Nectar
Blueclip Necklace Bluetooth Headset Holder
The second of two innovative solutions
for storing/carrying
your Bluetooth headset
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The good news - you've
a fancy new Bluetooth headset to use with your cell phone.
The bad news - you've no way to conveniently carry it, other
than to keep it uncomfortably and ridiculously in your ear
all the time.
Here is the second of two excellent and innovative
solutions to this problem developed by new company Nectar Accessories
(the other is a
retractable cord style product).
Both work well, making it a style preference as to which
you'd prefer. |
A consistent complaint in my
Bluetooth headset reviews is that the unit provides no way of
carrying it when you're not talking on it with the unit in your
ear.
The headsets - generally
irregular in shape - don't always fit well in pockets.
They almost never have a loop on them where you could tie some
sort of chain or lead to them.
At last - two different
solutions have now been released onto the market. One
(reviewed on this page) uses a necklace type cord, the other,
reviewed on this other page, is a
retractable type cord and holder you clip to your clothing.
Both units are simple and easy
to use, affordable, and provide an effective solution to the
'how do I carry my Bluetooth headset' conundrum that the headset
manufacturers have generally chosen to ignore.
What you get
The Nectar Blueclip necklace
Bluetooth headset holder comes packaged inside a small black
colored cardboard pillow shaped box, described as a 'gift box'
by the manufacturer. Inside is a white linen pouch with a black
ribbon drawstring tie holding it closed, and inside that is the
headset holder and a folded sheet of clearly written and simple instructions.
The unit comes complete with
a one year warranty, and the instructions also tell us that the
company that designed and dis.
Currently there are a range
of different necklace headsets offered by Nectar Accessories,
with prices ranging from $14.99 to $29.99, plus a 'fancy' model
with a sterling silver pendant for $159.99; in addition to which
are the range of retractable cord style products as well.
All the products
are currently for sale on
their own website, and will probably start to
appear elsewhere as the company rolls out further
distribution.
The Nectar Blueclip Necklace
Bluetooth Headset Holder - What it is and
does
The Necklace Headset Holder
is very simple and easy to use and understand. Essentially
there are two parts to it.
The first part is simply a
necklace. This is made either of polished leather cord or
else of silver plated chain. The leather cord can be
adjusted in length from as short as you wish up to a maximum
circumference (length) of 28", the silver plated chain style can
be adjusted in size between 20" and 24".
Hanging down from the
necklace is a cord loop with a small little plastic pendant
piece through which the pull string loops. You can release
the lock on this piece and slide the cord to make the loop longer or
shorter, with the idea being that the loop will go around the
earpiece (or any other part) of your headset, and, once
tightened, will securely connect the pull string to the headset.
The complete unit weighs a
barely measurable 0.1 oz (for the leather style, slightly more
for the silver plated chain and even more for the model with the
sterling silver rather than plastic pendant piece).
Normally you'll have the
headset hanging freely at the end of the necklace and pendant.
When you wish to receive or place a call, you simply lift the
headset up and place it on your ear, then release it to hang
free again at the end of the call.
But perhaps the measure of
the unit's greatness is in its apparent simplicity. There
are actually some clever technologies 'underneath the hood' and
several patents pending.
Using the Nectar BlueClip
Necklace Headset Holder
The base model ($14.99)
necklace uses a loop of leather cord which can be adjusted in
size from as small as you like up to a maximum circumference of
28". All the other models has a silver plated box chain
that can be adjusted between 20" and 24" in size.
The headset attachment hangs
below the necklace loop, giving an inch or two of extra length
to the total arrangement and causing the headset to hang lower
(and more conveniently reach up to your ear).
I've a medium sized head (I
think - hat size is 58, whatever that means), and found that I
was most comfortable with the necklace length set fairly long.
At 24" the necklace was a little tight to easily put over my
head, and anything shorter than that was definitely too small,
so if you're a man or large headed woman, you'd want to think
carefully before choosing a maximum length 24" silver chain
style necklace.
However, with the leather
necklace, I had no problems putting it on/taking it off, and
even at the 24" length, it was plenty long enough to
conveniently reach up to my ear as and when needed.
There were a couple of
issues that are worthy of comment.
The first one is that
occasionally the headset may get in the way of something - or
even be a target for spilled food! Many years ago, I used
to carry my phone on a loop cord around my neck, and in those
days, what I'd do would be to have the phone on a loop cord and
then put the phone into my shirt pocket (not something women can
so easily do, of course). I felt this to be an excellent
compromise - the loop cord gave me complete security and saved
me from dropping/losing the phone, while keeping it in the shirt
pocket made it less ostentatious and less 'in the way' if
leaning forward, or eating, or whatever else.
The cord lengths on these
necklaces aren't quite long enough to allow for a similar
strategy with a headset - even at maximum 28" length plus the
extra couple of inches for the pendant hanging off the loop, the
headset wasn't really able to reach into the depths of my shirt
pocket. This is perhaps another reason for Nectar to
consider a longer length necklace or pendant cord.
The other thing that might
need finessing, same as for
Nectar's retractable
cord style Bluetooth headset holders, is mounting the headset in your ear,
due to the
extra obstruction of the small plastic pendant piece (it measures about
0.8" x 0.3" x 0.2") which locks the string loop around the
headset and how it fits between the headset and your ear.
I tried with a couple of
different headsets and found this not to be a major issue, so
probably you'll have no problems either.
Another point - again in
common with the other design style - that should be
stated in the interest of completeness - clearly your headset
has to be designed so there is somewhere that the loop can
be placed around and drawn tight and secure so as to hold the
headset.
That has not been a problem with any of the many
different Bluetooth headsets I have in my test drawer, but if
you are considering getting one of these units for a headset you
already own, do look at the headset and make sure you can see
somewhere that you can securely loop the string around.
And, one last issue shared
by both units relates to using the necklace to hold a headset
with an external ear loop (such as the
Cardo S-800). The
friction fit/placement of the ear loop was susceptible to being moved about while
carrying the headset on the necklace; on the other hand, this had
also been somewhat of a factor if the headset was just shoved
into a pocket.
Some More Good Things about the
Unit
There are some other good
reasons to get one of these units, over and above the obvious
convenience of having some way to carry your headset (other than
in your ear).
For example, with the
headset permanently connected to the unit via its cord, and
securely around your neck at all times, it becomes
impossible to put the unit down somewhere and then forget to
pick it up again (such as a restaurant table, perhaps).
Another related benefit is
that you're not going to have to worry about dropping your
headset - this can be a nuisance, particularly when driving a
car. If you do drop the headset, or if it should fall out
of your ear, instead of having it slip down, out of reach, somewhere
under the seat, you can simply retrieve it by pulling up on the
necklace, never needing to take your eyes off the road.
We've heard stories of
people who have left headsets in an item of clothing that then
went through the wash. I suppose the only similar risk
here would be if you forgot you had your headset around your
neck when stepping into the shower, so consider yourself
appropriately warned.
The other story we've heard
is of people who have been carrying their headset (or even
phone) in their shirt
pocket, and who have leaned forward and down, with the result
being that the headset falls out of the pocket. Murphy's
Law of course dictates that any time this happens, what is
directly underneath you is not nice clean soft carpet, but
rather a drain or toilet or something else harmful or
repugnant. Clearly this is not a concern with this
necklace.
Summary
I've found the problem of how to carry a Bluetooth headset so
severe that I'd in large part given up on carrying a Bluetooth
headset with me, preferring instead to have a regular corded
headset in a pocket.
The Nectar Blueclip Retractable and Necklace style Bluetooth Headset Holders
have opened up a
new world of convenient carry options for headsets, and I again
go everywhere with my BT headset (which is what I've always
preferred to be able to do).
Usually priced at between $15 and $30, and conveniently
available through
their own website, this is a very affordable unit that
simply and effectively solves a real world problem nearly
all Bluetooth headsets suffer from.
Whether you choose this necklace type unit, or their
alternate range of
retractable clip style units, (and there's really no
clear winner between the two design concepts), you'll get an
excellent product that solves an important problem.
Recommended.
Read more in the other part of
this article in which we review the
retractable cord style
Blueclip Bluetooth headset holder.
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Originally published
10 April 2009, last update
21 Jul 2020
You may freely reproduce or distribute this article for noncommercial purposes as long as you give credit to me as original writer.
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