Review: LG HBS-A100 Tone Active Wireless Stereo Headset

I have been using  a trial LG HBS-A100 Tone Active Wireless Stereo Headset for a about two months, thanks to the g ood people from AT&T. I work outdoors, I am a Letter Carrier  for the USPS and I need a good sweat resistant, water resistant headset that can deal with my daily work schedule. I wanted to see if the LG HBS-A100 was right for me.

Let's Take  A Look At The Specs:

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS Water & Sweat Resistant* Yes (IPx4 Rated) Bluetooth Specification Version 4.2 Supported Bluetooth Profiles Advanced Audio Distribution (A2DP), Audio/Video Remote Control (AVRCP), Hands-Free (HFP), Headset (HSP) Talk Time*** Up to 13 hours (Speaker Mode up to 9.5 hours) Music Play Time*** Up to 12 hours (Speaker Mode up to 6 hours) Standby Time Up to 17.9 days Charging Time Less than 2 hours Operating Range 33 ft. Dimensions 5.7″ (W) x 5.8″ (H) x 0.7″ (D) Weight 2.1 oz. Call & Play/Pause Buttons Inline on sides of headset Sound Profile** Qualcomm aptX/Qualcomm aptX HD Available Colors**** Black/Gray, Blue/Black, Silver

What's In The Box:

Micro-USB Charging Cable

2 x Sets of Extra Ear Gels (Small and Large)

Set of Stabilizer Tips (Large)

Limited 1-Year Warranty

Build Quality

The build on the LG HBS-A100 is excellent, it is very durable yet extremely comfortable; I had no issues with it feeling uncomfortable while wearing the headset.

The retractable earpieces were my only concern, and I wouldn't suggest pulling on them too hard although I haven't had a issue with them so far.

The button layout is also very nice: on the left side of the headset you have the power button located on the inside of the headset, voice dial button (you can also accept and end a call from this button), the volume rocker as well as the usb charging port. These are located on the outside of the headset and are easily accessible.On the right side you have the the hd button which enables you to activate the external speaker located on top of the headset. Here you can see the 3 speaker grills on each side of the device. You also have the skip a track forward or reverse and a pause and play button.

Sound Quality (Music & Voice Calls)

I have been using the LG HBS-A100 paired with the Galaxy S7 as well as my Lumia 950 XL.

Music quality is excellent, crisp, clear, plenty of bass and treble.  The highs and lows sound great on the headset and the volume levels on the LG HBS-A100 are also very good. I don't think you will ever have to worry about volume on these. The headset also has external speakers so you can actually listen to your music externally. The external speakers have a nice sound and the headset sits at neck level right below the ears so you hear it pretty clearly.

Voice quality of the headset was clear and crisp. My only complaint is that sometimes for whatever reason, I experienced garbled, robotic voice quality every so often on both incoming and outgoing calls. In order to fix the issue, I had to turn the headset off and then back on. This happened on the both the Galaxy S7 and Lumia 950 XL. Not sure why but this was really my only negative.

Battery Life Talk Time & Music Playback

What can I say about the battery life? It was as advertised, I can easily go a full 2 days without charging and I usually use it for over 6 hours daily between music and voice calls.

Conclusion

I think the LG HBS-A100 Tone Active Wireless Stereo Headset is great. They are a bit costly as they range in price from $179.00- $143.00 last I checked. If you are interested you can find them here. Once again I would like to thank AT&T for sending us over a trial.

  Positives

great sound quality

Button controls easily accessible

retractable earbuds

excellent build quality

excellent battery life

Negatives

Call quality can be a hit or miss

 expensive

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Source: Review: LG HBS-A100 Tone Active Wireless Stereo Headset