Mr. Handsfree excels in tiny, comfortable Bluetooth earphones. Their newest model, the Bluebird, is another winner. I didn’t believe that we would see anything efficient that was smaller than the Blue Butterfly II, but the Bluebird is noticeably smaller.

Mr. Handsfree has also fixed the one complaint I had with the BBII: the rubber plug now fits easily into the charging hole at the end of the headphone, making the line esthetic and uninterrupted. The small unit is slick and black – hence the name, and has a truly beautiful design. The only real weakness of the design is the flashing blue led. It is as bright as a bolt of lightning, and while it can only enhance your overall appearance at a dance club, should be turned off when going to the movies and during candlelight dinners. You’ll notice in the photo, that although the Bluebird is fairly well hidden by my hair, you can still see the blue light flashing.

The sound quality is good, and quite clear. The only time I’ve had static on a call, it cleared up by transferring the call back to the handset and then to the headset again. Nobody I’ve spoken to over the Bluebird has complained about sound quality or even asked what phone/earpiece I was using.

The Bluebird holds a charge for several days, and it took four days without turning the power off and normal phone use before the Bluebird started “chirping” and required a recharge. Mr. Handsfree has redesigned the charging system, giving it a modular look so that you can use it on any current anywhere you travel. The brilliance of the design is in the two inch adapter that fits into the end of the Bluebird at one side, and into any 5V output currency converter.

As with most Bluetooth devices, the biggest drawback is the Treo. Some Treos seem to do well at a distance, and others don’t. I have found no more discernable crackle on a call with my Treo a few inches away than if I get up and walk into another room, although this seems to vary by phone call.

Pairing was fast and easy, and my only complaint now is that I wish Mr. Handsfree would stick to the generic 0000 pairing code of most devices so that you wouldn’t have to go scrambling for the code after a hard reset.

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