Nokia BH-800

Once seen as ugly, chunky devices that make you look very silly, the perception of Bluetooth headsets is constantly improving thanks to companies striving to shrink them. Although Nokia's latest - the BH-800 - can't lay claim to being the smallest ever released, at just 9g, it's the Finnish giant's lightest and most compact headset to date.

In addition to being tiny, the BH-800 is ridiculously simple to operate. It only has three buttons; a large key for call handling on the front, a small power button on top and a three-way volume control rocker on the side. There is one downside to its minuscule size though; those with large fingers will find the volume control a little small to operate, as the button barely protrudes from the side of the headset.

Pairing is as simple as could be; simply turn the unit on by holding down the power key, search for it as a Bluetooth device on your phone, enter the passcode (default code is 0000) and the BH-800 is ready to use. When powered on, a small LED next to the power button on top of the headset flashes blue when paired to a device and green when in pairing mode. The BH-800 can pair with up to eight phones, but naturally, can only connect to one phone at a time.

Once paired, functions are simple and easy; press the call handling button to answer a call, and press it again to end a call. You can reject an incoming call by pressing the call handling button twice, while pressing and holding the same button activates voice dialling if this feature is supported on your phone. You are also able to transfer a call from the headset to your phone and mute the microphone.

Unfortunately, the BH-800 is letdown by below average sound quality. Our callers complained of constant distortion, with our voice sounding distant. Sound regularly fluctuated from being clear to noisy and suffering from a lack of clarity. The small size of the unit may have something to do with the below average sound quality, as the microphone sits a fair distance away from your mouth when in use.

Design wise, the BH-800 is definitely a stylish looking product. It's finished in a dark metallic brown colour, and has chrome edging - the latter does attract plenty of unwanted fingermarks and smudges though. Nokia includes a detachable chrome ear hook in the package, but the unit's soft rubber ear bud means it can be worn comfortably without it. Nokia includes a pouch and a strap catch that can be worn around your neck; an ideal place to keep the headset when it's not in use.

Battery life is quite good considering the size. The BH-800's quoted six hours of talk time and up to 160 hours of standby time is reasonable, if not outstanding.