If you've been shopping around for headsets, you may have noticed that some products prominently state that they are Bluetooth 1.2 compatible. What does this mean, and is it worth the extra price? This short article will show you why Bluetooth 1.2 is better than 1.1, and why you might want it.

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What is BlueTooth 1.2?

Most cellphones and headsets today support Bluetooth v1.1. The newer ones are supporting the latest version of this technology, which is version 1.2. Version 1.2 offers a number of advantages over the previous standard:

* Better sound quality through echo cancellation and enhanced voice processing.
* Improved resistance to radio interferenace from cordless phones, microwave ovens, and certain wireless LAN technologies, all of which can degrade signal quality.
* Higher transmission speeds - not all that important if you just use your headset with your cellphone, but it can be important if you are using the headset (and perhaps other Bluetooth devices) with your laptop.
* The ability to listen to music via your Bluetooth headset - although you could listen to music with non-1.2 headsets, it would be much like listening to a friend's radio over the phone. This is because v1.1 heavily compresses the audio stream and can not transmit in stereo. For this reason, many phone and PDA manufacturers have disabled this feature with v1.1 .
* Contrary to some rumors, Bluetooth 1.2 does not use less power than 1.1, and you won't get longer battery life from a 1.2 headset.

Who Might Benefit From Bluetooth 1.2?

In short, if you plan to use your headset to listen to music, or perhaps with your laptop for gaming, then you should definitely go with version 1.2. You might also want it if you spend a lot of time on the phone and you are sure that your cellphone will support the new version.

On the other hand, if you aren't willing to spend as much on a headset, your cellphone doesn't support Bluetooth 1.2, or you just don't care about having the best sound quality on your headset, then a 1.1 headset will satisfy your needs.

Note: not all cellphones support Bluetooth 1.2. If you use your new 1.2 headset with one of these, it will automatically revert back to Bluetooth 1.1. Before buying a headset that supports this standard, check the documentation that came with your cellphone to make sure your phone supports it.