With every phone you buy, you get a pair of earphones. But who uses them? With Bluetooth headphones and earpieces available, who wants to be tethered to a phone or a music player ? Most people have a few such earphones lying in their boxes, unused.
Somebody has had the bright idea of an accessory that will breathe new life into these wired listening devices. Zebronics, the Indian electronic gadget specialist has just launched a module that plugs into wired headphones or earphones and converts them into wireless devices. Cool? I thought so too, after using one of these for a few days.
It is called the ZEB-BE380 Bluetooth module and within its small, 20 gram frame it packs a wireless chip that adds Bluetooth functionality to your headset. Using it is very simple: Plug your headset into the module using the 3.5 mm lead. Wear the headset, clip the module to your shirt or dress and switch it on. It will latch on to the Bluetooth connection of your phone, player or whatever music system you want to use and your headphones will be wirelessly connected to your music source.
The module also has a second port—a micro USB—but that is just for charging it with the USB cable provided. It telescopes all functions into 3 tiny buttons. Some like next/previous track or volume up and down are intuitive. But the matchbox sized instruction sheet tells you how to handle incoming calls and messages from your phone.
Remember, the module can't improve or degrade the quality of your headset—only make it wire-free. At 999, this seems a reasonable price to pay for a device that can be used across multiple wired headphones and save you from throwing them away. And Zebronics also provides a set of in-earphones with the module.