Product By LG Electronics
Average customer review :
 LG Tone (HBS-700) Wireless Bluetooth Stereo Headset - Retail Packaging - Black/Orange Rating on November 27 Rating: |
LG Tone (HBS-700) Wireless Bluetooth Stereo Headset - Retail Packaging - Black/Orange
 | LG Tone (HBS-700) Wireless Bluetooth Stereo Headset - Retail Packaging - Black/Orange 4.5 out of 5 from 201 user reviews. |
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
Product Description of LG Tone (HBS-700) Wireless Bluetooth Stereo Headset - Retail Packaging - Black/Orange
With LG TONE’s premium sound quality, conversations and music live in perfect harmony.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).
The LG Tone is the perfect accessory to enhance your lifestyle (view larger).
See larger image.
Magnetic ear bud storage (see larger image).
Unique around-the-neck form factor (see larger image).
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
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What's in the Box
LG Tone (HBS-700) Wireless Stereo Headset; AC adapter; multi-size ear gels; quick start guideSimilar Products
Review of LG Tone (HBS-700) Wireless Bluetooth Stereo Headset - Retail Packaging - Black/Orange
Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
78 of 78 people found the following review helpful.
Very Good Sound Quality, Ease Of Use, And ComfortBy Philip R. Heath
The LG HBS-700 is the third Bluetooth stereo headset that I have used (see my reviews of the Motorola S10-HD and Jabra CLIPPER). As in my other reviews I will focus on the music experience as I use my Motorola T305 for hands free calling. After pairing this unit with my Droid X, I evaluated it for sound quality, ease of use, and comfort.
Sound Quality: I don't have the strictest standards for music listening, but I haven't had many better listening experiences that I have with the 700. After changing out the earbuds for the larger set to get a good fit, I was ready to go. I can't emphasize enough the importance of getting a good seal between your ear and the earbud for sound quality. I have had this wrong on other earbuds in the past, and the difference in sound quality is night and day. For clarity of playback the only thing that I have gotten better sound from is my Creative Zen X-Fi with the EP-830 earbuds. While the 700 doesn't produce booming base, it is rare that earbuds do. By comparison I think that the 700 has better sound than either the Motorola or Jabra units that I have used.
Ease of Use: This is an area where I think LG has really scored. The 700 has a dedicated on/off switch, and each of its controls does exactly one thing. There are dedicated buttons for play/pause, skip, and reverse for controlling your music player. In addition there are dedicated volume and call buttons too. Once you learn which side the controls are on, it is very easy to control the 700 without being able to see the controls.
Comfort: If you have used earbuds with no issues in the past, you should have every reason to expect the 700 to be of similar comfort. I have listened for an hour and a half without giving any thought to the headset I was using. The unit itself rests like a necklace around your neck. The only potential issue I could see is that people with long hair may find that it gets tangled in the unit. If you are concerned about this, I would recommend checking out this unit in person. As of this writing you can do so at a Sprint store.
The one caution I would issue would be around active use. I don't think the unit is designed to hold up to bouncing around, and it also does seem to be sweat resistant either. I would recommend the Jabra Clipper for active use. However I use the 700 while sitting at my desk at work. It does fine with normal walking around and light activity. I would just refrain from using it during exercise.
Overall: The LG HBS-700 is a very strong offering. It hits the mark on sound quality, ease of use, and comfort. The only downside I see to it is that it was not designed for using during exercise. Otherwise I think that you will be happy with this unit.
90 of 92 people found the following review helpful.
Highly comfortable and very usable - even while exercisingBy David Parenteau
Two of these products with slightly different names, so I'm duplicating the review for ease of finding.
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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 well for people with loose, long hair
- Bass highly dependent on seating
- Multi-connection mode disables stereo audio mode and is for phone calls 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 limited compared to most Stereo headsets. Some people like to sync to their phone for calls and their music device or computer for stereo music. Unfortunately this headset will -only- work for calls when multi-connected. Stereo audio is completely disabled in that case.
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.
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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.
As always, I will update this review if and as new information becomes available and I will attempt to accurately answer any questions from my standpoint as a user of this device. Please feel free to let Amazon and I know whether this was helpful to you or not, since it helps me improve my reviews.
51 of 52 people found the following review helpful.
finally affordable bluetooth stereo earbudsBy Lina
After literally years of searching for a bluetooth stereo headset I've finally found a pair that I didn't immediately hate. In fact I like these headphones a lot. I've been using the HBS-700s for the past few days switching back and forth between my pc and my phone for listening to music on my work commute and at night when I'm laying in bed watching movies or catching up on teevee shows. Hearing the ADR and Foley audio from my favorite shows with new ears has been an interesting listening experience to say the least. The wireless range on these headphones is also surprising. I've walked around the house listening to music from my computer while making something to eat or doing dishes in the kitchen at the other end of the house (some 30+ feet away with walls that make even wi-fi difficult). The battery life seems great so far. I haven't had them power off on me yet and charging them while I'm in the shower seems to be good enough to last through several hours of music and movies. I could probably charge them every other day and still not run out of juice. The playback controls are easily accessible and after a couple hours of use they were already burned into my muscle memory. I am a bit worried that eventually the earbud wires might become damaged or become detached from the neckband, but I'm guessing that with care they won't be damaged for quite some time. One thing to note is that I have yet to use them for making or receiving phone calls so I have no idea how the call quality is. I'm not sure why exactly, but I prefer to actually hold a phone to my ear when I'm talking rather than taking the schizophrenic route and making it appear like I'm talking to myself.
While I was researching this product I found it exceptionally difficult to find photos of the headphones actually being worn by people. There isn't even a brief mention of these uniquely affordable and comfortable to wear headphones anywhere on the LG site. Sure there was the overtly sexual photo of the girl with the exaggerated cleavage shot to look at (after a ton of searching) and there is that guy reviewing them on youtube who never once even so much as takes them out of the package, but there isn't a single photo of a person wearing this headset in any kind of typical fashion ANYWHERE that I could find. I find this quite sad as it was one of the issues that might have kept me from making the purchase. Luckily I had a phat (like the kids say) gift card to burn and thought the risk might be worth the cost of return shipping. It was and I have no intention of returning these.
The things I was the most concerned about before purchase were 1) the design of the neckband itself, 2) the overall size and weight of the device, and 3) the sound quality and fit of the earbuds.
1) The neckband is very light weight and made of fairly good quality materials. I don't by any means think these headphones would stand up to a lot of abuse, but for day to day wear they should last a good while. The band itself is made of a flexible rubber material similar to the earbud wires, but much thicker. It sits comfortably around the base of the neck and aside from the plastic hardware bits at the ends, I wouldn't even think about them being on. I don't know if I would wear them jogging or while working out as they would probably jostle around on my collarbone awkwardly and I'm not sure how well they might stand up to some sweat, but that's not a huge concern for me really.
2) The size and weight of the device are deceptive from the product shots. They are much thinner and lighter than I was initially expecting. From the variety of bluetooth headphones I've seen in the past, they are usually exceedingly bulky and uncomfortable to wear. The HBS-700's are light weight and only slightly larger than I would like. Don't get me wrong these things are no bigger or heavier than a standard slim wired headset, but who wants to wear headphones around their neck all day? The only headphones that come close to these in terms of size and features are the Sony Ericsson HBH-IS800 or Sony DRBT100CX, and those are awkwardly designed and more expensive.
3) The sound quality and fit of the earbuds again exceeded my expectations. After my ears adjusted to the initial shock of a change in headphones, I have to say that these are some of the best sounding headphones I've ever owned and a thousand times better than any other bluetooth headphones I've experienced. I'm guessing that the audiophiles out there will probably find some way to poopoo the sound quality of the HBS-700s, but to the average user the sound will surprise you. The standard earbuds fit really, really well and help to block out external noise. There were another set of replacement ear buds in the package, but I haven't tried them out, but I think they might be slightly larger than the ones that the headphones shipped with. What's more, the innovative magnetic earbud holders are really quite neat and they elegantly keep the earbuds tucked neatly away when not in use.
Pros:
+ price
+ size and weight
+ sound quality
+ bluetooth earbuds (!)
+ battery life
+ easy to use controls
Cons:
- they weren't available years ago
- no useful product photos or video reviews
- the next generation of these will probably be even thinner and lighter
- the earbud wires could be attached more elegantly (nit picking)
Overall:
If you're interested in a set of bluetooth stereo heaphones you will not go wrong with this pair. If you're in the market just stop looking and buy these now. Don't wait. Just do it. For cereal.
See more Reviews of LG Tone (HBS-700) Wireless Bluetooth Stereo Headset - Retail Packaging - Black/Orange
CREDIT by Amazon.com
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