Motorola Finiti Bluetooth Headset: Unusual Design, Comfortable Fit

The earbud accessories for the lightweight Motorola Finiti ($130 as of March 1, 2011) Bluetooth headset are the most peculiar I’ve seen in years–somehow I found this unusual design more noteworthy than the headset’s excellent noise cancellation. To don the Finiti in hook mode, you wear an earbud cover that looks a lot like a soda can’s pull tab (in gel form). If you’d rather ditch the hook, you switch to the earbud cover shaped like a tadpole, instead.

Replacing the Finiti’s earbud covers took more time than normal because of their oddball shapes; you need to ensure that the gel covers’ grooves align perfectly with the Finiti’s earpiece to make it sit properly.

Despite the kooky appearance of the earbud accessories, both Finiti wearing styles worked well–as long as I stayed stationary. When I wanted to go sans hook, the “tail” part of the gel cover, which jutted out of my ear, distributed the weight (or lack thereof) nicely, keeping the headset in place. The Finiti didn’t feel terribly secure when I walked around, however; in fact, the headset popped right out of my ear whenever I tilted my head to one side. I got tired of that, so I reattached the Finiti’s hook, and from then on I experienced zero slippage.

The sticklike unit nestled unobtrusively on my cheek, and the Call button was easy to access right on top of the headset. Until I got accustomed to the positioning and feel of the volume buttons–neither one sports ridges or other distinctive features–locating the right control initially involved some trial and error.

The Finiti offers some basic voice-control options: When a call comes in, it prompts you with a choice (in which you speak “Answer” or “Ignore”), but that’s it. I liked how the Finiti offered to absorb my phone’s contacts right after I paired it; this process worked swiftly, and incoming calls were identified by name (“Call from Mariana”) instead of by phone number.

During my phone calls, voices coming to me sounded close and clear. According to callers, my voice generally had a metallic or unnatural sound to it; they could hear what I was saying, though, and the metallic effect wasn’t frustrating enough for them to want to kick me off the phone. In addition, the Finiti does an admirable job of canceling out background noise–it’s particularly good in windy conditions. The Finiti comes with a “stealth” mode, which is designed to eliminate noise (such as wind), and in the accompanying product guide Motorola cautions users that when you turn stealth mode on, you can expect an unnatural sound to your voice.

If you like to have a choice of wearing styles, and you are willing to pay extra for more-sophisticated background-noise cancellation, the Motorola Finiti is worth a look as you do your Bluetooth headset shopping research.