Logitech has always seems to make sturdy, reliable products. The Mobile Freedom and Traveller are no exception. While the Freedom is an older headset, and many of my friends and associates sware by it, I've never had one myself just because of all the other headsets I was reviewing at the time. I now have both Logitech headsets and wanted to write up this review on them, since both headsets are very similar in price.

Mobile Freedom




Sound Quality*

Incoming
The incoming sound quality on the Mobile Freedom is good. It's loud and clear, there's a little to much treble for my liking but overly a very good sound to it. The foam cover confortably fits the circumference of your ear and doesn't block your ear off to the outside
world which is why many people dont' like the in ear design of some headsets.



the Volume is pretty good. I myself would prefer it to be louder, but no complaints from me

Outgoing
The Mobile Freedom is the older headset of the bunch, however it is a good all around performer. It handles wind with ease using Logitech's windstop technology. This is one of the best headsets for in car / outdoor use I have found.

I've done numerous tests with the Freedom which consisted of anywhere from 60km/h to 120km/h drives in various different scenarios from driver window open a little to emulate "smokers window" to the passenger window being half down to both windows being full down. In each and every of these scnearios the headset worked and callers could hear me. This is no easy feat considering many before it have failed in this area.

My callers liked the sound of the Mobile Freedom headset. They told me it sounded natural and didn't have that "distant" sound that many other headsets posses. When you go outside the quality drops a bit but still works well. People definately know you're outside on the Mobile Freedom as they can hear the spatial difference from being in a car/office to being outisde. Especially in traffic. You can hear the cars passing by, but it's not overly intrusive and the conversation can still be had.

*The W600 is a LOUD phone, and it seems to just amplifly all headsets.. Even the older motorola headsets I have at the shop once paired with the W600 are louder then with other phones.

Battery life
No complaints from me. The Mobile Freedom is a long lasting headset.
Logitech claims 7 hours with 250 hours standby on the Mobile Freedom and i don't see it being a false claim either as I often went days without charging it.

Misc
The Mobile Freedom, interestingly enough, is a Bluetooth 1.2 complaint headset which these days is a common thing, but back when the Mobile Freedom was more popular 1.2 was a rarity. So along with the nice and comfortable headset, you get the benefits 1.2 provide like frequency hopping and better sound quality as well as faster pairing to other devices. Logitech themselves advertise the fact that the mobile Freedom works great in hifh WiFi areas resisting interference

Size / Weight
The Mobile Freedom comes in at 0.8oz or 23 grams
the Mobile Traveller comes in at 1/2oz or 14 grams

The following picture should give you a good reference to the sizing of each unit.







Mobile Traveller


Sound quality*

Incoming
The Mobile Traveller is the newer generation of the Logitech windstop line of headsets. That being said, it's also noticeably Louder and cleaner then the Freedom is. The Foam earpiece is actualy smaller in diameter the the Mobile Freedom and as a result, in my ears anyway, it's a more secure/snug fit. This Fit, coupled with a louder earpiece to begin with, makes the Mobile Traveller a winner in my opinion.



The incoming sound quality is a little bit cleaner, a little bit louder, a little bit nicer. The Mobile Traveller is a winner for those looking for an affordable loud bluetooth headset.

Outgoing
The outgoing quality of the Mobile Traveller is quite good. better then the Freedom and more natural sounding as my callers have told me. Both the Freedom and the Traveller are great headsets for outgoing quality but the Traveller seems to sound better doing it. The same driving test was done on the Traveller and it also did very well in all of my windows open/closed combinations. The Windstop technology works very well.

There are 2 solutions for noise filtering, like anything else, one is a software solution and the other is a hardware solution.
The Software solution, of course, would be DSP.
Then we have Logitech's solution which is windstop technology. Because of this windstop, the Traveller and Freedom are excellent in car and outside headsets. sometimes I wonder how this charcoal looking tip stops so much wind. There are instances where wind is slapping me in the face (120km/h will do that) and yet the caller can still hear me. This is excellent.

*The W600 is a LOUD phone, and it seems to just amplifly all headsets.. Even the older motorola headsets I have at the shop once paired with the W600 are louder then with other phones.

Battery life
The Mobile Traveller claims an 8 hour talktime 300 standby vs the 7 hours talktime 250 standby on the Mobile Freedom. The Traveller never let me down with talktime. Again, there are times I've gone days withoug charging the Traveller and it still works.

An interesting note, and one that Logitech themselves make, is that because the Freedom and Traveller's use the windstop mic, which is a hardware solution, not a SW solution, there are no extra battery robbing electronics present in the headset.

Call Handling
The Mobile Traveller has quite a few call handling features, although remembering them can take some studying.

last Number redial - Press and hold volume - for 3 seconds - doubble beep
Incoming call reject - Press MFB (multi function button) for more then 3 seconds - double beep

Advanced Features
3 way call features
Release all held - MFB and vol - simultaneously more then 6 seconds - single beep
accept waiting, release active - Vol + button or more then 6 seconds - single beep
accept waiting hold active, switch between them vol - for more then 6 seconds - single beep
3 way, conference call or add held call MFB and Vol + for more then 6 seconds - single beep

Conclusions
Both headsets are excellent headsets. and they're literally within $10.00 of each other with the Freedom being $79.95 and the Traveller being $89.95. Because of the closeness in price, my recomendation is to "spring" for the Mobile Traveller since it does everything the Freedom does and better in a lighter better looking non phallic package

Because both headsets are so close i'm gonna score them with 1 rating but will specify which of the headsets is getting specific bullets.

PRO's
*Small sizes, smaller on Traveller
*Excellent battery life on both units
*Excellent Volumes, louder on Traveller
*Comfortable wearablility on Traveller
*Excellent incoming call qualities on both headsets, little louder on Traveller
*Logitech's Windstop Technology

CON's
*Ear hook on Freedom can become uncomfortable
*Look of Freedom is questionable
*way to hard to remember all the sequences needed to use the advanced calling features