Helium Digital HDBT-990 Bluetooth Wristband Communicator: the future is here

Helium Digital HDBT-990 Bluetooth Wristband Communicator: the future is here

I’m a fan of innovative stuff, crazy gadgets and everything that means progress, that’s why I admire Helium for bringing to market a gadget that most will ignore: a bluetooth headset that you actually wear on your wrist, hence the name Digital HDBT-990 Bluetooth Wristband Communicator. It’s a combination of bluetooth headset, speakerphone and boyscout wrist band.

If you’re wondering what’s the purpose of Helium Digital HDBT-990 Bluetooth Wristband Communicator I can tell you: it’s for people that look silly wearing a headset on their ears all the time. Yeap, it’s for everyone! You don’t have of course the luxury of confidentiality, as everyone around you is gonna hear what you have to say, but it can be used comfortably in conditions where a tight fit is required, like exercising, playing basketball or running.

Build quality and design are quite good

As usability goes, the HDBT-990 Wristband Communicator is easy to use: press the big button to answer a phone call (which is signaled with vibration), or press the volume up to hear Caller ID in cases you don’t know who’s calling and talk holding the band closer to your mouth to make yourself head. If you want to look James Bond/Special Service cool roll over the wristband so that the speaker faces the same side as your palm.

Needless to say that the lack of a small screen to show who’s actually calling makes it difficult to operate, especially when the phone is not around but you can get used to this. The Helium HDBT-990 Wristband Communicator charges through a microUSB adapter and lasts up to 4 hours talk time and 160 standby, which are pretty good numbers. It’s even A2DP compatible so you could listen to some tunes, but the small speakerphone doesn’t make this action too enjoyable.

What you might not like about this gadget is the price, situated around the 90$ mark (you can buy it from Helium’s website), but for an innovative gadgets with Star Trek like features I believe is worth it.