Nokia launched a Bluetooth stereo headset today in Barcelona at the Mobile World Congress (MWC). The so called BH-214 is a stereo headset with in-ear plugs that come in three sizes. And with the soft silicon ear pieces the headset appears suitable for taking it out and bouncing around in the streets (no no, no parkour in my age anymore, it’s about plain old running, flat out, steady and fast). Here the fact sheet.
The advantage with a Bluetooth headset is of course no fiddling around with cables going to the handset. The disadvantage, you need to remember charging it. But standby times of beyond 10 days and music/talk times of 7-8 hours help here to not run out of juice too quickly, however it’s easier to forget charging 
.
The big question of course, can you run with it?
To say it upfront, Yes you can!
First thing you notice the difference is when putting the gear on, no stowing away the excess cable. And putting in/taking out the handset from the pouch is not messing with the cable. Second big plus is operating the music player from a large 4-way button. No need to take the focus away from running. And thirdly, the sound quality. It doesn’t beat your Sennheisers, but it’s way better than the cable headsets that come in the box of your handset. It’s like comparing your grandma’s radio with a Bose Sound system (ok, slightly exaggerated, I admit). And something really cool, if you’re into wearing your Sennheisers while running out in the streets (gives a lot of street cred!), you just plug them into the 3,5mm jack that sits in the Bluetooth module.
The earpieces have the same soft silicon lip that comes with the Nokia N79 Active package, comes here in three sizes as well. They fit nicely into the ear and don’t fall out easily. Further they close out noises in the surroundings pretty well. You hear more of your own breathing than another runner saying hello. Perfect for all ego-trips. You can really focus on the music. One recommendation though, open your eyes when running in traffic.
Tags: Bluetooth, headset, Nokia, Nokia BH-214
February 21st, 2009 at 03:16
Well that’s cool, but I’m still figuring how to walk and talk.
February 28th, 2009 at 10:08
ok, when is out? will it work with 6220 classic and can i use it to listen to radio(via bluetooth). one last thing, does it come in black?
February 28th, 2009 at 10:11
when is it released?
will it come in black?
cani use it to listen to the radio (via bluetooth)
February 28th, 2009 at 20:58
@arvern
The BH-214 works basically with all handsets that have a bluetooth connection, so far the theory. In practice, it depends on the handset how much of the headset works. High probability can be given to listening to music in stereo and phone call functionality. When it comes to the music controls the picture is mixed. Tried the headset with an E71 and Play/Pause worked, but not the forwards or backwards buttons. With latest Nseries devices all worked fine. I guess your 6220 classic falls into the E71 bracket.
Tried to find a sales start date, but didn’t succeed. The prototype built I got was already quite solid, hence I guess it shouldn’t take long, end of March perhaps or April, I guess.
Haven’t seen any other colour variants up to now the to silver/white ones, but don’t know if there will be color variants later on.
Regarding listening to the radio, the cable headset is used as an antenna. Since Bluetooth headsets don’t have a cable connection, there’s no receiving antenna for the handset.
March 1st, 2009 at 10:59
thank you for you reply. that was very helpful
May 27th, 2009 at 16:09
Hi, I have a query for all these stereo bluetooth headsets.
I came to know that these headsets will be working onli with
bluetooth 2.0 or higher. Is there any truth in this ? I have a
mobile HTC P3400. In specification it is said that the mobile
is having bluetooth 2.0. But according to the file transfer
speed, i dont think it is bluetooth 2.0.
So in case it is bluetooth 1.2, will these headsets work with
my phone ?
Could u pls tell me which all headsets will not be supported
by these headsets ?
email - premriju@gmail.com
June 14th, 2009 at 23:14
@Riju
Unfortunately I’m not a Nokia customer service agent, but rather a guy who’s interested in using some digital gear when running. I have not much a clue what the different Bluetooth standard versions support and what not. Below, what I could copy from the fact sheet of the BH-214 headset.
Bluetooth specification: Bluetooth Specification 2.1 + EDR, Headset Profile
1.1, Hands-Free Profile (HFP) 1.5, Advanced Audio Distribution Profile
(A2DP) 1.2 and Audio/Video Remote Control Profile (AVRCP) 1.0
hope this helps.
June 29th, 2009 at 08:59
@micke.
Hi Micke, I have Nokia 5800 express music handset, and planning to buy bh214, as you said all functions works with Nseries, do have any idea about the compactibility of 5800 too??
Another question. I saw Sony Ericsson DS200 stereo headset which looks cool, and heard that in terms of voice quality sony is good, do you have any experience with nokia handset and sony erricson blue tooth headset??
Advance thanks for answers.
Best Regards
Arif
June 29th, 2009 at 11:13
@Arif
Yes, the BH-214 bluetooth headset works well with the Nokia 5800 XM.
No, I don’t have any experience with Sony Ericsson headsets.
Regarding voice quality, I wouldn’t be worried, the BH-214 is good in that department. I think it was “Connect”, the German test magazine that tested it and ranked it as their choice already as such. But the great thing with the BH-214 is the seperation of the bluetooth module and the ear pieces. If you want better ear buds, use your own Hifi stereo ones. It’s the speakers in the ear buds that do most difference to audio quality.
June 29th, 2009 at 17:22
Micke, Thank you very much for the quick reply. I have sennhesier headphones, I might use them instead of nokia earbuds.
July 30th, 2009 at 18:37
I have an E71. You say that Play/Pause worked, but not the forwards or backwards buttons. I can live with that, but can you please tell me if the volume buttons work? And does answering calls work?
Thanks for your help!
August 2nd, 2009 at 23:06
@David
Yes, David, those work. I’m not 100% of what the different Bluetooth standards say, but call answer and volume control have worked with all devices I’ve used (N79, N85, N95, N97, E71, E72)
August 6th, 2009 at 07:09
every thing is perfect with my BH 214 it sounds like as if i am in front of a big gig sound system but how to make the mobile silent when i am getting a call on my 5800xm
August 7th, 2009 at 19:24
This unit looks ok, it’s pretty light, but could be a bit smaller.
I’ve got the iTech Clip 801, which is a few grams lighter (15g vs 17.8g). And it’s also a fair bit smaller. By multiplying the dimensions together you can get a rough guide on size (cubic centimeters).
The iTech 801 comes to 2100cc, whereas the Nokia comes to 3580cc. And looking at the shape of the two units, i think they both have roughly the same about of space cut out of a perfect cube/prism that the dimensions add up to.
Still a pretty good unit though, maybe a nicer form factor being flatter. And easier to use controls me thinks.
What’s the audio output like to a set of speakers? Like a 2.1 system like the Logitech X-230 or Z4.
August 27th, 2009 at 03:46
Hi guys!
You seem to know something about bluetooth stereo sets.
I’m deciding between Nokia BH-214 and Nokia BH-503.
What do you think which should I get.
I intend to use it with my Nokia 5800 and with my PC via USB bluetooth adapter (suppose it works with it).
August 28th, 2009 at 19:29
hey there
thanks allot for the post its great
i just hope to know if the sound quility and loudness of these bluetooth headsets as good as the wired ones ?
I’ve got the previous nokia stereo bluetooth headset and it wasn’t that satisfying the volume was quite low
so how about this new one ? thanks in advance
August 30th, 2009 at 09:12
@Luka
Haven’t tried the BH-503. Just looked it up on the web. I could imagine from it’s build, it has the better sound. A first thought was that it might not stay in place when running, but if you look at the woman wiggling around on their web site (http://www.nokia.com/framesets/nonstopliving), it actually might. Don’t know exactly about PC compatibility, but I think it should work, used another bluetooth headset myself 4-5 years ago with the PC.
@Mada
The BH-214 is loud enough for me. It shuts out environment noises, the silicon lips of the ear plugs adapt well to the ears.
November 28th, 2009 at 09:30
Hey
i received the nokia BH-214 today
and tried it with my Nokia E71 (firmware v300.21.012)
Everything works,
also forward and backward buttons.
I wrote that cause ive seen somebody in previous post
said, that they didnt work for him.
So all the buttons work flawlessly,
probably because of the new firmware.
have fun,
bye
December 12th, 2009 at 19:11
hey there
Does it run with Nokia E63 easily.?? Mail me
thaanks a lot for help.
December 12th, 2009 at 19:14
address: hryniol@o2.pl
January 14th, 2010 at 17:44
So sad.
this device does not work on radio set…. tried so many times but i can´t do it…. i like to listen radio music and news but with my new bh-214 don`t.
i saw in previous post the cable headset is used as an antenna.. too bad… but im gonna put a cable and my bh 214 at same time … you know … i want to listen radio news and music.
January 16th, 2010 at 21:56
@ kik
smart idea! You can still wrap the cable around the handset and put it away plus listen to the radio via the Bluetooth headset. It’s actually true that you need a cable attached, since it’s used as antenna. Saw a couple of first Nokia handsets with an internal FM antenna. It’ll perhaps will become so that all handsets will have it integrated, since FM radio is actually pretty good content.