Noise When It’s Needed, Never When It’s Not

The SM100 Bluetooth headset cancels out background noise when you're on the phone, but amplifies it to prevent blocked hearing while you're waiting for the next call.

For most people, the thrill of being entirely free from wires during a phone call is reason enough to buy a Bluetooth headset. Potential issues like background noise or blocked hearing in one ear don’t even come into the equation. For picky consumers who do pay attention to these things, Sound ID may have a solution with their SM100 EarModule Bluetooth headset, announced Monday.

The tiny SM100 features three modes for different usage scenarios. Mobile Mode is for regular phone conversations, and takes advantage of Sound ID’s NoiseNavigation system to block background noise. It works to cancel out distracting environmental noises for both the immediate user and the person on the other end of the line by adjusting for their loudness, frequency, pitch and tempo.

Users can activate EnvironmentalMode in between phone calls, when they want to keep their headsets on for the next call, but also needs to be able to hear what’s going on around them. In this mode, the SM100 actually amplifies sound from the surrounding environment, to prevent the “earplug effect” that occurs with traditional headsets when they aren’t in use.

Should one SM100 owner stumble upon another SM100 owner, One2One mode will allow them to link up their headsets and use them as two-way radios. Sounds neat, but given Bluetooth’s woefully limited range, we don’t expect this to be of much use in the real world.

The SM100 is available immediately at Sound ID’s Web site, and retails for $129.99.