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Kyocera Bluetooth Wireless Portable Speaker and Headset review: Kyocera Bluetooth Wireless Portable Speaker and Headset

Kyocera Bluetooth Wireless Portable Speaker and Headset

Nicole Lee Former Editor
Nicole Lee is a senior associate editor for CNET, covering cell phones, Bluetooth headsets, and all things mobile. She's also a fan of comic books, video games, and of course, shiny gadgets.
Nicole Lee
3 min read

The Kyocera Wireless Portable Speaker with Headset is exactly what its name implies--a combination portable speaker that is also a dock for a Bluetooth headset. You can use the Bluetooth headset by itself, of course, but when it's slotted into the portable speaker, you immediately transform your cell phone into a speakerphone. This combination device costs approximately $89.99.

8.0

Kyocera Bluetooth Wireless Portable Speaker and Headset

The Good

The Kyocera Wireless Portable Speaker with Headset is a clever combination of headset and speaker. It offers an array of accessories and attachments and great sound quality.

The Bad

The Kyocera Wireless Portable Speaker with Headset is a tad bulky and can be unnecessary if your cell phone already has a speakerphone.

The Bottom Line

The Kyocera Wireless Portable Speaker with Headset is quite a smart combination of a speaker and a Bluetooth headset. It would be of great use in the car.


The Kyocera Wireless Bluetooth headset is small.

Both the headset and the speaker units are silver and gray. The Bluetooth headset is small (2x0.6x1.1 inches) with no boom, and weighs only 0.37 ounces. A multifunction button sits in the middle of the headset, while the volume buttons are positioned on the left and right spine. All the buttons were very easy to press, even when the headset was worn on the ear. The charger jack is on the top of the device, while the earbud rests on its rear face.

The headset comes with three different earbud covers; one gel-like cover, and two rubberized ear tips. It also has an optional flexible ear loop for a more secure fit. We personally preferred wearing the headset with the gel cover without the ear loop, but we really liked that Kyocera gave so many options so that you can find the most comfortable fit for you.

The portable speaker unit is rather bulky, measuring 2.25x3x1 inches and weighing in at about 2.19 ounces. It has a large speaker grille in front, with two soft keys on either side of the grille. A Mute button sits on the left side, while a multifunction button rests on the right side. And similarly to the headset, the volume rocker resides on the left and right spine of the speaker. The headset dock is on the top of unit. The speaker comes with a couple of attachments that can be affixed on the back of it for ease of use in the car--one is a nonslip grip so that it stays on the dashboard, and the other is a clip that can be attached to the car's shade.


The Kyocera Wireless Bluetooth headset fits into the portable speaker.

The pairing process for the headset is pretty easy. We paired it with the T-Mobile Sidekick 3 as well as the LG enV (VX9900), and it worked flawlessly. The portable speaker doesn't function until you dock the headset with it. But when you do, you can make and answer calls as easily as you would with the headset. Features include last-number redial; answering, rejecting, and ending a call; three-way calling; voice-dialing support; call transfer from the speaker to the phone; and call mute. All of these features are available on the headset as well when it is docked into the speaker.

Call quality was pretty impressive, on both the headset and the speaker. Callers could hear us loud and clear, though sound quality did suffer a little bit in windier conditions outside. However, we actually found the quality of the portable speaker a lot better than the quality of the phone's own speakerphone. The portable speaker could then be a viable hands-free alternative in the car, in case you don't want to wear your headset all the time.

The device also comes with an array of charging options. You can charge it via USB, with an AC adapter, or via an in-car adapter. The headset has a rated talk time of up to 4 hours and a rated standby time of up to 4 days.