Nextlink.to Bluespoon Chameleon Wireless Headset

Nextlink.to, a Danish company, has been making Bluetooth wireless headsets for a while. Their Bluespoon product line was one of the first Bluetooth wireless hands-free solutions. The Bluespoon Chameleon has an innovative design and the form factor will change the way you wear headsets. The lightweight, extremely compact and attractive design as well as good voice quality makes this headset a good solution for mobile users.

Different from the ear loop clip-on headsets such as the Logitech, Anycom and Motorola mobile headsets, the Bluesppoon Chameleon uses an ear-bud style speaker that will rest inside of your ear and completely block outside noise. The speaker and the headset are angled so that the ear-bud will stay in your ear while the microphone points toward your mouth. To put on the headset, you will need to bend a thin wire that extends out from the earbud into your ear. You'll twist the headset so the earbud rests firmly inside of your ear and the thin wire is lodged inside of your outer ear. The design is quite ingenious as it uses the shape of your ear to fit the headset, and its earbud fits nicely inside your ear. Nextlink.to provides two different wires, so make sure that you try both on to see which one fits you best.

The 2.2”x1.2” size will make those who crave small and discreet headsets drool. The entire headset is no bigger than your ear and .56 oz weight makes it easy to wear this headset all day long. There is a small clear button on each side of the Chameleon which act as LEDs and multi-function buttons. You can use any of these buttons to answer calls, change the volume or hit both buttons to end calls and switch between waiting calls. There is a very small boom at the front tip of the Chameleon and a strap loop at the back for you to attach the carrying strap. The compact charging cradle has slots to plug in the headset and secure it with a catch wing. I like this design not only because it creates an interesting futuristic look, but also because it keeps the headset in place even without a flat surface. Nextlink.to provides three types of prong connectors for the universal world charger.

Pairing the Chameleon is easy and you can pair it with up to 3 devices simultaneously. The headset supports both Headset and Hands-free profiles. We tested it with both Nokia 3650 and 6820, and it worked flawlessly at the claimed 30 feet range. We also paired the headset with an iPAQ 5555, which has a headset profile. This is very handy if you wish to use the iPAQ in a meeting or a public place but don't want to use the built-in speaker. The voice quality on both in and out lines is excellent when calling other mobile phones, but land line users may hear a little noise and distortion. The volume of the speaker can be turned up quite high thanks to the unique ear-bud design. The outgoing voice quality of the unidirectional microphone performed very well. The Chameleon supports voice dialing and call rejection.

The Bluespoon Chameleon has a Lithium Ion Polymer battery and the claimed talk time is 4-6 hours and 200 hours standby. Our tests show that this seems to be on target.

Above: the headset. Below: the headset in the charging cradle.