By now you know about the new federal law requiring drivers to use a headset while talking on the phone. And you’ve most likely bought or are about to buy a headset for this very purpose. Of course, this is a great opportunity for cell phone companies and retailers to sell you the most expensive headset they can. And they’re doing exactly that!
Here are some tips to help you buy the right headset for your needs. But before getting into that, I have a bone to pick with the lawmakers!
The federal law about headsets is a positive but small and inadequate step towards making driving with cell phones safer. Let me explain.
The risks with driving while on a cell phone are that you have one less hand to drive with, and that you can be distracted by the conversation. By asking you to use a headset, the new law only addresses the first risk, and not the second. In fact, it even doesn’t properly address the first risk either.
Supposedly you’re expected to use the voice activated feature, available in most cell phones today, to tell the phone who you want to call. Well, it turns out that most phones do a very poor job of picking the right entry form your voice instructions, forcing you to resort to picking the entry using the phone keypad. That takes your eye and attention off the road! Besides, there is nothing in the law about not using the phone to send text messages or e-mails. If the point is to keep the driver focused on the road, why isn’t there any provision in the law about this?!
The inadequacy of this law makes you wonder if it was merely put in place by the encouragement of cell phone lobbyists to increase sales of electronics to consumers! (Please note that my criticism of this law is by no means an encouragement to disobey it. You should follow the law as stated, regardless of your opinion of it.) OK, enough griping about the lawmakers!
Don’t Need Bluetooth
The cell phone industry has done a great job convincing consumers that a “headset” means a “Bluetooth headset!” That’s because they can charge you more for a Bluetooth headset, positioning it as cool and high tech. The only advantage a Bluetooth headset has is that there is no wire between it and the phone. Putting that aside, a wired headset (you know, the ones that plug into the cell phone headset jack) is more convenient and reliable, and less expensive.
Consider the following comparison of a Bluetooth headset to a wired headset:
What to Focus On
Instead of buying into the Bluetooth hype, here are some of the real factors you should focus on when buying a headset. Of course, these factors apply regardless of the headset being Bluetooth or wired.
First and foremost, focus on comfort and fit. Does the earpiece fit comfortably inside your ear? Does the headset fit comfortably around your ear? Is the fit snug such that the headset doesn’t easily come loose of fall off? If you were the headset for a while does it start to become uncomfortable?
Then test the sound quality; for you and for the person on the other side. Is the sound coming from the earpiece as close to the quality you’d hear from the phone without a headset? Is the volume in the earpiece loud enough? Is the volume easily adjustable? Call someone and ask them how they think you sound. Especially test it in a street where it’s a little noisier to get a feel for how you might sound if you’re driving. If you do a lot of driving, especially on the freeway, consider getting a headset with a noise cancelling feature.
Of course, a lot of times it’s hard to run all these tests on a headset, as most retailers don’t let you test them unless you buy them. One alternative is to ask your friends and family about their headsets. The other is to read the reviews on a particular headset online, at place like Amazon.com.
