Sony Ericsson's HBH-IV835 is a stylish, comfortable Bluetooth 2.0 earpiece that's well-suited to a corporate environment. The smooth, glossy finish looks great and it's light enough to wear for a couple of hours at a time. The unit doesn't feature an ear hook, but this doesn't affect comfort: sure, it's not going to be too sturdy if you plan on jogging with it, but the earpiece remains well-attached in general.
The Sony Ericsson model features some impressive technological smarts to help make it easier to hold conversations in busy areas. The IV835 offers automatic volume adjustment and noise-cancelling technology, which works extremely effectively to block out environmental chatter.
The noise-cancelling feature has a small impact on battery life, but the IV835 still manages to kick on for 3 hours of talk time with a 125-hour standby. Auto pairing enables the headset to quickly match up with a Sony Ericsson mobile, but the unit will work with any Bluetooth-equipped phone.
Good audio quality, a noise-cancelling feature and reasonable battery life make the HBH-IV835 a great Bluetooth headset -- especially if you own a Sony Ericsson phone.