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I just picked up the new Motorola S9 Bluetooth headset for use with my Cingular 8525.The picture on the left is the cool packaging. The bottom slides down, while the goodies slide up

On the right is the collection of the goodies that come with the headset. Manual, quick start guide (in 2 languages), A/C USB charger, and spare ear pieces.

Here you can see only LED on the device in the rear portion of the headset. While worn it actually is against the back of your collar so you will not give off that distinctive Bluetooth glow as do most people showing off their “geek jewelry” headsets. The light is fairly subdued even while on. It is red while charging, green when charged. blinking blue while on, and steady blue while waiting for connection.

The controls for answering calls, volume and playback are located on the outside of the arms that hold the ear pieces.

The are 3 buttons on each arm. The center protrudes and the outside are slightly recessed. My fat fingers have a fair amount of difficulty in feeling the difference.

While worn, it is quite secure in my ears and didn’t threaten to fall off even with vigorous moving and shaking. If pulled down to sit around my neck, the ear loops do rest uncomfortably against the front of my neck and bottom of my chin. It isn’t horrible, but is annoying. I’d rather have a strap or something to hang it around my neck while not in use. The device is slightly flexible, but it is NOT foldable.

The headset is charged via USB in a port hidden under a rubber flap. I have some concerns that an abusive owner could damage or tear off the rubber flap, which would leave the port exposed and be cosmetically unappealing.

My kudos to Motorola for using USB as the power connector, which makes the device able to charge via a number of convenient and common to find cables.The power button is located on the left side of the USB flap and is a simple pressure switch.

The headset serves dual purpose as a stereo Bluetooth headset and as a hands free for a phone, which makes it a GREAT accessory for a PPC phone device. The S9 easily paired to my 8525 and setup both profiles.

While I am not an audiophile and do not have a frequency analyzer in my head, I could hear the difference between a 32kbit and 64kbit audio file, and the 128kbit file did sound only marginally better than the 64k. I didn’t have any humming or stuttering of audio and all the controls worked as advertised. I’m of the opinion that unless you at a music fanatic, these headphones are quite suitable for reproducing clear and loud audio. The S9 does produce substantial bass and clear highs and is probably louder that would be necessary for most people.

This device’s only real shortcoming is in the noise cancellation (doesn’t have it) for phone conversations. While the other party comes in load and clear in only the left ear, they complained of lots of background noise and I sometimes had to repeat myself… Can you hear me now?

In summation, this is a great wireless headset for listening to music and movies on a PPC. As a hands free for phone purposes, not so much.