Logitech Wireless Headphones for iPod

Eve

There are two components, a headphone-jack adapter and a pair of headphones—white and gray, naturally. The system transmits the sound from one component to the other using Bluetooth wireless connectivity. Even some older iPods are supported, provided they have the extra hole next to the headphone jack for remote control. Once you've charged up both units, whose internal batteries last up to eight hours, you power them up and the invisible link is immediately formed.

Since I typically use Sony Street-Style headphones, the larger wraparound style didn't weigh me down, though bud lovers certainly will have to adjust. Though you can use the headphones at up to 30 feet from the iPod itself, this is really for close-in convenience. Instead of having a cord dangling awkwardly from your head down to your pocket, purse or backpack, you have the freedom to hide your iPod away. Set your playlist, drop it in your bag, then wander around, letting people on the sidewalk, at the gym or on the bus wonder where your music comes from.

The biggest relief was, of course, that my music—teleported through space and time—didn't suffer in quality. Still, operation can be a little tricky. Summoning the skills I use with Bluetooth earpieces for my phone, I paid close attention to how long I pressed the on/off button of headphone and adapter, as well as the color of the little indicator lights, and how often they were flashing. It's a different sort of language, but the brief manual has a translation: when you see blue lights, it's all systems go. When either component blinks red, get it back to the charger, pronto. At one point the adapter was glowing solid red and I got a little scared. There's no mention of solid red in the handbook.

Design-wise, there's just one thing that bothered me: because the adapter sits on top of the iPod, it covers up the Hold switch. When you pull out the adapter (or, generally speaking, when you pull anything out of the headphone jack), newer iPods automatically pause. This means that when you're listening to music and lift the adapter to flip the Hold switch, you end up pausing your music then locking your controls. The solution to this weird little riddle is to play your music first, hit the Hold switch second, then put the headphone adapter in.

You'd eventually figure that out, but I bring it up because I didn't want you to get discouraged immediately after buying one of these cool but definitely geek-class gadgets.