True to its mission to stay on the top of the market, Nokia has offered something that intends to kill the competition in Bluetooth headphones. Initially, the Nokia BH-905 seems like a a high-end, flexible pair of headphones. But it is unique in that it works in four modes: as a regular wired stereo headset or as a wireless Bluetooth headset, with or without active noise cancellation.

That flexibility puts it above its main competitors in the wired and wireless realm, beating Bose’s wired QuietComfort 15 and Motorola’s wireless-only headsets like the S9-HD.

The headphone set measures in at 7.1 by 6.1 by 2.3 inches and weighs 6.2 ounces. The quality is sure to make the unit last; they’re fashioned in black and silver plastic, with black leather ear pads. Wearing the unit is comfortable thanks to the soft leather pads.

The BH-905 has media navigation buttons at the right speaker, as well as the combination multi-function and power button, and a volume rocker along the black plastic edge next to a tiny charger port. On the left speaker is the toggle switch for the active noise canceling, along with a port to use the headset in wired mode and a tiny Bluetooth LED indicator. There are also dedicated multifunction button handles to answer and reject calls.

The BH-905 is flexible as it offers adapters for 1/4-inch, 3.5mm, and 2.5mm jacks, each catering to home or pro audio gear, standard iPod-size headphones, and non-standard phone jacks, respectively. Sound quality with wires is good though, as it can be compared with headphones like Sony, Grado, and Creative. Its noise-cancellation feature works well but when turned-on, the sound becomes a bit muffled.

As for the main feature, Bluetooth mode, sound quality is not so good, and the problem could be with the fact that many cellphones sound terrible over Bluetooth due to an outdated chipset.

The $299 Nokia BH-905 offers the most flexibility in both wired and wireless headphones. It also offers a good 16 hours of wireless music playback with noise cancellation on, and 25 hours when shut off. (Duane D)

Source: PC Mag