Bluetooth headset at the Gym = Freedom

One of the things I enjoy when I go to the gym is the fact that I have 90 minutes to myself where I can just forget about anything else going on in my life and just enjoy a good audio book or some upbeat music.

For many years, I used a Creative MuVo TX FM at the gym to listen to audio books, podcasts or listen to TV audio locally broadcast on FM frequencies.  After many years, it broke and I replaced it with a Creative Stone I had bought at Fry's for $20.  The good thing about the Stone is that it's cheap.  I wasn't afraid to loose or break it.  The bad thing was that the menuing system was really slow.  Slow to the point where you weren't sure you had pushed a button.  I used the MuVo and Stone with a Sony Active Style headphones.

Then earlier this summer, out of curiosity, I figured I would try out a stereo Bluetooth headset with my Blackberry. I bought a Motorola Motorokr S9-HD.  I was able to pair it easily and could use both the phone headset and the A2DP (stereo) profiles.  The only problem was that my Blackberry Pearl had no local storage, so I could only listen to Pandora.  I was really impressed with the quality of the sound.  Because of the way the ear buds are designed, most of the outside noise is blocked out.  That was nice and all, but obviously not a solution for the gym just yet.

A few weeks later, the iPhone 3Gs came out, and I made the switch from Blackberry Pearl to iPhone. The Motorokr headset I had bought earlier paired easily with the iPhone.  I decided to take my iPhone to the gym for a spin.  I loaded it up with music, audio books and podcasts and off I went... Wow, how nice it was not to have any wires dangling anywhere and the sound quality was just amazing.

Here's the only downside.  The Motorokr rechargeable battery lasts about 6 to 7 hours on 1 charge.  However, the battery seems to loose charge when not in use, so in theory, I should be able to go to the gym at least 3 times without recharging the headset, but sometimes, it doesn't seem to make it through the 3rd visit.  The Motorokr gives you an audible signal about 5 minutes before going dead.  That is definitely NOT useful.  So that's why I still carry my Sony Active Style headsets in my gym bag for those days when I forgot to recharge my Motorokr headset.