Plantronics Discovery 640 Bluetooth Headset Mini-Review
After trying several bluetooth headsets from Motorola I picked up the Plantronics Discovery 640 while cruising through Best Buy one day almost as an after thought. I was not particularly impressed with my last headset, the Motorola H500 since it never seemed to provide the clarity or the comfort I was looking for. So after several weeks using my Plantronics bluetooth headset I was not only happy with it, I finally started actually using it for just about all my cell calls since the quality was better on the headset than using the phone itself!
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9 times out of 10 the big issue I have always had with bluetooth wireless headsets is the comfort, or more often the lack of comfort. My recent experience with the Motorola H500 was typical of most of the headsets I had tried that attempted to hang off my ear using a plastic piece which always seemed to become dislodged just by a quick turn of the head. With the Plantronics 640 I found the ear bud method of securing the headset to my ear very effective. Not only does it feel like it is attached but it is also surprisingly comfortable. My only gripe, after 9+ hours in my year I began to lose some feeling where the ear bud was lodged and when removed it made my ear itch. Nothing to write home about, but compared to the Motorola which became annoying after only a few minutes I was completely thrilled.
As for call quality I can’t say enough good things. The quality of this headset is top notch, and it makes all but the super high end offerings from other manufacturers sound like old fashioned walkie-talkies. Call quality is fantastic on my Blackberry 8700 and far exceeds the clarity of the phone itself, something I was not expecting for such as tiny device. Speaking of size, this bluetooth headset is very small, almost too small. It weighs so little that I sometimes forget its in my ear leading to some funny looks from coworkers during meetings. The headset comes with three earbud sizes which makes it easy to get the right size for a solid and comfortable fit.
Ergonomics are good but lack the kind of tactile feel I experienced with other headsets. The buttons are small, making it difficult to manipulate in a hurry. I had a few calls come in where I had to fish around before I hit the right button to answer. Thankfully there are only two buttons, one for call answer/hangup and one that is a rocker switch to control the volume.
One really nice aspect to this headset is both the talk and standby times, both which are very good. I usually get almost 10 hours of talk time with at least several days (I always seem to charge it long before it runs out) of standby time. My only gripe with the performance is the lack of a built in USB port for charging. The included adapter allows you to plug the headset into a USB port for charging but its another item you need to remember to bring with you which is always a pain. Another good addition to this headset package is the included travel case that holds the headset, ear buds, and charging dock/adapter and several power adapters to allow the headset to be charged using your phone’s power adapter.
Overall I really like the Plantronics Discovery 640 and continue to use it daily as my primary bluetooth headset with my Blackberry 8700.
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