gdgt

When I set out to buy the ICON, I wasn't looking for much. Just a headset to wear while driving home from work so I didn't have to juggle my phone, steering and shifting all at once. I figured that anything above and beyond that was cake and the price was right, so why not pull the trigger?

As it turns out, it was a good purchase. The ICON handles the basic performance of its core duties admirably. Battery life is sufficient for the size of the headset. The auto volume adjust and noise reduction tech has lived up to its advanced billing. And the ability to switch out the voices that give you status updates is fun, if a bit silly. Wearing the headset is as comfortable as I've found anything inserted in my ear for long periods of time to be. Extended use increases fatigue, but I found it better than most and reasonably secure with the in-ear tip option (most of the time...).

I really only have two complaints. First, the casing is extremely plasticy and there is a creaking when handling the unit that does nothing to instill confidence regarding its longevity/durability. Second, while there are some 'apps' available on the MyTALK Beta site (Aliph's version of an 'app' store), I found that the most important one, voice dialing, did not work at all with my stock Android 2.1 Nexus One. It seems that Aliph may have put the bulk of their development efforts behind the iPhone (and possibly Blackberry - the only other handset manufacturer called out specifically in the instructions) which makes sense, but is still disheartening for those on other platforms. I will say that I haven't had a chance to try the ICON out with other types of handsets, so this may be purely an Android issue.

All in all, you will be hard pressed to find a better Bluetooth headset for such a reasonable price. Time will tell if the MyTALK app store will be useful, but it is nice to see someone at least trying to ramp up excitement for what is inherently a dull area of tech.