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The SonyEricsson HBH-610a is both the best and the worst Bluetooth headset that I've ever tried. The sound quality is exceptional. The fit, on the other hand, was designed for some species other than man.

Sony has designed a decent looking device in the HBH-610a. It's sleek: long and thin, with no excess bulk. They've even given it a wardrobe! It comes with two interchangeable covers, so that if you don't like having an all black headset, you can change it to textured silver, or flat silver. There is no homing beacon on the HBH-610a either. Unlike the majority of Bluetooth headsets available, this one does not have a blinking blue light so bright that it can be seen from distant galaxies. It has a subtle green flash to let you know it's on.

One feature I like is the lanyard loop at the top of the headset. Sony even includes a nice black cord lanyard to wear around your neck. While the lanyard fits easily over my head, it has a snap closure in case you don't want to mess up your hair (or have a large head).

Now that we know what it looks like and how to hang it around your neck, let's talk about hanging it from your ear where you'll use it. It is here that Sony falls short on this product, as they obviously used lab rats to fit test. A molded plastic earloop is attached on a post at the center of the headset. It swivels 90 degrees, and can easily be removed, flipped, and replaced to wear on the other ear. Unfortunately, if you have the earloop comfortably around your ear, the speaker part of this headset is nowhere near your ear canal. My ears are somewhat petit, and with the earloop on, the speaker button rests up at the very top of my ear. It just doesn't feel right.

The sound quality is outstanding, so even with the speaker a good 2 cm away, you can still hear the voice at the other end. And the other party, of course, can hear you, because the noise cancelling microphone is placed in a more expected (normal) position. The speaker is actually angled, so that sound is directed down towards your ear canal, but it takes some getting used to having it so high. I tried using the HBH-610a without the earloop, and while it stays reasonably well in my small ear, it's simply not a workable solution.

Button placement on this headset is good. The power on/off is dead center, so you're not likely to accidentally switch it off mid conversation if you go to press it closer to your ear. (I've done that before on the Palm Treo Wireless Headset.) When wearing it on your right ear, the volume buttons are on the top, also centered, although slightly closer to the top than the power button. They are easy to find, and easy to press. The documentation claims the volume auto-adjusts, and I'm inclined to believe it. I have yet to really need to touch the volume buttons.

The first time you turn on the HBH-610a, it goes straight into pairing mode. That was a treat: one less thing to worry about. One press of the power button will either answer or end a call. Even if your Treo's screen is off, two presses of the power button will redial the last number. Despite the instructions being available in English, Spanish, German, French, Portuguese, Italian, Dutch, Russian, Swedish, and Finnish (?!), I found no mention of whether or not you can swap calls using the headset.

Just as Palm moved to a standardized charging port, so did Sony, and the HBH-610a uses their normal a/c charger (also included in the box). There is no charge port at either end to detract from its lines. Instead, you plug the charger in on the inside (the part facing your ear), opposite the power button. Nobody will see it while you're wearing it. Of course, with more than six hours of talk time on a single charge, you won't need it often anyway.

Conclusion

Pros:

• Volume
  
• Design
  
• Accessories
  
• Volume (deserves a second mention)
  
• Noise cancelling microphone
  
• Long lasting charge

Cons:

• Position of speaker to ear canal
  
• Sony style charger means one more cord

Although the volume, sound quality and microphone design are excellent, I cannot recommend the product due to the shape. By design, the earphone hangs too far from the ear canal.

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