(Editor's note: "Blootooth" is a wireless headphone standard, licensed to makers of both cell phones and headsets. Why is Chris Drozd reviewing two headset products? The potential utility of these headsets becomes apparent when considering a small, cordless earpiece/microphone worn while cycling or running. Imagine the two-way radio units you saw cyclists using in the grand tours, but without the wires. Is the fidelity of these products only usable in the car, or walking around the office? Or can they be used during a running or cycling workout? That's the question Chris tackles below.)

Starting with the iMac, electronics have taken more organic shapes. Cases in point are two wireless headsets for your Bluetooth-enabled cell phone, the scorpion’s tail-like Jabra BT-200 Freespeak and the scarabesque NextLink Bluespoon Digital. I tested these with a new Nokia 3650 phone. Even though both function perfectly well indoors, fidelity varies when used outside.

The 10-gram, teaspoon-sized Nextlink Bluespoon nestles neatly into the right ear, gently securing itself by an arched spring arm and protruding, pea-sized speaker.

The 27-gram, thumb-sized Jabra (pictured) hangs behind the ear with its soft, gel earpiece (at the end of a rubber arm which curls over the top of ear) snuggled into the ear canal.

Both were installed quickly with one hand, stayed put while running, and were not affected by heavy sweating. The Bluespoon accommodates shades, hats and helmets better, but over several hours is less comfortable than the Jabra (even with the included, softer spring-arm). The controls on the Jabra are far easier to access while in motion.

The battery charge lasts longer on the Bluespoon, but this is not an issue. Both batteries will last for days before pooping out, and recharging one of these is akin to recharging a cell phone (charging cord shown below).

The Jabra Freespeak positions two buttons about where you’d expect them to be, and sure enough fall intuitively beneath a light touch of the thumb during use. On/off activation is acknowledged both audibly with specific tones, and by touching the buttons.

The eyes of the Bluespoon (both round: one open and the other appearing to sport a monocle) though molded in relief on its face are not so precisely pinpointed, especially while exercising. Further, I found that grabbing the device between thumb and forefinger and squeezing is necessary to adjust volume or initiate voice dialing. Pressure applied to either eye without thumb opposition drives the hard plastic earpiece against the ear, which undermines comfort and ease of use.

Let's get half this review out of the way. While speaking, both microphones handle wind noise poorly. Whether used while running or cycling, the person to whom you're talking will notice that something is not quite right, similar to a cell phone breaking up. This technology is not your solution if you're expecting to close the big deal on your cell phone while on your bike ride. However, the fidelity is not substantially worse, or worse at all, than simply holding your cell phone up to your mouth.

But can you hear well? The Jabra’s eargonomic™ gel earpiece defeats wind-noise at the ear and improves fidelity. On the other hand, wind appeared to interfere with the Bluespoon’s reception. Combing the wrinkles in my brain for a solution I flashed back on a past life as a recording engineer, circa 1985, and remembered wrapping microphones in porous foam, or placing a stretched stocking (always plenty of ripped panty-hose around the studio, ya know) between the microphone and the singers’ lips to attenuate fricatives and hiss. Hmmm, Fry’s and Radio Shack would likely both have micro headsets with foam earpiece coverings, but spending $10 or $20 on this fix wasn’t interesting to me. Then, while fiddling hopefully with the foam packaging of the Bluespoon a tiny, previously unnoticed, zip-lock baggie grabbed my attention. Evidently, the fore-thinking Bluespoon team is on top of their game. Bingo! A small windscreen, kind of a tiny, foam, showercap which filters some competing sounds is included with their product. Though not such a pretty fix, partially shielding the microphone allows your cellphone — hiding somewhere in your fuel belt or backpack — to better hear voice tags, making those on-the-road calls easier for the phone to initiate, and once connected more intelligible on the other end.

The Jabra Freespeak is designed symmetrically so that with just a twist of the gel earpiece it’s at home in either ear. Moderate contact irritation can be divided equally over the course of a long run or ride.

The Nextel Bluespoon is asymmetrical, meaning that its single, permanently positioned spring-arm acts as a (rock climber’s) camming device only in the fold of the right ear. Despite its light weight and initial comfort the spring-arm pressure created an outright ache spanning from my right jawbone to my right temple. After a couple of hours of Bluespoon use I must revert to holding the phone to my ear. The Bluespoon is good for a 10K, the Jabra Freespeak, a marathon.

Aesthetically, the Jabra could win a design award. The Bluespoon Digital should win one.

Find the Bluespoon Digital online for about $400.00 (USD) and the Jabra BT-200 Freespeak for about $100.00 in electronics stores all over town.