Skypegear Roadtest: FREETALK Stereo Wireless Headset

Ahh, wireless headsets. For the longest time they’ve been great in theory but sometimes are difficult to use in practice. Bluetooth headsets are small and can work with your mobile along with your computer (if both have bluetooth), but pairing a headset with a computer and having it always ready to use can be difficult to set up. And only having one ear for audio doesn’t exactly make for great sound quality when listening to music.

But now FREETALK has come along with a new solution: its new Stereo Wireless Headset takes a great pair of stereo headphones and adds an easy-to-use microphone and a simple USB interface for charging and wireless connectivity. The result is a great way to use Skype (and really anything involved with audio on your computer) without any tangled cables. I’ve had the chance to try out a FREETALK Stereo Wireless Headset for the past few days and I’ve got to say, it’s quite a liberating experience indeed. Read on for my full review.

First Impressions

The headset itself is comfortable to wear and easily adjustable—the earpads spread to fit your head. The boom mic is attached to the left earpad, which is slightly unconventional as most headsets I’ve seen attach the mic to the right earpad, but it works perfectly fine. The boom is flexible and the microphone is noise-canceling. When you slide the boom up to a vertical position, the microphone is muted, which is a nice touch. On the right earpad you have volume adjustment buttons (which adjust your system volume), a pairing button (that I didn’t need to use; the headset and base worked out of the box), and a power button.

When you first open up the headset, it needs to charge for at least 4 hours; the USB wireless puck base has a charging cord attached—a red LED on the headset changes to green when it’s fully charged (You can also use the headset ‘wired’ while it’s charging.).

Functionality

When you first plug the USB base into your computer, it automatically installs itself as “Avnera Audio Device.” It should then become the audio your computer uses, but if not you may have to select it in the ‘Sound’ option in Windows’ Control Panel. Likewise Skype should detect the headset automatically, but if not go to Tools -> Options -> Audio Settings to select the headset for both your microphone and speakers.

I found the audio quality through the FREETALK Stereo Wireless Headset to be great—music and Skype calls sounded really good (as one might expect—the frequency response on the headphones is 20Hz - 20,000Hz, which is pretty much the full range that the human ear can hear). Callers had no problem hearing me as well, even when walking across the room (the range between the headset and base is 15 meters). I also had no problems with interference from other wireless devices: the headset uses a wireless protocol called WiStereo, which transmits digitally in the 2.4GHz frequency band.

One feature I especially appreciated was the ability to answer Skype calls and end Skype calls using the ‘Pair’ button on the headset. If I got a call while I was in the room but not necessarily at the computer, I could answer it by holding down the pair button for one second, then hang up by holding it for two seconds. For this to work I had to enable global hotkeys (in Tools -> Options -> Advanced -> Hotkeys)—by default they aren’t turned on.

The listening time (per charge) is up to 6 hours, and the standby time is up to 2 days, and the headset normally takes 2 hours to reach a full charge.

Conclusion

I really enjoyed the ‘wirelessness’ of this headset a lot more than I was expecting to. Being able to step away from your computer without interrupting a call (or the music you’re listening to) is great, as is not having to deal with tangled cables. The audio quality is superb and setup super easy. The FREETALK Stereo Wireless Headset actually reminds me a great deal of my favorite wired headset, the Logitech Premium Stereo USB Headset 350, but without the cord.

If you’re interested, you can pick up a FREETALK Stereo Wireless Headset at the Skype Shop. It’s £49.99 in the UK, and will be available elsewhere soon (go to your country store by clicking here).

Comments

I bought one of these the first day it came out - and returned it after a few days. I have a full post about this on the Skype forums, but in summary:

- Great listening quality, both Skype wideband from another PC and to music.

- Horrible microphone performance. Low sampling, low gain. I recorded some uncompressed sound from the Freetalk and then from my default Plantronics DSP-400. The freetalk sounded like AM radio compared to Plantronics CD quality.

- Supposedly, the company knows about the mic performance and is updating the circuitry.

- Creative has a similar headset - with the updated circuitry - in the works, to be sold under the Tag Heuer brand.

- When Freetalk updates the mic to the standard USB mic quality levels, I will be the first to repurchase this headset.

I would like to know if it works fine with Ubuntu. Does anybody know about it?
Pascal

I have received my Skype headset: Product SKU: STX-5091 Produktnavn: ISS FREETALK� Wireless Stereo Headset. My problem is however that the microphone does not work on any of the two computers in the house. The drivers are installed and the computers picked the right sound cardAvnera Audio Device, but the microphone does not work.

The speaker part works fine. When I connect to someone on Skype, I can hear them, but they cannot hear anything from me except a loud noise. As I have tested the Skype headset on two different computers, one using windows XP and another using Windows Vista, it is probably something wrong with the microphone, right? Have you had any experience with that?
Mosken Bergh

'When Freetalk updates the mic to the standard USB mic quality levels, I will be the first to repurchase this headset.'

Does anyone know if the improved Microphone version is available yet

enras

Hi, I got mine two days ago and the microphone has not been improved yet: low gain, and some noise in the records. Playback quality is good and covers most areas of my apartment.

I just received mine and was looking forward to freedom. But there's so much interference - It's unusable. I sound like a 2 second delayed Darth Vader, that's if anyone can hear me at all. I haven't found a solution for the Mac yet and I've spend about £200 on headsets so far. Peed off to say the least.

I'm assuming this interference is to do with the 2.4GHz - there are 3 laptops on Wifi where I work and I can't fiddle with the channel. Since I don't have the option to fiddle with the channel on this headset I assume I have to give up

Freetalk Stereo Wireless Headset works only 3-4 meters from computer. Not 20 m. like is writing. The microphone is not good.

This equipment is rubbish. That simple!

Don't bother until they sort out the microphone and the very short range. A USB headset on an extension cable is much better and has about the same range.

$100 Skype Freetalk headset sucks. It worked, then stopped. Help on Skype web page did not fix problem. Neither SKYPE nor Freetalk responded to requests for help.

Ive had my headset for about a week now and on the whole i pretty happy with the product. i have no interference from any other wireless devices i use and can pretty much get a connection anywhere in my house. i did notice a low gain on the mic when i first used it but this was sorted by going into my mixer options.

the problem i have with this product is the ergonomics. on the box its says suitable for gaming, which kinda hints it can be worn for long period of time. After 10 minutes of wearing the headset, my ears wear in agony due to not enough padding over the speakers. this is a serious design flaw. the other thing was, every time i looked down the headset slid straight off. for a few pence more they could have solved this in one fell swoop and made a top of the range headset. instead they penny pinched and made a mediocre headset.

My headset worked for about a month, then the microphone abruptly stopped working. There it sits, mocking me. Please note if there is anywhere to get support for this headset. Thanks

I just got my headset, April 15, 2008. The microphone sucksssssss!!!! DON't BUY iT.
If you wish to use it as a listening device it works great.

It will be an awesome set, once they fix the microphone problems.

I bought the FREETALK also and tried on Mac (Leopard). It is definitely great disappointment for me and i would say that do not buy this.
1) the mic quality is not low but very-very low. It is practically unusable.
2) it is very uncomfortable headset.
3) even if you want to use it only for listening then it is too expensive, low quality and uncomfortable headset. You will definitely find a cheaper and better one.

Conclusion - do not buy this headset.

I received my FREETALK a few days ago. So far, I am very happy with it (though some of the previous dialog now concerns me).

One question I have is how to turn the unit off without physically unplugging the USB connection (the ON/OFF button on the headset only turns the headset off, but the computer still thinks it is connected so I can't hear anything). Frequently, I want to take the headset off and listen through the computer speakers (and possibly let the headset charge - hence I need maintain the USB connection).