January 7, 2008 3:10 PM PST

Motorola rocks out with the Motorola S9-HD stereo headset

by Nicole Lee
Motorola S9-HD

Motorola S9-HD

(Credit: Motorola)

Motorola has unveiled the Motorola S9-HD stereo Bluetooth headset, a successor to the Motorola Rokr S9 Bluetooth Active headset from last year. Like the S9, the S9-HD hangs behind the head with the player controls on the side, thus maximizing your freedom of movement while on the treadmill or the track. The S9-HD has a nice bonus though--it now comes with high-definition sound with SRS WOW HD and improved earbuds to block out more noise. It has a rated battery life of six hours of play time and weighs about an ounce overall. Not too sure about the pricing or availability just yet, but this is definitely the upgrade over the S9.

Nicole Lee is an associate editor for CNET, covering cell phones, Bluetooth headsets, and all things mobile. She's also pretty geeky--she likes World of Warcraft, comic books, and shiny gadgets. E-mail Nicole.
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by kirbyjp May 21, 2008 3:57 AM PDT
Wonder if sweating on them during a workout still makes all the buttons fail to work. The S9 was good for about a one hour workout then it was back to the store for warranty work. Loved the sound hated the failed design...
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by gloredon June 25, 2008 9:46 AM PDT
I've been using mine for the last three or four weeks while playing racquetball. I play at a pretty competitive level, so the sweat is coming off me pretty good. I've had no problems with the headset at all. My buttons are still working fine.

I have noticed however that the output sound for phone calls is very hard to hear for whoever I call. Most say I sound like I'm talking from inside a deep well or something. This is especially true when I'm in the car (radio off, windows up). Is this a typical call sound quality for a boomless headset?
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by Ibriy July 19, 2008 6:59 PM PDT
Where were you able to purchase your headset? I am looking all over the 'net, but I cannot find the S9-HD anywhere. Thanks.
by GladiusGermanicus September 9, 2008 2:11 PM PDT
So you've had no troubles with the buttons while playing? (I play Racquetball too, so I understand the level of sweating involved) I'm looking into getting one for my birthday, and am looking into possible flaws, but since it's so new it's hard to find feedback (negative or positive).

As for the microphone, I would first check to see if there is anything that might be plugging the hole of the microphone (assuming there is one), and if you can't find anything, I would suggest sending it back to Motorola, since they do advertise it as a music/calling headset and yours isn't working the way it should (I assume).
by captual October 7, 2008 5:50 PM PDT
Had the S9 and thought since they were 1 year old that is why the battery life was max 2 hrs. Got the new s9HD. Charged with supplied charger as per. instructions. Same bad battery life of max 2.5 hrs. deep cycled battery twice. No help. All tests done while paired with iPhone and listening to music and no cell talking. Battery will not last more than 2.5 hrs while Double paired (cell & ipod or iPhone). Tried pairing with only 1 device at a time (Itouch) only...Now Battery life 4.8 hrs. So it's clear double pairing sucks the heck out of the battery. Yet never near the 6.0 hrs as per Motorola.
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by Gskidmore December 6, 2008 9:38 AM PST
I have a Motorola S9 Headset but lost my password. Is there a way I can retreive it or use a default password?
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by jibber530 October 6, 2009 11:28 AM PDT
u mean u stole them or ground scored them the password is 0000 kinda hard to foget.
by lukemd October 9, 2009 6:11 PM PDT
I plugged in the bluetooth adapter to my iphone (3G) and it said that the device wasn't supported - anyone else have this problem? Also for those that used it for the iPhone (i.e. @captual) how cumbersome was have the adapter plugged into your phone...for starters I can't use my case anymore :(

Anybody have any suggestions?
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