LG Tone (HBS-700) Wireless Bluetooth Stereo Headset - Retail Packaging - Black/Orange

List Price : $69.99
Price : $54.51
You Save : $15.48 (22%)

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description
The LG Tone (HBS-700) Wireless Stereo Headset brings you the high quality audio experience of stereo sound with the convenience of Bluetooth technology. Up to 10 hours of listening/talk time keeps you connected to your music and social life whenever you need it. With its unique form factor and sleek design, the LG Tone has an around-the-neck wearing style, ensuring you comfort throughout the day--ear the LG Tone all day without realizing you even have it on.


The Magnetic Ear Phones snap into place in the stylish, streamlined Memory Flex Neck Strap for easy storage, and they pop out just as easily for comfortable wear. Music controls right on the neck strap mean you can leave your phone in your purse or backpack and still play, pause, rewind, or fast forward.
Wear it at work, while you are shopping, at the park walking your dog, lounging at home, or working out at the gym. Because it's water resistant, you can work out as hard as you want without worrying about breaking a sweat!
You'll never miss a message with LG's free BT Reader app (Android OS), which lets the LG Tone read your incoming text messages in real time. A vibration will alert you of an incoming call and with the intuitive controls located on the neck strap, you can navigate phone calls and media easily without having to physically touch your handset. The LG Tone has multipoint capability, allowing you to stream music from your phone or computer and switch seamlessly to a call on your mobile device all from the neck band controls.
In addition to up to 10 hours of talk and music playing time, the LG Tone offers up to 360 hours (15 days) of standby time. It also includes last number redial, voice dial, call reject, and call waiting functionality (phone dependent).
Key Features
What's in the BoxLG Tone (HBS-700) Wireless Stereo Headset; AC adapter; multi-size ear gels; quick start guide
With LG TONE’s premium sound quality, conversations and music live in perfect harmony.

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 5.3 x 0.7 inches ; 1.1 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B0052YFYFK
• Item model number: HBS-700
• Batteries: 1 Lithium ion batteries required. (included)
  

Technical Details

• Stereo Bluetooth headset for wireless music plus call functionality
• Unique around-the-neck design that's lightweight and comfortable for all-day use
• Magnetic ear buds snap into place when not in use; music controls on neck strap
• Free BT Reader app (Android OS) reads your incoming text messages in real time
• Up to 10 hours of talk time and 15 days of standby time
• This Wireless Bluetooth Stereo Headset delivers high quality Stereo Audio and Full Calling features in a sleek, comfortable design
• Water resistant for use with Active Lifestyles

Customer Reviews

Two of these products with slightly different names, so I'm duplicating the review for ease of finding.
Mid-term update added at the bottom.
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The Praise (Stuff that's good)...
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- Exceptionally comfortable; it's easy to forget it's there
- Decent sound quality for both stereo media and phone calls
- Buttons are all easy to find by touch
- Long battery life
- Very nice feature set
- Extremely easy to seat in the ears
- Haptic call alert
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The Raze (Stuff that's bad)...
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- It's easy to forget it's there
- May not work as comfortably for some people with loose, long hair
- Bass highly dependent on the seating of the bud in your ear
- Multi-connection mode connects one profile to each device only
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The Haze (Stuff to consider)...
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- As with all stereo Bluetooth media, the device's implementation of the Bluetooth stack affects the results
- Relatively noise-cancelling, so be careful in sound-critical environments
- Sealed ear bud design... This is not for everybody
I've got experience with the Motorola S9-HD, so this is not my first BT Stereo headset. I will say that this is my best experience with one however. The first thing to address is that this headset takes a week or so to get used to. People without long hair will have an advantage putting it on and taking it off of course, but it takes a bit to become a pro at how to use and place the ear buds. It's also important to note that people with long hair that is let down may have problems if they habitually brush their hair back past their neck. The wires from the neck band to the ear buds will catch with your hair.
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Hardware
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The headset is a torc-style neck band with a pod on either end of a rubber-sleeved memory-alloy neckband. The neckband may feel flimsy, but the memory alloy is strong and takes use without problem. Ear bud wires exit the outside of the pod near the top, back where your ears would be. The ear buds clip into moderate-strength magnetic cups when not in use. Sliding clips hold onto the band and the ear bud wires to allow for length adjustment.
The left pod is slightly heavier and bears the phone "Call Control" button (Including an indicator light ring), microphone, volume buttons, power switch, and Micro USB charging port, which is covered securely by a sealing cover when not in use. The extra weight of this pod tends to cause the headset to hang slightly lower on this side during use. Interestingly, this seems to improve voice pickup quality.
The right pod has the AVRCP (Audio/Video Remote Control Profile) control buttons, with pause/play and track controls. This is Advanced AVRCP, so depending on device capability the controls can be very thorough.
The switch for the power button means that the headset does not turn itself off when it's idle for too long, which can be a definite benefit for the average person who doesn't get or make a phone call every hour. Despite this always-on state, the battery life is phenomenal.
The buttons on the unit are easy to feel and big enough that it's almost impossible to fat-finger them. Basic button functions are easy enough to remember that it shouldn't take more than a few uses at most to become very familiar with them.
The headset overall is very comfortable. After 15 minutes or so, it's easy to forget you're wearing it, especially when you have it in "Standby" (ear buds parked in their cups). This can be a great thing, but can also be a bane if you forget they're there when their non-presence would be a better thing. Examples of this include scratching the back of your neck, taking a shower, or swinging a bag strap over your shoulder.
Despite assumptions to the contrary, after thorough testing by several friends and associates (many of whom were loathe to give the headset back to me), I can officially say:
This headset works JUST FINE while jogging or exercising. The only person who was able to have any problem had to do five cartwheels to get the headset to fall loose. I have found it to be more comfortable overall and more stable in fact than the behind-the-head style headsets (Like the S9), and the neck-torc with short wires works much better in general than long-wired clips or neck hangers.
Unlike many headsets that have a specific radio-shadow issue depending on the device positioning, I have not found any problems with this one. My S9-HD hates it when my phone is in my front pants pocket, for example, because the Bluetooth antenna is in the back. This headset is happy and uninterrupted regardless of where the device is. The reception quality is actually quite impressive, uninterrupted even across 20 feet and through three walls from an HTC Evo 3D transmitting Stereo music.
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Music
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I join others in saying that I'm no audiophile, but the stereo sound quality on this headset is very good. It's important to consider that it uses closed ear buds. If you are not already comfortable with ear buds, especially ones that block your ear very thoroughly, this may not be for you. The headset comes with two different sizes of bud cups to fit different sized ear canals, and they are both very squishy, so should work in most ears.
The headset has two basic EQ modes, Normal and Bass. A good, tight fit is absolutely critical to achieve any semblance of bass response, but when placed correctly the bass is definitely decent and the Bass EQ mode enhances this nicely for people who enjoy a good low frequency response in their music.
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Calls
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Sound quality on calls is impressive both receiving and sending. The microphone is located on the end of the left pod, just below your chin normally. Unfortunately, it does point out, so wind noise can be more prominent than with some headsets, but very few headsets deal with wind gracefully.
The ring signal is a standard base-tone set, however the headset has haptic feedback for incoming calls in the form of vibration. Even in loud environments, this vibe alert on your neck will get your attention with ease even if the ear buds are not in your ear.
Separation of the power function from the Call control button allows for easier use of call controls. There are more call controls than most people memorize easily, including transferring the call to the handset and handling call waiting.
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Considerations
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One review claims that it's easy to hear past the ear buds. When they are in the ear canal properly, this is definitely not true. When off in the ear, they are sufficient to muffle conversational speech. When on, even loud sounds are drowned out easily. It's up to the user to be aware of their surroundings and I strongly encourage the use of only the LEFT ear bud for phone calls while in the car. (The microphone is on the left and if the right ear bud is in use and the left one is docked, it creates a tunnel sound.) Obviously user safety is important in environments where hearing is a good idea.
Multi-connect functionality is different compared to some headsets, and due to the lack of clarity in the manual, I am loathe to test because it doesn't indicate whether it is an ongoing status. When multi-connecting, it will specifically connect one device as the telephony connection, and one device as the stereo connection. I honestly can't remember which, but I have previously used a stereo headset that allowed two devices to be connected and use either profile they liked. In that case, I was able to connect to the phone and the computer, listen to music on the computer, and receive a headset call from either the phone or from the VoIP phone system. In this case, when listening to music on the computer, calls must come from the phone, and no music can come from the phone when it is connected A2DP to the computer.
General to -all- stereo Bluetooth headsets: The device's Bluetooth capability is the complete determinant on capabilities and performance. On some devices and even some -apps- on some devices, the use of Bluetooth will cause the audio to differ substantially in quality and often in sync from wired headphones. The sync on some devices will mean that trying to view a video with the Bluetooth headset is night onto impossible as the sound is way off from the video. This is dependent on the DEVICE and its firmware, not the headphones, so know your device before getting stereo Bluetooth headphones for video viewing or any media use. One important device example: Most iPhones will pipe all audio through the headset, including alerts and system sounds. Changing the audio output/source is necessary to put alarms and alerts back though the phone when any headset is connected.
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Summary
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Overall this is an extremely nice headset and will work well for most people in most cases. The specialty cases and caveats are mentioned above. Several guesses that people have taken in other reviews were directly researched to address. For the price, these are a Must Get for anybody who wants wireless freedom.
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Medium Term Update
Jan 11, 2012
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This review was originally written in September 2011 after I had the headset for about two months. To help people decide on the longer-term aspects of the headset, this update is an... Read more›

Since there are a few in depth reviews floating around, I'll just highlight some of the things that struck me after use:
Good:
· The style of the headphones themselves is very ingenious, and stay in place no matter what I am doing. They take a few minutes to adjust to the feeling of having them around your neck, but soon after you forget they are there.
· No problems syncing with my Droid X
· They will pause/skip ahead/answer calls with no problem
· The volume button is well placed, with a feel that's easy to find by touch
· Ear buds are fairly comfortable
· Sound quality is pretty good with music. They are a little flat sounding, but using an equalizer app brought them back to life. For the price, I was pleased.
The Bad:
· Poor construction quality
· Sound quality on phone calls is horrible. Did you ever talk with someone through a long tube or pipe when you were a kid? That's how other people sound when on phone calls. There's no static, and it's clear, but I had to keep reminding myself the caller was not trapped in a well. If you plan on talking on the phone a lot, please take note of this. (That said, I never had any complaints on their end, as far as my speaking sound quality)
· Call answer and play/pause buttons are small and VERY easy to trigger with your chin if you are moving your head around a lot. While working on my car and around the house I was constantly hitting them on accident. (Adding a lock would fix this)
· The magnets on the ends to hold the buds in place when not in use are a joke. I was constantly having them hang down the inside of my shirt when not in use. This needs a major redesign. Be careful if you put them in a bag with anything that my catch on them.
· I knew these were not noise isolating or cancelling, but I still expected them to be a little better than they are, as other regular ear buds I have had were much better in that regard.
Summary: For less than $50, these could be quite a value. They are a very unique headset, and for someone who is mostly going to use them for music, they may be what you are looking for.
So, why only 1 star? While I was happy with these while they worked, I cannot recommend them due to my experience with their service and the sub-par build quality.
After only about 6 weeks of use, they fell apart. The ear buds are made as a two-piece shell that surrounds the speaker and wired connections. Well, they fell apart at the production seam. I could have probably glued them together myself, but I wasn't about to do that with a practically new device. So I contacted LG and sent them immediately in for service (which was a hassle in itself to get an RMA , since neither their repair website nor phone support has this model listed)
After almost 4 weeks in their hands without word on status, I contacted them for an update. After multiple transfers between associates who could not get me an update, I was finally connected with a supervisor who informed me that the headphones (and parts) were on backorder. She said that while they could not give me an official ETA, she admitted it could be months until this is resolved. I requested a direct refund since they could not honor their warranty in a timely manner. I was told that she would discuss it with a manager, and would call me back.
After 5 days I never received a call back, so I called again myself. After another inordinate amount of time on hold between individuals, I was told by a supervisor named Maya that they would not offer me a refund. My choices were to either accept a lesser-quality (and less expensive), regular headphone style Bluetooth set as replacement, or to wait for the others to come back into stock, with no end in sight.
Sorry LG, but this is not acceptable. If I wanted a large, old-school style headset I would have ordered a better set from a different manufacturer. I could easily order a replacement set of 700's from a 3rd party vendor if you gave me a refund. I understand that you are not required to do so, but you ARE expected to give your customers timely warranty support, which you have failed to do. As such, you will never get another dollar of mine, for any product in the future.