Etymotic Research is well known for their high quality in-ear noise cancelling earbuds, but have recently dipped their feet into the Bluetooth headset market. The second in our series of Bluetooth headsets for this week, the Etymotic etyBLU, is being looked at today.

The etyBLU is what Etymotic calls a “dual mode” Bluetooth headset. It comes with a quick-connect boom microphone called the BluMaxx, which enables callers to be heard clearly and understood. The internal microphone can also be used independently by simply unplugging the boom mic. Building on top of their award winning earbuds, the etyBLU includes assorted eartips to make a snug fit inside your ear. Etymotic also includes a windscreen for the boom microphone to eliminate wind noise, but do we really need to look like a borg walking around?

We tested using both the flange and foam eartips, and found that the foam ones were slightly more comfortable and easier to insert. In my personal tests, I don’t like sticking anything that far down my ear anyway, so this took a while to get used to. Having one of my ears plugged didn’t help either, since you can only hear normally through the other. The in-ear design does however improve the sound quality and volume of the callers on the other end.

Callers on the other end mentioned to us that the volume of the microphone (both internal and boom) was a little low, even on the highest setting. The windscreen did however help reduce wind noise in windy areas. On our end, we heard some static coming through when the callers were speaking, similar to the static heard on the Jawbone headset we reviewed yesterday. The etyBLU headset as rated by Etymotic has a talk time of 7 hours.

This may not be the perfect headset for driving, since you won’t be able to hear through one ear due to the in-ear design. We’re not particularly fond of the in-ear design, though your mileage may vary and if you’re used to wearing in-ear earbuds, it should work out perfect.

Overall, the etyBLU is a good sounding Bluetooth headset, and the in-ear design makes this one unique compared to all the others. The Etymotic etyBLU Bluetooth Headset is available today for $129.99 from Amazon.com.

Pros

• Noise-cancelling design.
• Boom microphone for added noise cancellation.
• Good sound quality.

Cons

• In-ear design has its flaws.
• Low microphone volume.

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