Nokia HS-26W Review

Introduction:

Nokia HS-26w is the elder brother of BH-200, but at the same time a model of the lower Nokia Bluetooth class devices. The two earpieces have almost the same features but 26 is quite larger (longer) and as an older model, it operates on Bluetooth 1.1 and not 2.0, which is a disadvantage.


Design:

Comparatively larger than BH-200, HS-26W is quite heavier (0.79 against 0.49 oz).

Because of the large overall size the 26w earhook does not look that big although the two are absolutely the same. There are no softeners for greater comfort on it or on the earpiece either. On its side the earpiece has the same buttons as BH-200 – a ringlet for sound control and a power button. Handling this ringlet is again pleasant and faultless. The call/multifunctional button on the front side of the earpiece makes unpleasant impression because it is small and hard to feel. When pressed, provides strong tactile feedback.

Right below it is a small LED which is the same as of BH-200. It flashes in green or red.



1 - from left to right : Jabra BT350, Jabra BT500, Nokia HS-26W, Nokia BH-200, Motorola H500

Functionality:

Like the other Nokia handsets, HS-26W has no pairing mode – drop it and if there is no phone connected to it within its range, it will be detectable and you will be able to connect to it. Search for it from your phone menu and input 0000 to identify yourself. As a whole this saves you time but if you use several phones at the same time it might be a serious problem because you have to find out which one exactly it has connected to in order that you can disconnect and find it from another one. As always, it can be paired with several devices (8 in this particular case), but connected to one only.

Quite to standard, the multifunctional button performs various functions depending on the manner of pressing. In standby regime the double quick pressing will activate the voice commands and holding the button depressed will dial the last dialed number. In the case of incoming call pressing the button will reply and the fast double pressing will reject the call. The sound volume is controlled by the ringlet on the one side and pressing it inside to the middle will mute the microphone.

Performance:

We are completely disappointed with the HS-26W sound in both directions – it is very bad, indeed. The microphone is relatively away from the mouth but this is not a problem for most modern earpieces. However, here the sound is unclear and very weak. In noisy environment, what you say will be heard with great difficulty. You will not hear well either because the sound from the earpiece is weak and the voices sound sharply.

Comfort:

After you get used to the specifics of the double earhook you will be able to hang it on your ear with one hand only and without great pains. Unfortunately, sometimes it will hang awry and then you have to pull it off and put it on again. Due to its large size and weight it is not very stable when you bend either, and this is clearly felt – the earpiece may even fall off from your ear. Although the earhook folds your ear comparatively well, it does not pinch and wearing it for short periods (20 minutes) does not cause negative feelings. After about an hour we did not feel bad but when we removed it our ears hurt on the inside where the clip holds.


Wearing HS-26w will certainly not earn you positive designer’s points. This is a big and plain-looking earpiece whose appearance betrays its low class.

Conclusion:

This is another example of the fact that there is a reason for the cheap things to be cheap. Buying a low-budget earpiece you will not only become victims of cheap materials and ugly appearance, but unfortunately of the sound quality as well, which here is quite lower than the normal. Yet we are glad that some convenient things such as the hanging clip and the sound scroll button, which are standard for Nokia, are present in this low model, too.