Plantronics Pulsar 590 Bluetooth Headset

The Plantronics 590 is a Bluetooth stereo headset, designed for use with phones and computers.  When I bought it, I knew that I wanted a Bluetooth device that would allow use as a phone headset and also offer stereo audio.  This is the only low-price set that I was able to find that didn't use the behind the neck or in the ear styles.  The others that are easy to find with over the head designs were more expensive, so that only really left me with this choice.

I'll start with the good.  It's easy to use.  It includes a plug in charger.  If the model were updated, they would probably switch to a USB charger, which would be better.  The plug-in charger is easy enough to use, but uses a shallow round plug that can be just a little troublesome to ensure that it stays in.  There's a large and bright light to show charging or complete status (more on that later).  It does take a bit long to charge, but talk time is pretty good.  I charge the headset about weekly.  Once charged, the 590 was very easy to set up with my phone (Blackberry Bold).  It has worked perfectly ever since with only one minor hiccup (it dropped the stereo audio one time, which was fine after reconnecting).  In-call use is excellent, with a very clear signal both in and out.  Being able to hear phone conversations with both ears really does make it easier to understand people and more natural.  There is a telescopic microphone tube to help the user get a clear outgoing voice.  Though it's quite short, it does a good job of getting the user's voice without a distracting amount of background noise.  The upper part of the large round button on the side is used to answer calls or summon voice commands on the phone, and it's easy to use.  The lower part is a mute button which I don't use.  Volume can be controlled on either the handset or headset, and is more than sufficient so far for voice use for me.  They can be comfortably worn for several hours and only slightly dampen ambient noise.  They're not very heavy, and don't squeeze hard to stay on.

The secondary use of this headset was for media audio on the same phone.  When properly linked with my phone (and many others), this headset provides stereo media audio and media remote capability.  I've never had trouble with either function except the button arrangement.  Volume is controlled by the buttons that are in the locations that would make more sense to me for track changes and vice-versa.  Once used to the locations, it's easy but not really quick to use.  The buttons are a little slim, and have to be felt by hand.  I do still occasionally push the wrong one.  For stereo audio use, they're not strictly hi-fi.  Some of that is certainly due to a combination of lossy MP3 encoding and lossy Bluetooth signal encoding.  It's very easy to make bass clip, but it sounds more like the clipping is on the signal side and not due to the actual "speakers."  Signal clipping could be the phone's fault, and not the headset, so I'll forgive that.  For anything other than critical listening in a quiet room, it's quite sufficient.  For streaming media, it's not the weakest link and works very well.  It's possible to use a double-ended 3.5mm patch cord to use them as wired headphones, which improves the sound quality a bit but isn't convenient.  There isn't much point in using a Bluetooth headset as wired headphones, and the patch cord has to be purchased seperately from the headset.

Now I must bring up the more specific faults of the product that I feel really should be addressed if Plantronics sees fit to update this product (they're selling the same model since 2005 without change?).  I would prefer strongly if this headset was black instead of silver.  It looks a bit dorky already, and being silver steps that up.  Black with no chrome would be preferable and more adult looking.  To make it worse, the light indicating connections and charge status is huge, ring-shaped, and much too bright.  Whenever connected, it flashes blue once every couple of seconds.  To the best of my knowledge, it can't be disabled.  The combination of the slightly silly styling and the giant ring of light make them difficult to use in public.  They're fine at home or in the yard, but would be as subtle as wearing footie pajamas in public.  I wish there were some way of masking most of the Ring of Shame.

To sum it up, this is a versatile multi-purpose device that does its job.  Taken in the context of its 2005 debut, it's excellent.  Shift the context to my 2010 purchase, and it seems a bit dated.  The attention it got in '05 was probably novel and welcome, but needed toning down when a bit more mainstream five years later.  The battery could charge a bit faster, the ergonomics need an update, and USB would be useful for quite a few reasons.  Sound quality on phone is excellent, and sufficient for music.  Comfort is good.