This little guide will hopefully help people distinguish between fake and original bluetooth headsets.
As many already know, the electronic market has been heavily infested with grey market items coming from abroad - especially from Asian markets. Alot of these items look and appear to be original and have all the major company logos and writings on their packaging. The only major difference of couse is that these items function poorly and in essence are illegal products.

With much experience in bluetooth headsets I will give you just a pointers that may help you decide whether the headset your about to buy is original or a grey market item.

1) Is the package open? if so, what is the condition of the headset? There is no such thing as bulk packaging - anything in plastic ziplock bags is either refurbished or a knock off.
2) Are the manuals all in english? are they made for the North American market? does the seller guarantee North American warranty for the headset
3) Is the headset made from material the same as that from a retail store? yes, people believe me I have seen probably 30 versions of the HS850 so far.
4) what? can't hear anything? if your headset volume is too low and the person on the other side cannot hear you, then you might have purchased a fake headset by accident...
5) Does the seller obtain them from authorized distributors? Is the seller an authorized reseller? Are they both legitimate businesses?

These are just a few questions to ask yourself before you buy a new headset. I do recommend dealing with headsets that you can easily determine their distributors and resellers (example: Plantronics, Jabra, Gennum, etc..)

Regards,
Joe Daoud
Star One Direct