The Nokia BH-905 was announced quite a long time ago, but review units have only just become available. This followup to the legendary BH-604 ups the ante in nearly every arena. The headset is able to function as either a wired set, plugging straight into your computer or phone, or as an A2DP Bluetooth Stereo headset, for true wireless enjoyment. There are also a whopping 10 microphones built into this headset, for ultimate noise reduction and call clarity. Let’s take a look at how well they do.
For starters, the Nokia BH-905 is a complete solution, and comes with a full array of accessories packed into a nice zippered carrying case. Included are:
• Nokia Audio Cable CA-143U for 3.5mm Nokia AV (~1.2m)
• Nokia Extension Audio Cable CA-144U (~1.7m)
• Nokia AV Adapter AD-52 for 2.5 mm Nokia AV
• Nokia Audio Adapter AD-63 for standard 3.5 mm jack
• Nokia Adapter AD-71 for airplane
• Nokia Adapter AD-70 for 6.3 mm home stereo
• Nokia Travel Charger AC-5
These make it possible to hook the Nokia BH-905 up to nearly any audio source you can think of, and the cleaning cloth inside is quite nice, as well.
Music
Listening to music through the Nokia BH-905 is an awesome experience, with superb sound being delivered through the highly-cushioned ear pieces. The right ear piece has audio controls built in, allowing you to easily skip to the next track, play/pause, or adjust the volume. The headband is also cushioned well, providing an exceptionally comfortable fit that is suitable for hours of use. The headband is adjustable, in case your head is bigger or smaller than average, as well.
The headphones are said to offer up to 25 hours of Bluetooth-driven music playback which drops to 16 hours if you switch on the active noise-cancellation. In my tests, I found these times to be quite accurate, within 30 minutes or so. The range when using Bluetooth is excellent, with absolutely no stuttering or drop-outs until I got right up to the 33 ft limit. Audio quality over Bluetooth is phenomenal, and almost equaled that of a wired connection, impressively.
With a wired connection, there is no time limit on how long you can use the Nokia BH-905s. This is an awesome feature if you travel frequently, as the headset is functional (minus the Bluetooth and active noise cancellation) even with a completely empty battery. Audio quality over the wired connection is slightly better than the Bluetooth connection, with slightly more clear tones. You would likely only notice this if you were listening for it, though, and most consumers won’t detect a difference.
Active Noise Cancellation
The active noise cancellation is activated with a switch on the left ear piece, and its status is shown by a small green notification light. There is quite a noticeable difference in the amount of background noise when using active noise cancellation, and it makes enjoying movies on a computer so much more intense. I was unable to test this function on an airplane, but it was successful in masking street noise and other small sounds when sitting in my livingroom, either with music playing or without.
Call Quality
The Nokia BH-905 is able to be used as either a wired or Bluetooth headset for hands-free phone calls, though it’s clearly not designed for this. The earpieces muffle your own voice and amplify the other party, and calls are quite awkward with this setup. That being said, I was able to clearly hear my callers, and they reported that my voice came through crystal clear, as well, which is good.
Background noise is intelligently filtered out by the Nokia BH-905, though excessive wind or loud noises obviously are not eliminated when on a phone call.
I did experience some odd audio issues with the Nokia BH-905s, though, in varying conditions. Online flash videos, such as those on Hulu.com, often had scrambled or high-pitched audio, as if someone was holding the fast-forward button on an old voice recorder. Music playback on certain tracks was also a bit fuzzy, and in both cases, unplugging the BH-905 and using my laptop’s built-in speakers immediately eliminated the issue. I also noticed that this happened less when the headset was fully charged.
The Nokia BH-905 has an internal battery that is not user-changeable, though thankfully it uses the standard 2mm Nokia power port, so you can easily charge it with your existing chargers.
Conclusion
Overall, I would give the Nokia BH-905 a 7 out of 10 rating. The headset is clearly not designed for audio calls, but works great for wireless music or movies, paired with a phone or a laptop. The active noise cancellation works awesome, and the extra accessories included in the handy zippered case let you unbox and go, without needing to worry about anything else. I really like that you can easily switch the headset from wired to Bluetooth, though the periodic audio issues with internet video and some music was disconcerting.
