By 'Doctor Dave' Greenbaum

Whether you are listening to dance, jazz, or disco, you won’t be hearing the blues with the Miccus BluBridge headphones (http://www.miccus.com/products/blubridge-auto-talk). This headphone/hands-free combo rocks!  I am amazed at the quality of sound and ease of use coming from these unassuming headphones.

Hands-free bluetooth devices for the iPhone are a dime a dozen. People walking around town appearing to talk to themselves, until you see the blue blinking device coming out of their ear.  They are either a human-cyborg hybrid or using a Bluetooth handsfree.

The BluBridge is different because it’s not only an excellent hands-free interface for your iPhone (or other Bluetooth enabled phone), but also a rich and full stereo speaker system. When talking to others with the BluBridge, the call is in stereo (so your mother-in-law can nag at you in 360 degrees). Microphone quality is average and consistent with most other Bluetooth devices. Good to great, but people can hear you are on a hand-free.

Being able to listen to my iPhone without the hassles of wires opened up amazing new possibilities. We’ve all accidentally snagged our iPhone cord and seen the phone go flying (fortunately I have an Otterbox case). Even without the hazard, it’s just darn inconvenient to have wires while listening to music.

My immediate killer application for these headphones was the gym. They are extremely lightweight and water resistant with excellent earbud holders so they won’t fall out during heavy exercise. Instead of an awkward combination of a case for my iPhone and wires that would constantly get caught on equipment, I simply placed my iPhone in a safe position at the gym and worked out while getting my grove on.

Controls for answering calls as well as volume and previous/next track are all integrated into the sides of the headphones. Unfortunately, there is no indicator as to the battery life but  Miscus claims nine hours of music and eight hours of talk before a recharge. Recharging is somewhat tricky because it doesn’t use a USB mini or micro connector but it’s own unique USB charging cable.  

I expect today to not have to carry around different cords for charging, but that’s really the only fault I found with the device. Oh, one other complaint, given the round disks hanging out of your ears, you may look like Princess Lea or Lobot from Star Wars depending on your gender.

With a retail price tag of US$50, you get quality headphones and hand-free all combined into one. I have completely fallen in love with these headphones and take them everywhere now. I’m singing the blues with a smile on my face

Pros:  Wireless sound combined with quality hands-free
Cons:  Non-standard charger, no battery indicator

Rating: 9 out of 10