Shopping Guide For Hands-Free Headsets - Budget
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You don’t have to spend a lot to get yourself a shiny new headset, but you can if you want to. In the course of researching headsets I found a wide range of prices, from a dollar store model with a cord of decent length to high end models that can run more than $100 and have ergonomic design features and customizable face plates.
While it is unlikely that most people will fall into either of the extreme categories, it is worth knowing how much you are willing to put out to get the cell phone headset of your dreams. That way you don’t find yourself seduced by extra features like the independent mute button/volume control, or the eye candy-like design of a certain brand's model.
One more price-related note is that once you have an idea of what you want, you should also do a little bit of pricing before you go to buy. After all, you don’t want to get ripped off on your headset -- not that retailers are unscrupulous, but it's better to be safe than sorry with your hard-earned money.
Volume control
As you may have guessed when you put a speaker in or next to your ear, you take a certain risk. Just as when you get too close to loud music, extended periods of loud speech in your ear can, at least potentially, be hazardous to it. The problem is that everyone who calls you will have a different natural speaking volume, so the setting on your headset that is right for talking with Mary may actually be damaging when Mark breaks through your call waiting.
If switching the volume on your phone is an awkward process that can’t be done quickly and easily with a side, or other accessible buttons, then you will want to look for a headset with independent volume control.
One other potential volume-related issue is that, if you are hard of hearing and use a hearing aid to remedy that problem, you will need to have a model that is loud enough to be heard without your hearing aid's assistance. While some over-the-ear models claim that they are hearing aid compatible, you will want to get some reviews from users who actually own and use the headset with some frequency. No matter how theoretically compatible they claim to be, you don't want to have endless annoying feedback in your, or your callers', ears during the whole of the conversation.
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