Jabra's BT3030 Bluetooth headset mimics dog tag

Falling somewhere before the BT8010 and BT8040, the BT3030 most definitely takes the crown for clever design. Jabra's latest Bluetooth headset, as you can glean from the image above, was crafted to mimic the traditional dog tag, and specifications wise, you'll find Bluetooth 2.0+EDR, HSP, HFP, A2DP and AVRCP support. Additionally, you'll find six buttons useful for sending / ending calls and controlling music playback, and yes, it will lower the volume when detecting an incoming call from your livid mother-in-law. Ditch that ear critter and pick up something slightly less appalling late next month in Japan (or right now in the US) for ¥8,980 ($90).

Gallery: Jabra's BT3030 Bluetooth headset mimics dog tag

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[Chebwa @ Mar 26th 2008 9:18AM]

Coming soon. Exclusively at H&M.

And Radio Shack.

[MrFairladyz @ Mar 26th 2008 4:53PM]

Do yah chain hang low?

[Paul @ Mar 26th 2008 9:31AM]

It's the 3030. Already on Jabras site.

[mossfacejr @ Mar 26th 2008 9:32AM]

holy cow

[cm-rex @ Mar 26th 2008 9:33AM]

hmm yeah i bought it, december last year her i Denmark

[ShiroEd @ Mar 26th 2008 9:34AM]

Still got cables though! Not good enough!

[Vagrant @ Mar 26th 2008 9:34AM]

You are right. Odd mix up here, but glad it was posted. When it was released I was traveling and missed it. I'll be picking one up later today.

[furioustyle @ Mar 26th 2008 9:40AM]

ugly

[mkaake @ Mar 26th 2008 9:48AM]

hmm... I thought the reason we all loved BT was to *eliminate* wires...

[Sean M. @ Mar 26th 2008 9:54AM]

I've always wondered about this. I get a lot of complaints on almost any BT headset I use because the background noise overpowers the person I'm talking to. I don't get that complaint when using a wired headset. So does this headset really give me the benefit of having a wired headset without having to be directly tethered to my phone? I can handle the dog tag if I can still walk around.

[Naveed @ Mar 26th 2008 1:57PM]

consider why people favor earbuds over wrap around headphones

[Wout Mertens @ Mar 26th 2008 9:49AM]

It's a bit fat:

http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/av/docs/20080326/jabra2.jpg

[kurt.tappe @ Mar 26th 2008 9:53AM]

I'm missing something. The widget you plug the earphones into is the same size as my iPod. Why not just put an iPod on the chain and bypass bluetooth if I'm going to be just as tethered as before? True bluetooth headphones would not have a cord at all!

[Phoenix @ Mar 26th 2008 10:22AM]

can your iPod communicate with your phone and allow you to make calls from it?

[Beretta1526 @ Mar 26th 2008 1:05PM]

A bit fat? That's more like my old Alpine Auto Alarm remote from 1988.

[sully @ Mar 26th 2008 3:12PM]

@ phoenix

My iphone can.

[Dualboot @ Mar 26th 2008 4:34PM]

@sully,

one of the reasons I don't buy a Touch/iPhone is there is no way to move around the album/song/audiobook without having to look at the device. This gadget may not be the right solution either, since after reading the manual, it looks like the buttons are not clickable but rather touchable.

[nDee @ Mar 27th 2008 1:42AM]

There is indeed a addon for iPod
iPod remote with bluetooth headset feature.

There are so many addons for iPod that you can't assume there isn't one
(even Steve can't)

[Esat @ Mar 26th 2008 9:54AM]

wouldnt the design have been better with the headphones built in with a lanyard type systesm instead of ruining th eillusion by sticking it in the side and making it ugly? good idea thoug. could look amazing.

[D @ Jun 12th 2008 6:48AM]

Not really, The whole point is that you bring your own earbuds. Many stock earbuds with devices are built cheaply to economize, and as a result are so-so. Then again, I have a pair of sound-isolating earbuds I got for free with a pack of razors. Problem is, one bud has within the past two weeks gone dead, break in the internal wire. I can swing the cord around a bunch until it plays again, but the more I fiddle with it, the less often it works. And *that* is the true reason why the headphones aren't built-in: even if they were Shure or Bose quality, if they were built-in, as soon as the wire breaks the headset is completely useless. This way you bring your favorite options to the table, and the unit stays in service until the battery takes a total crap.

[Fry @ Mar 26th 2008 9:55AM]

So you can use blue tooth headphones with this?

[Phoenix @ Mar 26th 2008 10:20AM]

No, it connects via bluetooth to your phone and streams music and calls.

[Joe @ Mar 26th 2008 9:58AM]

Awesome idea, no thanks on the "dog tag look."

[Brian @ Mar 26th 2008 10:02AM]

Interesting device, but not for me.

[PhilxBefore @ Mar 26th 2008 12:08PM]

This is a horrible design implimentation. Where is the mic?

And I'm not so sure how I feel about both my ears being involved with one phone call. How would this help you during driving if you can't hear me honking and telling you to hang up the f-cking phone!

[D @ Jun 12th 2008 6:52AM]

@PhilxBefore,

Clever. It's not for driving, it's for other activities. Most of us don't listen to personal music players or media enabled cell phones while driving. At least, I certainly hope we don't. Definitely hope *YOU* don't. You sound scary.

[Khris @ Mar 26th 2008 10:06AM]

Wow.....I've never seen this before, but decided that I must have one!

[Hold Mcgroin @ Mar 26th 2008 10:10AM]

Get one of these and attach it to the line-in on your car stereo. Now your car has BT audio and a speakerphone.

The big advantage is being able to you your own headphones (nice Shure earbud for instance) and not the crap headphones that are part of other BT headsets.

[andyo @ Mar 26th 2008 10:59AM]

Yes! Thank you. Wondered how long would take for someone to state the obvious. I was looking for something like this a couple of months ago to use with my Westone UM2's and the Sony Ericsson ones were the only ones I could find. Sony themselves are coming out with another Sony-branded model, but it's more expensive. Wish we'd see more of these.

By the way, besides from using with any headphone, you can use this with a BT transmitter not only with portables, but with other equipment. I use my iPod connected to a Dolby Headphone processor, and it's pretty inconvenient carrying those in your pocket when doing stuff around the apartment.

[Mark @ Mar 26th 2008 10:15AM]

what the hell is the point if you're still going to have cables/cords & chains everywhere

[TubeTop100.com @ Mar 26th 2008 10:24AM]

The Benq MusiQ dog tag type player looked much better.

http://www.engadget.com/tag/benq%20musiq/

[dbjs100 @ Mar 28th 2008 8:35PM]

Musiq doesn't have bluetooth capability, yet it does look quite better. I'd buy it over an iPod shuffle.

[Meccalangelo @ Mar 26th 2008 10:25AM]

would work well with my p2

[Jason @ Mar 26th 2008 10:35AM]

I mountain bike, and the problem with wired headphones is that they run into my pack and can snag on things, and its hard to control the music player while riding. With the old (moto style for example) all in one BT units, they can become painful when wearing them with a helmet, unlike earbuds which can fit comfortably. This compromise will help, controls strapped around the neck where they are accessable but can be tucked under the cycling jersey, and mp3 player (in my case my phone) safely stored in my camelbak in case I fall, so it won't get destroyed.

[Wyze @ Mar 26th 2008 10:43AM]

Agreed......while some may not find use for this type of device...I prefer a good high end wired set of stereo buds to listen to the music on my phone....while I'm riding the metro-train to and from work this would allow me to tuck my phone away from prying eyes and simply enjoy the music with out trying to keep up with the phone as well as take a call without having to do any peripheral switching.....also could wear while at work walking to and from the printer, fax, files etc and still keep nodding to my trax.....thumbs up

[David @ Mar 26th 2008 10:39AM]

I wear my nano on Apple's lanyard with integrated earbuds and end up with a more elegant solution than this (no loose, dangling wires anywhere). I guess this solution is useful to pipe audio from a bulky player, but it's not a good from-scratch solution to being able to listen to music wire-free.

[Wyze @ Mar 26th 2008 10:50AM]

wow...really?..neat!....wait so while you're all tucked in with your Nano....how do u take a call?....can u even hear a call?...this seems to be directed towards cellular users....if u already have something small and dangley to listen to your music on you really dont need this.......it's like me dissing a riding crop when I really dont have a horse....u fanboys dont miss any opportunity do u....

[mjbrocks @ Mar 26th 2008 10:55AM]

Hold on a second. Isn't the whole point of bluetooth to be wireless? So why is this a good thing?

[Ben @ Mar 26th 2008 10:57AM]

I knew someone was going to make something like this after watching Sunshine.

Finally I can have bluetooth without looking like a D-bag.

[Ben @ Mar 26th 2008 11:04AM]

Question, is the music playback going to work with the iPhone?

[D @ Jun 12th 2008 6:57AM]

No, the 2G iPhone still doesn't support A2DP with its bluetooth profile. This device won't fudge a false profile, it still requires the device it's paired with to be A2DP compliant. It *would* work if you used an A2DP iPod bluetooth dongle, such as the Anycom BlueNa (which I use). I'm not sure if the controls would work or not, not sure how the control scheme is mapped through the dock connector's pins.

[zging @ Mar 26th 2008 11:12AM]

Tried it in the shop already, and it had TERRIBLE audio quality, maybe it was just a defective unit. Looks great tho, as soon as I saw it I wanted it.

The outlines of the buttons (white in th pic) are backlit. Overkill for some, but it does look cool.

[Richard @ Mar 26th 2008 11:16AM]

Engadget, this has been in the U.S. for a while. I bought one from Verizon back at the beginning of January. They also have an accessory pack of colored rubber sleeves that protect it (you lose the brushed metal look though, as it covers the buttons).

Audio quality on them is great and they accept any standard pair of headphones.

[Captain Obvious @ Mar 26th 2008 11:47AM]

Ignore this comment.

[aalqadaffi @ Mar 26th 2008 11:58AM]

I really like this. I don't care about the wire coming from it. This is an awesome way to have a bluetooth stereo headset and not look like a total dork.

[dave @ Mar 26th 2008 12:12PM]

hmmm...

[Vajrakilaya @ Mar 26th 2008 12:39PM]

Great, great unit. Less dorky, less bulky in your pocket, better interference rejection, and better fidelity than the Plantronics Voyager 855 I was using. People tell me I sound clearer using it than on the 855.

The included earbuds are crap, but it has a headphone jack so you can plug in whatever you want. Works great with Ultimate Ears Super.Fi 5 Pros. The cable is too long at 46", but I'm going to cut it short and solder a headphone jack to it. (Ultimate Ears have user-replaceable cables, so if I screw it up I don't ruin the headphones) Shure SE530s come with a two foot cord - but it's not replaceable.

If you want to go bluetooth and high fidelity, it's really great.

[Janet L. @ Mar 26th 2008 12:41PM]

I rather like the Olinari Silver Dog tag with the removable USB inside. It's stylish and at least looks like piece of expensive jewelry.

http://olinari.com

[Wyze @ Mar 26th 2008 12:54PM]

what does this have to do with bluetooth or talking on the phone?....or music?....that device you link to is no more than an extra pocket ....it has no real function....fail

[Kevin Hennessy @ Mar 26th 2008 2:54PM]

They missed the mark. The headphone wires should be part of the chain and then at your neck / shoulders have the wires split off up to your ears. Otherwise, why bother.