Rated 
Started Jan 29, 2005
Strengths: Long range, light weight, long battery life, easy setup, device compatibility
Weaknesses: Audio quality, fit on the ear
I've had this Motorola HS850 Bluetooth headset for a few days now and am generally pleased with it. This is the very latest generation of Moto's headsets and doesn't suffer from some of the weaknesses others have reported about earlier incarnations, specifically the transmission range. While users of previous generations complained that they had to keep the phones in their pocket in order to connect to the headset, I've been able to roam close to 30 feet (the nominal limit of Bluetooth links) from my V710 Moto phone and still maintain connectivity. It helps to have line-of-sight to the phone, but I've had it transmit successfully through a couple of walls, too.
That's not to say that the headset sounds too great in these long distance situations. It definitely sounds best when the phone and headset are within an arm's distance of each other. At longer distances the audio quality gets progressively more gravelly, and in fact it will maintain the Bluetooth link even when the audio is completely unintelligible. This is a good thing, I guess, because if you stray too far you can simply move back within range instead of having to reestablish the connection.
The audio quality definitely has an effect on the vice recognition capabilities of the V710. I've found that I sometimes have to repeat a command - especially in environments with high ambient noise - and the "digit dial" mode is much less reliable than it was previously, and may need some training with this headset. Name dial mode is more reliable but still takes retries sometimes.
The fit on my ear is not as secure as I would like, but mostly the ear hook just FEELS loose and hasn't really been in danger of falling off. I wish it had, like my Jabra headset, a moldable-wire ear hook; instead it's a one-size-fits-all hook using a kind of floppy plastic, and the speaker sits outside and against your ear with a little rubber cushion. It can be configured for left or right ears.
That said, it is VERY comfortable and extremely light weight, and yesterday I wore it around almost the entire afternoon, several times forgetting that it was on until an incoming call rang in my ear. While you're on a call the blue LED flashes every few seconds, but you can turn it off on a per-call basis if you think it looks too conspicuous in public.
After giving it a couple of hours' initial charge as recommended in the manual, I talked on it quite a bit yesterday, much longer than the phone itself would have run on its own battery power. I haven't run it down completely, so I can't say if it gets the full 8 hours as claimed. One of the great things about using this headset with a Moto phone is that they can share the same charger (though not simultaneously) - unfortunately, you can't use it while the headset is charging.
Setting this headset up was extremely straightforward and took about 30 seconds: I put it into "pairing mode", discovered it with my Moto V710 and then used the PIN to pair the two devices. The process of pairing the HS850 with my Mac G4 PowerBook was equally straightforward, and I was easily able to get all the Mac's audio output (in mono) routed through the headset; likewise, the Mac was able to use the headset's microphone for audio input. I'd say that's pretty impressive device compatibility!
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