Skype Gear Roadtest: FREETALK Freedom Wireless USB Headset

FREETALK has been on a roll lately, coming out with a number of new headsets for Skype, including the Everyman. Now they've released a new and improved version of their wireless headset, the FREETALK Freedom Wireless USB Headset. I reviewed the older version of this headset when it came out, and liked it a great deal because it worked well, much better than wireless bluetooth headsets I've used. Is this newer FREETALK Freedom Wireless USB Headset an improvement on the older headset? Read on to find out.

First Impressions

The FREETALK Freedom Wireless USB Headset is relatively small, with a padded earpiece and headband. The omnidirectional boom microphone is flexible and has a passive noise filter. It comes with a small dongle for your computer, a USB cable for charging, and a carrying case.

When you compare the FREETALK Freedom Wireless USB Headset to the older USB wireless headset, the changes are actually pretty significant:

The sound quality has improved -- it used to support standard stereo Skype audio, and now it has a newer 'AvernaAudio' radio chip which improves its quality and supports Skype's better-sounding super wideband audio (20Hz~20KHz).
The adapter has improved -- it used to be a large 'puck' with a USB cable, and now it's just a small dongle.
The design has improved -- it used to be rather large, and now it's more compact, more attractive (I'd say), and certainly more portable -- the headset folds so that it fits easily into the supplied carrying case with the smaller dongle and charging cable.

Functionality

After giving it an initial charge, the Freetalk Freedom Wireless USB Headset was recognized immediately when I plugged it in. Skype also recognized it; I just had to click to confirm that I wanted to use for the first time. Wearing the headset was comfortable, and it was easy to adjust the boom mic to a good position.

On the right side of the headset is the power button, link button, status LED (red when charging, green when linked, blue when mic muted) and volume adjustment buttons. It took a few minutes to get used to these adjustment buttons; having the volume buttons on the headset is quite different from having them in-line on your headset cord, but soon enough I was used to it. The stated range of the Freetalk Freedom headset is 30-45 feet -- it worked great everywhere I tried it in my office, including through the wall when I was outside on our office's patio.

For the past few weeks I've used the headset as my regular headset at work, listening to music and making Skype calls to individuals and groups. Skype calls were really clear -- I've said it before, but the super wideband audio really does make a difference, and having it in a wireless headset for the first time is really useful. Everyone I asked said I sounded good and clear while using the FREETALK Freedom. Music also sounded really good, and the signal transmission was always flawless -- no clicks or pops like I sometimes get when I'm using my bluetooth headset with my phone.

Conclusion

The new FREETALK Freedom Wireless USB Headset really does improve on its predecessor, and as I said in my review of the original FREETALK Wireless Headset, the freedom that a wireless headset enables is pretty great. While I've been testing out the Freetalk Wireless Headset I've been able to listen to music while getting up to get tea, and have been in Skype calls where I've run across the room to grab a pen or book without skipping a beat. It doesn't sound like much, but it really does change the way you work, and when you go back to a corded headset you really notice the difference.

The only drawback I can see with the FREETALK Freedom is that the wireless headset can only be used with your computer -- it doesn't include a headphone adapter (like the Everyman) so you could plug it into your MP3 player (though this would likely be rather difficult to incorporate, given how USB needs power from the computer). But for all the listening and Skype calling you do with your computer, it's a great choice.

The FREETALK Freedom Wireless USB Headset is now available in the Skype Shop for £79.99 in the UK, €79.99 in the rest of Europe, and $79.99 in the US. It also comes with voucher for 60 minutes of free calling to landlines.

Comments

Did you test it on a Mac or PC? The previous wireless headset that I tried was crap on the Mac, specifically the microphone volume was too low.

It would be helpful to know what the battery life is like.
Decent battery life would be high on my must have features list.

Well I bought one and the mic doesn't work properly. It works fine externally-- it can be heard by others but no sound is coming in through the ear pieces so I cannot hear myself talk. None of the suggested fixes work, I have tried them all although this specific problem is not addressed. The manual comes on a CD and only contains 3 pages although one entry refers to a phantom "page 5" and it only contains 8 out of 10 listed topics. Same with the web version. Can anyone tell me who and how I can talk to a real person about it?

I got one and it worked real nice!. The only problem is that it doesn't have a simple way to switch between the computer speakers to the headphone and back (simple button) , so if I want to listen to music on the speakers, I need to yank the transmitter from the USB or change the audio setting in the computer. The product support says that there is a way to switch in Skype setting, but what about the other programs? This product take over the whole Audio system, so why it doesn’t have simple a way to temporary dismantle it. Finally it ended in the drawer.

To answer a few of the comments above:

@treminuz: yes, I have used the FreeTalk Freedom on Windows XP, Windows 7 PC's and a MacBook quite successfully.

@mellian11: I have left a Skype chat message with you to learn more about your issue.

@ronnieglobal: Windows never was designed to properly support audio media management fully (and especially in a user friendly way) although Windows 7 does by far the best job of any version.

With respect to switching devices in one click, in my post on the 5192 at FreeTalk Freedom Wireless Stereo Headset "2.0" – When You Just Can’t Sit Still During a Skype Call my one suggestion at the end was to have a client that allowed one to change audio device with a single click. I want to be able to easily switch between a headset and a speakerphone such as this one: Compact Audio: Yamaha SoundGadget USB Microphone Speaker Opens New Experiences for Road Warriors.

During a Skype call you can change the device via the Sounds Setting selection on the drop down menu found towards the right side of the black "active call management and reporting bar" (seen in the Windows client) during a call.

One of the issues that Skype had identified was that users did not automatically see an audio device in Skype when they added it to their PC. And being in Windows, it was not always easy to find out how to make the change although more recent versions do have an interface to the audio device settings (such as mentioned above). One of the features of the FreeTalk Everyman and FreeTalk Freedom is that upon insertion, the Skype audio device is automatically changes to the FreeTalk device.

Hope this helps.

Full disclosure: I am involved in managing blogger reactions and other social networking activities for In Store Solutions, producer and distributor of the FREETALK headsets.

Clarification to my earlier comment:

"although more recent versions do have an interface to the audio device settings (such as mentioned above)." should read: "although more recent versions of Skype for Windows do have an interface to the audio device settings (such as mentioned above).

@ the_machanic: with years of experience dealing with batteries on portable devices, especially mobile phones, I have developed a regimen of, say, simply making sure my devices are charged overnite.

The FreeTalk Wireless Stereo headset can be charged while using it; it simply means you are tethered while charging. Over the two years of using the predecessor 5191 I developed a protocol where I would leave the headset charging when not wearing it. During a call, when I need walk away from my PC, say, to answer the door, I could remove the cable .. and usually left it removed during the remainder of the call, including calls that lasted over an hour.

On the other hand, I'm only an occasional user who listens to music from my PC - usually only when in hotel rooms; on those occasions I found it to last for a couple of hours. And with its support of a full music grade audio bandwidth, the music sound quality is excellent (some use the term "CD quality audio").

Bottom line: my two big benefits - the audio quality on Skype calls that can take advantage of Skype's superwideband SILK audio - with the resulting clarity of hearing much more clearly the other parties on the call - and being able to walk away from my PC when I need to while continuing a call.

Suffice it to say that battery life has not been an issue when following these guidelines.

Has the Mac Leopard issue with the microphone been resolved for this version of the wireless headset? There is a post on the issue from June 5, but it appears to refer to the old version.

Is there a version with large diameter earphones? I wear glasses and small earphones press my ear against the arm of the spectacles and it is not comfortable. Larger diameter earphones would also surround the ear and help eliminate extraneous sound.
Yrs
Thor

Hi,
Deos it work with my mobile HTC via bluetooth??