Introduction

A new wireless headset is out on the market for your music listening and Skype calling needs.  From Everyman, the company behind the now great-selling Freetalk Everyman Headset (reviewed previously), the Freetalk Wireless headset ups the ante with an upgraded version – this one completely wireless.

The general features of this unit are:

• An AvneraAudio radio chip for clear wireless audio.
• Supports super wide-band audio – meaning your calls are more lifelike).
• Fold-flat headphone design.
• PC and Mac Compatible.
• Roughly 15 meters of range (45 feet).

Opening The Box

As with the wired predecessor, the Freetalk folks ship the wireless headset in minimal, eco-friendly packaging.  The wireless headset comes with a great carrying case, the very well designed headphones with small boom mic, a USB dongle transceiver and USB charging cable.

The Freetalk Wireless Headset gives a good first impression.  The construction is solid…not as hearty as a Bose headset, but definitely solid enough for years of day-to-day use.

The first step in using the headset is charging it, which only takes about 2-3 hours.  One feature I really like about this is that if you want, you can use the Wireless Headset while it’s charging, much like a conventional wired headset.  This might be very useful in a situation where you need to use the headphones or make a Skype call while your unit is out of batteries.

Usage and Performance

The Freetalk Wireless Headset is a breeze to set up.  Once charged, you simply plug the dongle in and power on the headphones.  The devices, for me, synced up with no effort.  If you have troubles, there is a ‘link’ button to force the headphones to pair with the dongle.  This set up process was flawless for me on three different computers, a MacBook Pro, a Windows XP, and a PC running Windows 7.

As regular headphones, listening to music, the Wireless Headset performs very well.  My music was crystal clear and very audible.  The bass performance was a bit weak, but very adequate.  Having no wires to attach me to my computer was liberating and rather nice.

Then the real test came: making Skype calls.  I tried making three different types of Skype calls: a call to another Skype user (Skype-to-Skype call), a call to a conventional landline here in the US, and a call to a US based mobile phone.

As with the prior Everyman headset, I was very impressed with the Freetalk Wireless Headsets’ performance in all three use cases.  To me, my callers sounded very good – as if they were in the room with me.  Callers reported that I sounded good – just as good as any other headset, including wired ones.

I was able to get about 5 hours of battery life out of the unit, which is pretty close the advertised 5.5 hours.  Perhaps after a few charges and further conditioning of the batteries, i can get an extra 30 minutes out of it.

Summary

This headset from Freetalk provides an amazing value and performance package.  Priced at $79.99, the Freetalk Wireless Headset frees you from having to be physically attached to your computer while listening to music or making calls.  This feature may seem like no big deal, but to have the freedom to move around the room while making a call is very nice – whether it’s grabbing a pen/paper or simply stretching your legs: mobility is nice!

With most wireless headsets, you must compromise audio quality for this mobile freedom, but this simply isn’t the case with the Freetalk Wireless unit.  I would highly recommend this device if you’re in the market for such a unit.

The Freetalk Wireless headset is available directly from the Skype Shop and is currently selling for just under $80 US.