Plantronics BackBeat GO vs. Motorola S10-HD

As I mentioned in a previous post, my iFitness Belt destroyed my headphone cord.  Of course, this sucked, but I am satisfied enough with the belt that I decided to buy bluetooth headphones so that I can continue using it.

Originally, I bought the Motorola S10-HD headphones.  They had mixed reviews, so I wasn't sure what to expect, but I figured that I might as well see for myself.  I bought them on a Saturday and ran a 10K in them on a Sunday.  That was enough for me to decide to return them. 

Pros: 

• They are cord-free. Seriously. That's all I've got. 

Cons: 

• The earpieces hurt.  At first, I thought it was just because I wear glasses, but I tried them on without my glasses and they still felt awkward, heavy, and uncomfortable. My ears hurt for about 3 hours after taking them off. 
• The sound quality was not great.  I don't need the highest quality sound on the market because I basically just want to listen to music while I run so that I don't have to hear the obnoxious sound of my breathing, but the sound quality was comparable to my $10 ear buds and for $50 headphones, I would expect better. 
• I had to have the headphones on both ears or none. As I was waiting for the race to start, I kept having to take them off to listen to the announcements. I prefer to have the option of using an ear bug on just one side.   
• I could not rest the headphones around my neck when not in use. I had to take them off and keep track of them.  
• Although you can change the eartips, they just didn't seem to fit properly in my ears.

I returned them and bought Plantronics BackBeat GO.  I got them at Best Buy and because they price match, I paid around $59 for them.  

Pros:

• These are like typical earbuds.  This means that I can choose to have only one side in at a time, I can hang them around my neck when not it use.  
• The small eartips fit very nicely in my ears and are comfortable (well as comfortable as earbuds can be). 
• They are very lightweight compared to the S10-HDs. 
• I called my friend, Laura, using both sets of headphones.  She said that the sound quality was better for the BackBeat Go headphones.  Although, she had no difficulty understanding me with either set. 

Cons: 

• Without the stabilizers, they don't stay in my ears at all. With the stabilizers in place, I have used them on multiple runs and neither side has ever fallen out.  They feel perfectly fine during a run and I can easily forget that I have them in.  However, when I take them out, I notice a little bit of pain from the pressure of the stabilizers.  This only lasts a few minutes, but is not particularly pleasant. 
• The sound quality is not amazing, but it is good enough for my purposes. 
• It would be easier for me to lose these because they are so small and compact. 

Basically, there is no competition as far as I am concerned. The Plantronics BackBeat GO earbuds far surpass the Motorola S10-HD for my purposes.  

Either way, using a bluetooth headset is a wonderful way to go.  Freedom! 

*The opinions expressed in this post are my own. I purchased my own Motorola S10-HD and Plantronics BackBeat GO headphones.