If you own a Motorola Two way radio that belongs to the Talkabout series (just about any model number), you will know that its a solid radio with many features. What you may not know when buying the radio is that the headsets that are available through Motorola are limited, poor and overpriced. Headsets allow a user to communicate without holding the radio. There are earbuds that allow you to hear and still communicate through the radio or there are headsets that have a boom or microphone so you can have the radio stored somewhere out of the way from the elements. The best headset in my experience is one that allows you to communicate with a PTT(Push To Talk) button on the headset and to listen in through a earpiece. Sadly, Motorola only offers two solutions:

Earbud Headset ($39.99CDN):

This headset sports a earpiece and PTT so it's the closest solution. However, if you are like me, you don't like these kinds of earbuds because they don't fit securely enough in your ear for you to trust them to do anything but fall out, god forbid if you are physically active. This headset was owned by a friend of mine, but due to poor design, two of them no longer work as wires were pulled off their solder platform rendering the headset useless. If the lapel clips where positioned better and on the components of the radio instead of on the wire it might have helped. The microphone is just mounted on the wire between the lapel clip and the earbud so you end up holding it to your mouth to speak, which somewhat defeats the purpose, you might as well be holding the radio. But due to the earbud as previously mentioned, this headset is not worth your time.

Earset Headset ($29.99CDN):

The design of this headset has a boom microphone so it does not have the same problem as the earbud and allows you to operate the radio without having to hold anything to your mouth. It fits more variety of ears and does not depend on the size of the ear to hold it in like the bud with a design that rests on top and around the ear. The lapel clip keeps the cord out of the way and sports both VOX and PTT features. Yet the PTT/VOX controls are somewhat cumbersome and the ear design cannot hold up to high energy activity. Looking at the design and the VOX setting, it appears to be more of a business application than anything else. I personally dislike VOX headsets as I find they always cut off the first part of the message as you begin to speak or the headset transmits when you don't intend it to, confusing the rest of the users on the radio net.

So after looking at both headsets that Motorola advertises for its radios and sells in most retail stores such as The Source/Radioshack, Future Shop and Costco, the headsets fall far short of expectations for the price of the item you are buying. The boom headset should be the more expensive one, yet its not, why I have no idea. Is there hope for us that enjoy our Talkabout radios with the features we desire? Well yes there is and its available where else, but eBay.ca!

Airtube Headset ($11.99CDN + $5.00 S/H)

Available through Affordable Radio (dubbed rightly so) and hopefully more retailers in the future, this headset fits nearly ever Talkabout model out there, if not ALL of them. To see if your model is compatible, check out their page here. The headset uses a soft in-ear tube like you would see on security personal or in the movies on Secret Service agents (Package comes with a spare earbud). It fits comfortably and loops around the top of the ear so it does not fall out of the ear even in the most physical situations. The coil in the tube allows for smooth movement and keeps it out of your way. There are TWO lapel clips: one on the airtube and one on the back of the PTT switch. If the wire is pulled, stress is not put on any important components.  The PTT switch is easy to press and sounds a responding click to ensure its been pressed, so you know without a doubt you have started to transmit.

Now, you can't tell by looking at it, but the PTT appears to have a build in microphone which is not made particularly clear in the description or image. However, I plugged this headset in my Talkabout 5000, which is one of the lower radios of the series and discovered I could put the radio under a mattress or in the freezer and still commuicate clearly with people outside the building. Thus I concluded there must be a microphone in the headset. I repeated the experiment by putting the PTT switch in the freezer and using the PTT on the radio and attempted to communicate through the microphone built into the radio, however, all my test party heard was static.

This is the headset Motorola should have made and at the offered price, it is a clear and obvious choice for those who enjoy the use of their Talkabout without the hassles of using a Motorola brand headset.