Motorola H700 Bluetooth Headset: Talk and Drive until they outlaw these too

In several states (including Washington, where I live), it is illegal to talk on your cell phone while driving, unless you are using some type of hands free device. Since most of the headsets that come with cell phones have poor listening quality and annoying cables to deal with, the best thing to use if you want to talk and drive is a bluetooth headset. My current recommendation in this department is the Motorola H700 Bluetooth Headset.

Selection Criteria
I bought my Motorola H700 Bluetooth Headset at Costco a year ago because the previous model of Motorola Bluetooth Headset that I owned was not compatible with my T-Mobile MDA (also known as the worst smartphone in existence). Using it with the MDA was so irritating that I only tried it once and was disappointed that I was out $50. When I got rid of the MDA and switched to a Samsung t-429, I was happy to learn that my H700 would work with that phone as well.

Basic "Looks" Info
The Motorola H700 Bluetooth Headset is very lightweight (about three ounces) and compact, measuring about two inches long when fully extended. It has a soft (silicone?) ear hook which is supposed to be able to fit well on either ear (left or right).

There is an on/off/hang-up button in the outer center of the headset, as well as volume up and down buttons along either side of the top of the headset. When I put the headset on my right ear, the "Up" button is on the upper front, and "Down" is on the upper back.

I have not seen an H700 in the lovely mustard color shown in the photo on this listing. Mine is kind of a charcoal blue color with silver buttons.

What's in the box -- er, funky plastic packaging
Along with the headset, the Motorola H700 Bluetooth comes with a charger, instruction manual and "Quickstart" manual. Before you can use the headset, you will need to charge it for about two hours, until the red light around the Power button changes to green.

After that, you will need to pair the headset with your phone, and how to do so will depend on the instructions for your phone. If your cell phone asks for a code, it is "0000" (at least, it is with T-Mobile phones). From there, any time you fold out the microphone, the headset will automatically turn on, but your phone connection may not necessarily be turned on. Again, this depends on your phone's settings.

The Motorola H700 Bluetooth Headset in action
I have been very happy with my H700. Before I remembered that it would work with my Samsung, I found the "hands free" that came with my phone to be so terrible that I resorted to using the speaker phone whenever I was in the car. And I have three LOUD kids that are usually in the car with me, so you can imagine how wonderfully that worked out.

Now that I am using the Motorola H700 Headset, I get almost no feedback when I am on the phone. The sound is very clear, and the volume adjust buttons on the headset work very well. Occasionally, my husband will accuse me of driving while holding the phone, because the sound quality is sometimes better than when I talk into my phone.

According to Motorola, this headset gets 130 hours of standby time and up to 6 hours of talk time. While I have never timed my talk time between chargings, I will say that I generally charge it just once a week, and I probably only talk on my phone a maximum of three hours a week. There have been a couple of times that I have been alerted that the battery is low, which is done through an intermittent pale beep in my ear when in standby mode.

Minor negative points...
In general, I have been very happy with my Motorola H700 Bluetooth Headset. The only drawback it has for me is that it does not feel as comfortable when I try it on my left ear. For this reason, I always keep it on my right. Other than that, the only real reason not to invest in a Motorola H700 is that there are some who argue that driving with a 'hands free' or bluetooth headset is still not very safe, so it is probably only a matter of time until these are outlawed as well. Until that happens, I am keeping my H700 by my side when I drive (or on my ear).