LG HBM-730 Bluetooth Headset

It would appear the headset is styled to match the LG Chocolate range of phones. The front face of the unit is a glossy black with a red border, and while it looks nice it is quite fingerprint prone. An LG logo and the multifunction button (MFB) can be found on this face. The MFB is actually very well disguised and without reading the manual, you may not even notice that it is a button. The HBM-730's LED is also located on the MFB and it takes the form of a small red semi circle. The light is the best indicator of status when the headset isn't being worn, but when pressing the MFB, your finger actually covers the light, making it hard to tell if you have held it down long enough or pressed it the correct amount of times. The volume controls are located on the left flank of the device, while the charging port is located on the right.

The size and weight of the HBM-730 was very impressive. Measuring a mere 42.2mm x 20.2mm (1.66" x 0.79") and weighing just 9.4g (0.3oz), the HBM-730 is one of the smallest headsets on the market and rates highly in the weight category too. The 3.7V Lithium Polymer battery delivered a disappointing 3:50 (hh:mm) of talk time and came with a manufacturer claim of up to 150hrs of standby time. Talk time is aound 4 hours and the headset charges from empty to full in under 2 hours. The HBM-730 uses what first looks like a miniUSB port for charging, but is in fact the proprietary LG charger. Included in the package are a lanyard, spare ear-bud covers, the charger, and a user manual.

Though it resembles a coat hanger, the ear loop is easy to change for use with both left and right ears. The size of the loop isn't adjustable. Regardless of whether the HBM-730 is being worn on the right or left ear, the rear end of the volume button turns the volume up and the front end turns the volume down.

With just the MFB controlling all of the HBM-730's functionality besides volume, the controls may seem a little confusing. The HBM-730 uses brief presses, short presses (one second), and long presses (five seconds) of the MFB to control its functionality.

One feature that could be both positive and negative was the noticeable time difference between a long press and a short press. On many headsets currently on the market that use the long press and short press method, the long press would often be better described as a medium press at best. On the HBM-730 a short press is just that, but a long press involves holding the button in for noticeably longer. While this is handy, the five second press described to power down the headset was realistically closer to 8 seconds. If you let go before this time is up, and the headset is paired with a device, it will activate the last number redialing function. The usual functions such as transferring a call between headset and handset, rejecting a call, and call waiting are all supported by the HBM-730, though strangely muting a call is not.

To put the LG HBM-730 into pairing mode you must press the MFB for 5-10 seconds from power off. Pairing mode is denoted by the LED glowing solid red. LG has chosen to stick with the default pairing code of '0000'. Using Bluetooth specification 1.2, as is the custom, the HBM-730 supports both headset and handsfree profiles.

A distance of up to eight meters between headset and phone provided adequate audio quality, but from eight meters to ten meters away the quality dropped considerably. When the connection between the headset and handset is lost the headset will beep approximately every ten seconds.

The audio quality of the HBM-730 was impressive. While the inbound audio wasn't quite as loud as some other models, it was certainly sufficient. The quality was good and in a quiet environment the volume was more than acceptable. The outbound audio quality was more impressive than inbound quality; while the noise cancellation wasn't stellar, in moderately noisy environments it made using the headset a please for users on both ends. Like all headsets to date, direct wind was an issue for the noise reduction, but overall it was very impressive.

The LG HBM-730 provided a nice snug, secure fit. When wearing the headset for a long period of time, the bud caused some discomfort regardless of which ear bud cover was used. For short periods though, the headset is comfortable and secure.

Pressing the MFB did cause a small amount of discomfort as it pushed the hard ear-bud even harder up against the ear. This was not a problem when using the volume buttons due to their flank position.