Cardo Scala 600 Bluetooth headset review: Cardo Scala 600 Bluetooth headset

The Cardo Scala 600 is a midtier version of the Cardo Scala 700, but it's similar to its high-end cousin in a lot of ways. The design is the same, and it would be easy to mistake the headsets for each other. The only real difference is that Scala 600 lacks a lot of the 700's higher-end features. However, it's still a decent headset for $49.95.

The Scala 600's design is practically identical to the 700's. It measures 2x1x0.75 inches and weighs 0.41 ounce, has a teardrop shape, and sports a black coating with silver accents. There is a big easy-to-press control button on the face of the headset along with a status light that flashes blue when activated, but there is an option to turn the light off.

On top of the headset is a small rocker wheel similar to that on the Scala 700. The wheel adjusts the volume, and the direction of the rocker's up and down volume controls can be adjusted depending on which you side you prefer to wear the headset. As with the 700, the back of the headset has a contoured earpiece that rests against the ear and a flexible ear loop that can be configured to be worn on either side of your head. We had comfort issues with the earpiece, finding it a bit large for our ears.

We tested the Cardo Scala 600 with the T-Mobile Sidekick 3 and the LG VX5300. It paired with both devices successfully, and sound quality was excellent. We tried the headset when walking around San Francisco, and we could still hear callers loud and clear, probably due to the headset's built-in noise-reduction feature. Other features of the Scala 600 include answering, rejecting, muting, redialing, or ending calls and voice dialing.

The Cardo Scala 600 has a rated talk time of 9 hours and a standby time of 10 days.