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BlueTooth earpieces have been around for quite a while now. Most phones on the market and many computers can use this wireless technology with ease. While I’m not a fan for several reasons (detailed below), I keep coming back to the idea of using one every few years. MoGo sent me one of their units to test with my iPhone 4, and it solved several of the problems I generally have with earpieces – but let’s not get ahead of ourselves. The MoGo Talk XD2 is a case for the iPhone 4 that completely covers the back and sides of the phone. Built into the back of the case is a holster and charging cradle for the earpiece. The case itself adds a bit of bulk and weight to the iPhone, but the edges give a good grip and hold the phone’s face above a surface, should you happen to place it face-down. The back is somewhat of a camel’s hump on the back, but it fits nicely in your hand.
The case itself covers the buttons (except for the mute switch) with flexible caps that feel exactly like the buttons themselves – a nice touch. The opening for the mute switch looks to be shaped to accommodate both Verizon and AT&T iPhones. My AT&T unit’s switch is high in the opening, and the Verizon phone switch is lower, but I have no way to check it out.
Volume buttons and hole for mute switch
There is a port for the Apple 30-pin connector in the base, as well as holes for the speaker and mic. The sync cable port is fine with Apple’s cable, but several of the other cables I have (longer ones with side clips especially) didn’t engage fully. Beside the sync cable port, there is a microUSB connector for charging the cradle. There is no LED or other indicator to show the amount of charge on either the case/cradle or the earpiece. The single LED on the earpiece glows red when it’s not charged but plugged in, and blue when it’s fully charged. This is a bit irritating, as you don’t know if you have five hours of time left or five minutes.
Bottom ports
The included USB to microUSB cable is short, just over 2 feet, but of good quality.
Ports and cable
The earpiece clicks into the cradle easily by wedging under a soft rubber pad. Finger pressure on the opposite side pops it out for use.
The earpiece holds tightly, yet releases easily.
Using the MoGo Talk was very natural. With the earpiece snapped into the case, it’s always with you. This is one of my main negative issues with BlueTooth earpieces – they tend to be a pain to carry around and keep up with. They are great, especially when driving, or if you want to take notes, or read info on the Web while you’re talking, it’s nice to not have to use the speaker phone, but I have lost or broken a few trying to carry them around.
The sound of the earpiece, while not perfect, is quite good for a unit that folds perfectly flat. I thought it would be much worse, or fit imperfectly, but the rubber cup holds it into your ear, and seals out environmental noise nicely. The BlueTooth connection never gave me any static or difficulty in syncing, except when I was using other BlueTooth devices at the same time.
There are no special bells and whistles like on some other earpieces: no noise-cancellation, no apps you can download, no voice recognition, other than what’s offered through iOS’s native Voice Command. At a price of $99, it’s a bit on the high end for a plain vanilla earpiece, but the case and cradle is quite a well-integrated combination. In the few weeks that I’ve been using it, I’ve not seen any cracking or flaking of the materials, and the cradle retains a good hold on the earpiece.
I give it four stars overall. Design, concept and execution are all well done. A bit more feedback for power and a slightly lower price and this could be a 5-star unit, but I don’t think anyone in occasional need of a BlueTooth earpiece will feel they made a bad purchase.
A gadget nerd from childhood, Smythe has always been drawn to solving everyday problems with clever tools. An Apple fan since his Mac Plus in 1987, he's usually pretty current with devices. Sometimes, however, he still misses his Newton 2100 MessagePad.
