, the wire-only design means that I can stick them in my pocket, my gadget bag, or just about anywhere else, without worrying about taking up too much space.  Simply put, this is one fantastic looking headset.

Fit and Comfort: Unlike Billy Crystal’s old Fernando sketch, in which it was always better to look good than to feel good, headsets need to feel just as good, if not better, than they look.  I thought Plantronics came close here with the Pulsar 260, but they could have done better.

The Silicone earbuds were as comfortable as ever.  With three different sizes of silicone fittings included, you are sure to find these earbuds fit your ear…like a glove (Ok, I know that was a terrible cliche, but at least I did not say, "If the glove don’t fit…"  Never mind). 

Oddly, however, one side of the headset cord was intentionally made shorter than the other.  I did not understand this decision, and hope it will be remedied soon.  Traditionally, headphone cords are the same length.  This ensures that you will not have excessive pull on one side, which makes the earbud slip out of your ear.  This is exactly what happened to me.  Because the cords were not the same length, I found the shorter one was constantly getting tugged more than the longer one, causing me to have difficulty keeping it in my ear.  I found this design flaw became extremely frustrating as I was constantly reinserting the left earbud into my ear.

Bluetooth Connectivity: The Pulsar 260 utilizes the Advanced Audio Distribution Profile (A2DP), allowing you to wirelessly listen to stereo music and answer/end calls without the need for an adapter or picking up the phone.

In order to use A2DP connectivity, you must first pair the headset with your devices.  Pairing the Pulsar 260 to my device was simple, and took mere seconds.  With the press of a single button, both my Axim and my cellphone were able to find the headset quickly and establish a connection.  Once the initial pairing was complete, the headset will automatically connect to whichever device has its Bluetooth radio activated.  Let’s take a closer look on how it worked with my two devices.

Pairing with a Pocket PC: I use a Dell Axim x50v running WM 2003SE for most of my music.  It can hold a lot of music, sounds great, and is Bluetooth enabled.  [As an aside, I am saddened to note that most media players (iPod, Zune, Sansa, and more) still do not incorporate Bluetooth, a development which simply astounds and befuddles me.]  During most of my testing, I used Conduits’ Pocket Player, however, I also tested them with CoreCodec’s CorePlayer.

The sound quality was extremely good.  I was impressed with how well I could hear background music and various different notes and tones.  That being said, there were some problems.  While listening to music, I noticed faint, but perceptible background noise.  Many people might argue that this noise was related to a poor recording rather than the headset, and I might be inclined to agree with them.  For this reason, I tested out the same song with several different headphones, both Bluetooth and wired.  I did not notice this noise when I used any other headphones while listening to music on my Axim.  Nonetheless, this noise was faint and, unless you are an audiophile, it should not bother you significantly. 

I did notice, however, that the built-in Audio Visual Remote Control Profile (AVRCP) simply did not work as advertised.  AVRCP allows you to use a remote control — in this case, the attached pendant — to control the playback features on your device.  Not only did this not work, but when I did try to use the AVRCP controls, it frequently caused interferance with the A2DP connection, which led to significant skipping.  To be fair, however, despite significant effort on my part, I was never able to isolate the origin of this problem.  As such, I cannot confidently indicate whether it arose from my device or the headset, however, prior to pairing my device with this headset, I can report that my other Bluetooth headphones worked flawlessly in this area.

Additionally, Plantronics advertises the Pulsar 260’s Bluetooth range as 33 feet.  This range is fairly standard for most Bluetooth devices, and seemed consistent with my experience.  I did find that if I walked out of the range and then returned, the signal would not automatically return.  Instead, I would reconnect with a significantly deteriorated signal, which meant that I would have to disconnect and reconnect.  To be honest, this only became an issue when I was testing the range.  Otherwise, my device and headset remained in close proximity, meaning that this rarely became a relevant concern.

Pairing with my phone: In addition to my Axim, I also utilized the Pulsar 260 with my Motorola RAZR v3m (Verizon).  This is where the headset really shined.  After utilizing this with my phone, it became clear to my why the Pulsar is called a headset and not headphones or earbuds.  This can be an important distinction, which means it is intended to be used with your cellphone first and your music second.

The first time I made a call with it (No, I did not scream, "Come here, Watson, I need you"), I was slightly unnerved by the earbuds, which nicely isolate all outside noises…including the sound of your own voice.  It is extremely strange to talk without hearing yourself…at least I am pretty sure I was talking.  Once you get used to it, however, the Pulsar 260 is really a fantastic design for telephony.  By utilizing both sound isolating earbuds, almost no sound interferes with your call (I only had trouble hearing when I was actually walking past the engine of an idling locomotive). 

Even more impressive than the sound quality, however, was the microphone.  I admit, if there was any part of the design that gave me a real cause for concern, it was the microphone, which dangles on the headphone cord.  I expected that the microphone would suffer from significant interference from background and environmental noise while I was talking, and would have preferred a microphone which was attached to one of the earbuds.  Much to my surprise and delight, however, the microphone was fantastic.  I left it dangling on the cord, and the recipients of my test calls had no problem hearing me.  They indicated little background noise was interfering with the call, even though the microphone was swaying against my shirt.  In order to increase call clarity further, however, the microphone does have a clip which will secure it on your collar or lapel, and hold it close to your mouth.

To receive a call, simply push the button on the microphone — your music will be paused as the headset switches from your music to your call.  Push the button a second time, and the call will end while your music resumes in full stereo sound.  This action worked perfectly.  I was extremely impressed by how well the the headset was able to do this, even when my music and calls were on two different devices.  Nonetheless, although Plantronics advertises "multipoint connectivity to actively pair with one audio device and one voice device," I was not able to get such a dual-connect to work adequately.  While the headset easily connected with my Axim or my phone, I noticed significant interference which led to skipping in both devices when I attempted to connect to both at the same time.  This was frustrating and disappointing to me, because it meant that this headset will not help me to answer calls while listening to music.  I hope this dual-connectivity issue can be resolved (or I can just bite the bullet and buy myself a Smartphone).

Pendant and Controls: I have heard a lot of people look at the Pulsar 260 and comment that there is a wire to the pendant control, so they are not truly wireless.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  The pendant easily clips onto your collar or lapel, or just slips into your pocket.  The important aspect here is that there is no wire between you and your device, which gives you complete freedom of movement.

I also really loved the idea of having the AVRCP controls on a pendant which I could hold in my hand and…shockingly…see what I was doing.  Most stereo Bluetooth headphones have the AVRCP controls on the ears, which means you have to control them by feel.  This can be tricky.  

The pendant itself is small, light, and easy to clip onto your clothes or conceal in a pocket.  Additionally, it also includes a lanyard which allows you to wear the pendant around your neck.  The lanyard, however, was made from a stiff plastic cord, not an extremely flexible nylon cord.  As such, I did not find this to be a comfortable option. 

The pendant also has a 2.5mm headphone jack which connects to the headset (which obviously has a 2.5 mm plug).  I was a bit dismayed by this because standard headphones are on a 3.5mm plug.  This means that you cannot plug a different pair of headphones into the pendant to give your favorite headphone Bluetooth connectivity.  I did try this by purchasing an adaptor, but found that there was a significant degradation in sound quality when I attempted to use the adaptor.  This is unfortunate.  If you are not interested in making calls with the Pulsar 260, it would be nice to be able to use the pendant with any headphones you might own.

On the other hand, Plantronics does include a nice option of connecting the pendant to stereo speakers, using an included audio-out cable.  This is a great option for parties.  Instead of a CD jukebox, or commercial radio station, you can hook the Plantronics pendant up to your system, and stream music from your device to your speakers.  This also means you do not have to risk damage to your device, which can be safely concealed in a different room.  Nonetheless, I did not understand why Plantronics chose to include the audio-out cable and not a 2.5mm to 3.5mm adaptor.

Battery: The battery life on this headset was remarkable.  Frankly, the battery has outlived the time I allotted to write this review.  Plantronics advertises up to seven hours of listening time, nine hours of talk time, and 200 hours of standby time on a single two hour charge of the battery.  After a full week of steady use, my experience clearly met these specifications.  I was impressed with the battery in the Pulsar 260 which has not needed a second charge since I broke the seal on the box over a week ago. 

The Pulsar 260 did include an AC charger.  I was extremely happy to find, however, that the Pulsar 260 utilizes a standard min-USB connection to charge.  This means I can leave the charger at home when I travel and keep the battery charged with any universal travel charger. 

Cable Management: As I mentioned earlier, my ideal headphones are designed with only wires, and no hard plastic, making them infinitely flexible.  Of course, this comes with its own hazards.  The flexibility of these wires means they are in a constant state of entanglement.  As such, it is necessary to have some form of cable management.  Typically, headphones utilizing this design will include a winder, case, or other cable management tool.  I was so shocked not to find anything that I actually thought it had simply been left out of the box.  Much to my chagrin, however, Plantronics did not intend to include one at all.   This meant I frequently found the headset wires in a tangle at the bottom of my gadget bag or pocket, no matter how tightly wound I left them. 

Conclusion: The title of this article asks whether the Plantronics Pulsar 260 Stereo Bluetooth Headset is Nirvana or a "Near Missa".  Of course, nothing is that black and white.  These headphones are no exception.  The design and form factor alone earned them a permanent place in my gadget bag.  The sound quality was acceptable, and at least as good as some of the other headphones I use.  I also really liked the pendant controls.  There were, however, a few significant problems I experienced which could keep these from being my everyday headphones:

• the AVRCP controls did not work adequately
• the multipoint connectivity simply did not work.  Although it did a great job of switching between two devices, the devices themselves caused significant interference and skipping when paired simultaneously
• the headphone cords were different lengths causing them to slip from my ears too easily
• there is no included cord management system, which means I was constantly untangling the cords before each use.

While none of these problems significantly affected my use or enjoyment of these headphones (aside from the headphone cords which constantly pulled the buds from my ears), they were each a source of frustration for me.  So, to answer my own question, the Plantronics Pulsar 260 were far from a "Near Missa".  I found the sound quality to be extremely good, and I thoroughly enjoyed the comfortable fit of the earbud headset.  The problems I experienced, however, would also not allow me to term them a complete Nirvana.  So, a headset which is trying to replicate the success of a Nirvana, but not quite making it…I suppose that would make the Pulsar 260 the Foo Fighters of Bluetooth headsets, and that is not a bad place to be at all.

Vital Statistics:

Name: Plantronics Pulsar 260 Bluetooth Headset

Manufacturer: Plantronics

Where to Buy: Plantronics

Price: $109.95

For more on the Plantronics headset, please be sure to check out Kerry Woo’s review over at Gear Diary.

Technorati Tags: Plantronics - Pulsar 260 - headphones - earbuds - headset - justanothermobilemonday

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