Review: Motorola Mini H9 Universal Bluetooth Headset

Looking for a small Bluetooth headset? One that covers basic operation but doesn’t overwhelm you with too many advanced features? Motorola may have just what you are looking for in the Mini H9 Universal Bluetooth Headset.

Out of the Box

There is no doubt that this is a tiny, lightweight headset. Weighing in at just .3 ounces, the Moto H9 is only 1.3 inches long and .9 inches thick. While it’s tiny, it is a little on the beefy side. The H9 comes packaged with the headset, charging cradle/stand, user manual and extra ear buds of assorted sizes.

The unit has one main button that encompasses just about the entire surface of the headset and volume buttons located on the sides of the headset. A large portion of the main button also functions as an indicator light.

The indicator light dominates the earpiece. During the first five minutes with the H9 on stand by, the indicator light flickers nice neon blue. This can be distracting at night and some may not like the attention the large light draws. Fortunately, you have the ability to disable the light by simultaneously pressing and holding the main button and volume buttons.

The main button controls the H9’s features through various taps, presses and holds. These features, some of which are phone dependant, include answering/ending calls, rejecting calls, redialing, activating voice dialing, toggling between calls, placing calls on hold, and muting calls.

Performance

The H9, because of its thickness, feels a touch off-balanced when worn. Until you get used to the fit, the headset feels as if it’s falling out of your ear. Motorola recommends finding the correct size earpiece that will form a comfortable seal in your ear. The only problem with finding an earpiece that it tends to mute your hearing.

Once the correct earpiece was found, the H9 was comfortable to wear. I don’t think it would survive a jog around the block but it was secure enough for typical, daily activities.

After fully charging the headset, pairing the H9 with your phone is simple and straight forward. Once you place your phone in pairing mode, you press and hold the main button until the indicator light is a steady blue. Enter the factory security code and you’re in business. While there is no indication in the User’s Manual, I can only assume the H9 stores only one pairing in memory.

The connection with my Samsung BlackJack II was good and I had no issues with interference or static when carrying the phone in a belt case or in my shirt pocket.

The H9 chimes on incoming calls and, on occasion, there is a slight delay between pressing the button and hearing the caller. Volume is very good. The microphone had no difficulty picking up my voice when using a normal tone and volume. The microphone noticeably picks up background noises such as the car radio, traffic, etc.

The stand-out feature of the H9 is the charging cradle. Not only does the cradle charge the H9’s internal battery, it also can be used as a portable charging unit. Motorola reports that the H9 has a talk time of 1.5 hours and stand by time of 100 hours. The charging cradle will allow you to top off the internal battery when needed, extending the talk time six hours and stand by time to approximately 20 days. The charging cradle presents a convenient way to eliminate the need for a car charging option. Simply charge the headset and cradle before you leave on the trip and I see no problem with the power supply lasting for the longest of trips.

Motorola reports the effective range of the H9 to be approximately 33 feet and I think that may be on the modest side. I left the headset on the armrest of my car while it was still paired with my phone. I forgot to disable the connection with my phone when I went inside the house and when the phone rang; the call went to the headset. If I was within 33 feet of the headset, it wasn’t by much plus the signal had to go through two walls and out a window. No telling how clear the call was but for the headset to remain paired to the phone at all was impressive.

Overall Impression

I like the H9. It has simple functionality wrapped up in a tiny, lightweight package. Call volume was good as was microphone reception. Connection between the phone and headset was interference free. You will need to be careful of background noises though.

While the H9 did feel a little off-balanced at times, it rode securely and comfortably. I preferred the thinner form factor of similarly sized headsets such as the Samsung WEP410 but after a few days of use, the thickness wasn’t as noticeable.

The charging cradle has the capability of extending talk time and stand by time while you are away from the wall plug. It eliminates the need to have a car charger for those day long road trips.

For those looking for a compact, light Bluetooth headset, the H9 should be given strong consideration.