A travelers review of the Nokia SU-8W and BH-803

As a participant of the Urbanista Diarist WOM World didn’t just send me around the world with only the Nokia N82, although as multimedia computer I pretty much would have been covered with only using Nokia’s latest and greatest, but to facilitate the journey they hooked me up with the Nokia SU-8W Bluetooth keyboard and the stylish BH-803 Bluetooth headset. This is not going to be one of my usual reviews, but I’m rather going to judge these products as seen through the eyes of a world traveler who isn’t necessarily as tech-savvy.  The reason why I point this is out is because a world traveler in many cases would have different criteria from your typical tech-savvy S60 Nokia users. In some cases the user is both, but in this review we’ll assume that it’s not the case. I chose this approach because obviously

I’ve had the chance to travel the world over using these two accessories, but as I found out the qualities I look for in a product changed during this trip to those sought by a traveler. How would the two fair if they were reviewed by a traveler? Based on the criteria that I think a explorer would look for I decided to see how the two would stack up. Let the journey begin.

Rugged built-quality: The world traveler has to bear the elements, either in the jungles of Singapore or the urban jungles of New York. There’s no time to take good care of your product, most of the time a traveler’s tool is thrown with other tools in his or her luggage or carry-on, which in turned is thrown, squashed and hit. If that doesn’t get to the product, the other items in the luggage or carry-on will. Basically the product has to bear a lot more than just the elements and this is where the build quality and the materials used come into play. The SU-8W has this extremely durable outer shell that I’m sure could handle a little rough handling (or maybe more.) It’s not only the outer shell, but the way it’s put together adds to the overall solid feel. The keys also have a nice springy feel to them and don’t feel like they are going to come of randomly like some of those cheaper mini QWERTY keyboard. The weakest links in the armor is obviously going to be the hinge, but here again it’s reinforced with a solid plastic bar that gives a lot of hold. If you do manage to break it, than I would guess it’s because you really really wanted to. I tried to push it beyond the limits of how it’s supposed to open and the thing is darn solid. I was a bit concerned about the metal on the outer shell and how much it would get scratched up, but after being thrown around and squeezed in my bag, luckily it still looks as good as new. I didn’t abuse it, but I didn’t baby it either. Another thing I would like to point out is the SU-8W’s color: It comes in this ugly beige color that reminds me of one those 80’s and 90 PC’s. A black SU-8W would look much nicer and would hide those stains and smudges picked up while blogging in your Land Rover traversing a muddy field. The BH-803 is another story. Despite being a solid headset, its front is made out of this glossy material that I highly doubt could withstand scratches. Throw it in your pocket with your keys and I doubt that it will look as stylish. The BH-803 isn’t really a traveler’s headset and isn’t intended for rugged use. It’s good looks just begs for you to take extra good care of it and I think it deserves it with the stylish design. I would say it’s more aimed at a more style-conscious user who most probably will use the device in a less demanding environment like an office, restaurant or car. The BH-803 is solidly put together, this is also proven by the fact that several times it has fallen from its necklace, but unless you want your BH-803 to end up as it was custom etched by an artist or some Indian tribe, taking it for travel is probably not the best choice.

Ease-of-use:  Tech-savvy users enjoy spending their time figuring all about the inner workings and technicality of a product, most of the time a travel on the other hand doesn’t want to fuss with this as he or she has limited time to explorer the sights and sounds of a new country. The last thing you would want is to be stuck in your hotel room reading the 100 page manual figuring out how to work with the thing. Luckily both the SU-8W and the BH-803 excel at ease- of- use: using the Bluetooth wireless technology not only mean that with both accessories it’s a matter of pairing the devices by entering the passkey but it also mean that you have the advantage of being wireless, so less cables to use.

Once paired both accessories are pretty easy to easy to use. You just turn the SU-8W on and start typing: you can use Shift or Caps Lock like on any standard keyboard, nothing really to learn. The only real difficult part comes when you have to press the Fn key to type number or character on the left part of a key. To type a character on the right part of a key you have to press and hold the shift key, and press the desired number or character. Not very intuitive, but this is the hardest part to remember about this keyboard which means it’s overall very easy, although they could have done it easier. Having a pull-out number pad would have been nice!

Once the headset is paired it’s just a matter of turning it on again and it automatically reconnects. To call the last dialed number you just double press the multi-function button or you can just hold the button in until you heard a beep indicating you to say the name of the person you want to call. When receiving  call it’s the usual standard stuff: press the multi-function button to answer or twice to reject. When it comes to reading the manual and ease-of-use both devices do very well.  Reading the manual for both devices should be more of a refresher and should not take more than 15 minutes each.

Power: In a perfect world a traveler would forget about charging as the devices would have an unlimited supply to last the entire trip. Alas we don’t live in a perfect world so we do have to charge the items and we do have to bring the charger along. Here is where things go wrong for the SU-8W:  I can understand that the first version used AAA batteries, but why haven’t they come out with a version that is rechargeable? You would think that after such a long time they must have released several versions after the original SU-8W keyboard. Funny that we get to get advanced multimedia computers, yet we are still stuck in time with keyboards that uses AAA batteries. In my opinion a modern product that uses AAA batteries is environmentally less ideal due their disposable nature, especially in this day and age. The SU-8W should use rechargeable batteries that should last you a week with frequent usage and ideally it should use the same charger as the products that it’s intended to be used with.  It should be able to use the thin charger connector of current Nseries and Nokia smartphones, but older device should not be forgotten. Including an adapter to facilitate this would be convenient.  The case of the BH-803 is a funny one as its charger uses the microUSB connection to charge the device, something that even the latest Nseries devices lack. Basically you have a case here where a headset uses a more advanced form of charging than the phone itself, as a result you find yourself carrying two chargers: one for the headset and one for your phone. Again they could have provided a second charging option on the BH-803 that uses the small pin connection that current Nseries devices use. But here I don’t blame the BH-803 as it uses advanced charging via microUSB, it’s the Nseries that are lacking in this area.

Out in the field

I used the BH-803 for a good part of the Urbanista trip and one thing that really surprised was people’s reaction towards it. You see, the BH-803 comes with one of the most ingenious yet simple accessories: a necklace. Instead of keeping it in your ear when not in use like many people do, it’s hanged in its necklace and worn as a fashion accessory. I got many comments about how cool it looked or just asking where they could get “that necklace.” Some commented that it looked like an interesting high-tech fashion accessories while 97% never would have guessed that it’s Bluetooth headset, I like that. Most tech products, especially Bluetooth headsets tend to stick out like a sore thumb making you look goofy. The concept behind the BH-803 goes beyond that by incorporating a tech device as part of your clothes, making stand out in a good way yet blend in as a tech device. Either if you’re an explorer or dressing trendy for a night out to a nice restaurant it will simply look good, but there’s a catch. The BH-803 sits very secure in it’s necklace, but if you move into a certain way it will bounce against your chest and in some cases it will fall out. This only happens with activities where there’s a lot of movement, definitely not for a traveler or rock climber. I would not suggest it for a night of wild clubbing either as you’ll quickly find yourself on floor of the club looking for your lovely BH-803.

The SU-8W on the other hand just works. When folded it pretty compact and solid. This is just the perfect tool for a traveler who has limited access to PC’s or someone who just wanted to travel light and leave the laptop alone. For those people this is a must have: sitting at the beach blogging away or just relaxing in a small eatery in the jungle. It’s design however relies on the fact that you will always have a flat surface to put it on. Out in the field this not always the case, sometimes flat surfaces are more the exception rather than the rule. Most of the time you’ll be either easing your lap or some uneven rock and the thing is that the SU-8W doesn’t lock open. Put it on an uneven surface and it will start to close. It needs a mechanism to open and stay locked in that position.

Conclusion

It’s quite clear that the SU-8W is a must-have for travelers while the BH-803 is not. The SU-8W’s solid build and ease-of-use are impressive, but the areas where I see where it needs some improvement is that it still uses disposable AAA batteries. It should use rechargeable batteries and having the ability to charge using the same charger as Nseries devices is a must. A black color is less likely to embarrass the explorer as it will hide dirt picked up in Africa while still looking out in the field. Nokia should consider adding a pull-out number pad.

The SU-8W is probably the best and definitely the most stylish headset out there, beating even the Jawbone in design. It’s easy to use, stylish and ahead of even the Nseries when it comes to charging over microUSB. The idea behind the necklace is just brilliant and sure to get you lots of attention, perfect for those geeks with a sence of style. But because of it’s easily scratched glossy coating and the fact that it can fall out of its necklace while doing activities with a lot of movement I would not recommend it to the traveler. In other situation it’s bound to impress with its sexy design.

SU-8W

Pros

Durable and tough

Convenient

Portable

Cons

Still uses batteries

No black color

Doesn’t lock in open position

Suggestions

Pull-out number pad

BH-803

Pros

Best looking Bluetooth headset

Touch controls

Simple to use

Necklace

MicroUSB charging

Cons

Easily scratched

Falls out of necklace when doing activities with lots of movement

Comments

[basitj]

This keyboard sucks for me @ least.

Yeah, its an interesting device, but my keyboard stopped behaving 2 weeks after I purchased it. The left half of the keyboard is not working now. I took it to local nokia repairs but they dont know heck about the keyboards. All they know are the handsets and their repair. I believe thats a big negative about the device.

By the way, if anyone of you have one of this broken keyboard, I may need some parts from you (possibly a cable) so that my half of the keyboard starts working.