The badge itself hinges open to insert your security pass and is not dissimilar to the holder issued by your companies security desk, however it is a bit thicker and heavier as this badge contains all the electronics and battery for the Bluetooth headset. The cord that goes around your neck contains the headset earplug and microphone, the cable runs inside the cord from the badge with a button around halfway up for answering calls and also the microphone enclosure. The small ear bud is identical to one you'd get with an MP3 player although there is only a single earphone.

With a 10 meter range you can pair the smart badge with up to 8 devices and leave your mobile safely tucked away in a pocket while the 600 hours battery keeps an ear out for incoming calls, this is possibly the longest standby time we've ever encountered and its paired with a 40 hour talk time. Charging the battery can be done via the supplied AC adaptor or via USB from a suitably equipped CP or Mac.

The top edge of the Iqua Bluetooth badge has three buttons, a power button and status LED plus volume control buttons, our tests proved it to be a working package and that it provides very good call quality while remaining relatively comfortable. You can easily pop the earpiece out when not on a call and the vibrate alert means you can discreetly tell when a call is coming in allowing you to pop the earphone in and dive out of a meeting.

We are left wondering if a Bluetooth security pass is really what your average employee wants, everyone we showed the badge too expected it to do more. Perhaps the inclusion of an MP3 player and some flash memory would have made it more desirable to the office geek and flash memory would make it hand for carrying files about and even open up the possibility of voice recording. Lastly it would not be too much of a stretch to imagine the Bluetooth communications being used to unlock a users PC replacing biometric access devices.

Overall a very competent device with a huge battery life but one where we have to question its overall functionality, it needs more bells and whistles to convince us to wear it at work, for now its probably got a limited appeal amongst those strange individuals who wear a Bluetooth headset in the office!

Published - 10/01/2006

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