Sony DRBT21GB On Ear Stereo Bluetooth Headphones - Black

I'd tried a couple of other A2DP headsets before I settled on these.

I find if I turn my head to the right too far, with my (walkman) phone in my right pocket then the music stutters, but otherwise it's perfect. Clear sound, a nice design, responsive controls and they connect easily with my phone time after time, day after day.

The built-in mic can't handle phone calls in noisy areas very well, but it's easy enough to switch to the phone, and in quieter environments I get no complaints. I'm looking forward to bluetooth phones that use arrays of digital mics.

Oh, and the rocker switch doesn't always push in so well, sometimes taking a couple of times to pause a song. It's not a big deal, but maybe you appreciate the warning?

I'll start off by clearing up some confusion, this product is the Sony DR-BT21GB A2DP Bluetooth headphones. There is also a product called the Sony DR-BT21ik which is a combination of the headphones and the Sony TMR-BT8iP Bluetooth transmitter for iPod. The Sony DR-BT21ik is designed to work with Apple iPods that do not have Bluetooth capabilities (such as the iPod nano and classic series).

You do not need the iPod dongle to connect these headphones to an iPhone 3G/3G[S] or iPod Touch 2G/3G as they have built in Bluetooth (the iPod dongle does work with these models but you get less functionality compared to the internal Bluetooth). You do however need to be running version 3.0 (July 17th 2009) or greater of the iPhone/iPod Touch software as the A2DP Bluetooth profile (Stereo Audio) was only added then. The iPhone/iPod Touch also support the AVRCP profile (Remote Control) which allows you to play/pause/stop tracks, however the fast forward and rewind functions are currently not supported as of version 3.1.2 (October 8th 2009). Hopefully Apple will add this missing functionality to the AVRCP profile soon. The iPhones also support the HSP (Headset) and HFP (Hands-Free) profiles which allow you to use the buttons on the headset to make and answer calls, this is not possible when using the iPod dongle which is a benefit to using the internal Bluetooth.

I am using these headphones with an iPhone 3G and it was very easy to setup. Simply press the power button on the headphones for 7 seconds until both lights flash and then enable Bluetooth on the iPhone. The phone picked them up immediately and all I had to do was enter the passkey '0000' to pair them. All audio is redirected to the paired headphones such as the iPod, applications and phone calls, the iPhone software makes it very easy to switch between the headphones and internal speaker.

I also paired them with my Samsung NC10 netbook which is running Windows 7. It was also very easy, after pairing the drivers were automatically downloaded from Windows Update. Windows switched all audio to the headphones which was a nice feature, it also has an independent volume control meaning I am not deafened by the high volume setting used for the speakers. I was able to control iTunes using the buttons on the headphones which was a nice feature.

The audio quality is very good for a pair of wireless headphones, they are certainly the best sounding pair of wireless headphones I have ever used. The range is also very good, I could get about 10 meters away indoors without any audio loss. I will however point out that the range is also dependant upon the device you are connected to. For example my iPhone 3G and Samsung netbook had no problems reaching 10 meters indoors but a cheap USB Bluetooth dongle struggled at even 1 meter away due to it's poor antenna. Don't assume it's the headphones fault if you are having problems, make sure you test it with as many Bluetooth devices as possible.

As a Bluetooth headset it works very well, the microphone is on the right earpiece which seems quite far from your mouth, however people are able to hear me clearly when in a call. In a noisy place it might not work as well but it's sufficient for most situations. The button one the right earpiece also lets to answer/hang up calls on the iPhone. I'm not sure if it works with voice dialling as I do not own a iPhone 3G[S] to test it.

Overall it's a very good product and it has many uses apart from the phone such as with computers and the PlayStation 3.

A side note for anyone wondering, the AC charger is rated 3V DC at 1A as this is not mentioned in any of Sony's manuals.

If you have any questions please post a comment on this review and I'll try and answer it.

UPDATE Dec 2010: Has hell frozen over? Apple have finally added proper support for the Bluetooth AVRCP in their iOS 4.1 software which finally allows you to use the next and previous track buttons on your headset. Unfortunately it only allows you to go the the next or previous track so you won't be able to rewind or fast forward like you can with the wired headset but it's better than nothing.

I bought these excellent headphones in November 2008, and after many struggles got a WinMo 5.0 device to pair with them. Today I installed 3.0 of the iPhone operating system, which includes A2DP, so I tried to pair them with the iPhone. It was simple, and worked perfectly, first time. The sound quality is remarkable - I bought them to listen to podcasts in the gym, and they sound fantastic even over the pounding background rubbish. I find them very comfortable, and can't really imagine how they could be bettered. Buy them.