Battery Life and Charging

Motorola claims the H500 provides 200 hours of standby time, but it turns out I was actually able to achieve a little over that. After fully charging the H500, the battery life lasted about 5 days with reasonable phone call use.

If you are a Motorola phone user, you will be happy to know that the H500 headset uses the same AC charger with mini USB connector as most of their phones. As a result, you do not have to bring both your phone and headset chargers with you whenever traveling.

Style and Comfort

The design of the H500 Bluetooth Headset is similar to the HS820, but offers a more modernized shape, a new ergonomic ear hook and comes in a variety of color combinations. The headset measures at 2.28 x 1.06 x 0.87 inches and weighs 0.55 ounces, making it smaller and lighter than the H820.

This is one of few Bluetooth headsets that is available in different colors. The H500 is available in nickel, pink, green, teal, orange, magenta and ice. In addition to these base colors, the H500 has a shiny cap that goes well with the base colors and adds a sleeker look to the headset.

I can’t say the H500 is most comfortable Bluetooth headset I’ve tested, but it definitely isn't uncomfortable. The Motorola H500 features a versatile ear hook that can be worn on either ear, and it has a rubberized back to improve comfort. The earpiece is really only a slightly raised speaker which is intended to rest within your ear.

I happen to have small ears, so when I put the headset on, it felt a little loose. It wasn’t loose to the point where it would fall off my ear, but it did get annoying when I moved my head. Motorola should develop different sized ear hooks in order to accommodate various ear sizes. Nevertheless, I was able to wear the headset for several hours without much concern. At one point, I actually forgot I was wearing it.

Pairing

Similar to most new Bluetooth devices, pairing is relatively simple. For some reason, many people find pairing to be extremely difficult. Most likely, these are people who refuse to read the instructions or who have never paired a Bluetooth device before. Pairing in general is usually quite simple and the H500 makes it even easier with its completely intuitive process.

The first step is to make sure the headset is turned off. Then, hold the multi-function button until the blue LED light turns solid (make sure it's not flashing). Finally, make sure your cell phone's Bluetooth connection is set to discoverable and use the default 0000 passkey to establish a connection. It took me a matter of seconds to successfully pair the H500 with both the Motorola E815 and SLVR L7 cell phones.

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