Xbox 360 Bluetooth Headset

I’ve had my fair share of bad luck with the Xbox 360‘s selection of headsets, throwing out countless dollars and most of which have caused me a lot of problems. This new version of the headset came out in November 2011 to better fit the look of the Xbox 360 S consoles.

I can’t even begin to describe the headache with the official wired headsets. I think I’ve gone through 20 of them. Everytime I move, they come unplugged, it’s a nuisance have to take my hand off the controller to flip the mute button or adjust the volume. I’ve also had a number of them short out of me. I tried a few of the third-party ones from the likes of MadCatz and Plantronics, both of which I was unhappy with. I bought the older Xbox 360 wireless headset at a local shop here for $20, it was in like-new condition. I have small ears so even the smaller ear loop was too big so I had to splice and melt it back together for it to fit good. The wireless one went out on me for whatever reason, so I decided to pick up the new version.

The new Xbox 360 headset looks like a normal bluetooth headset and even doubles as being one with a simple flip of a switch, so if you don’t have one, it’s nice to use. It has a shiny black look and while it’s plastic, from a distance it looks like it could be metal or something. It looks very sleek.

Going from the old wireless headset to the new one is an adjustment. For starters, the old headset came with two different size rubber ear loops that gave you a bit of choice. This one comes with one plastic standard sized ear loop and 3 different sized rubber ear-buds, none of which fit my ears right, so I basically have the smallest one on and the ear loop positioned in a way to hold it on my ear. At least with the rubber ear loop, I could modify it and make it fit right.

Even the sound quality is a little different. It’s a little more tinny and high-pitched compared to the older wireless headset which woud lay up against your ear rather than going in. This is likely because of the much smaller driver size in the speakers. While I quickly got used to it and my ear adjusted, for about the first 30 to 40 minutes, I would often have to ask my friends to repeat what they said. That was quite annoying and I’m sure it was for them too.

In bluetooth mode, the headset performs as expected. I got a bit of a chuckle when I got a text and heard the headset play “Ride of the Valkyries” as the notification sound. I still get a kick out of that when I hear it. The sound quality is fair compared to other bluetooths (blueteeth?) and should do the job for people who aren’t looking to spend extra money on a separate headset.

While most of the problems I have with the new wireless headset (and the old one) it down to my own ear size, it’s definitely a fine product and should serve people well. The price point isn’t something I’m too happy with, but what are you gonna do? It’s a good purchase and does exactly what it says it does. You can’t go wrong with that. If you’re okay with throwing down $60 for a 2-in-1 headset, then you should be fairly happy.