Pros: light, small, works
Cons: I overpaid
The bottom line: In some ways it is the best of the three Bluetooth headsets that I own
For the past several months I have been jealous of the Bluetooth headset I bought for my wife. I picked it out. I set it up. I taught her how to use it. Yet she is walking around Bluetoothing with impunity while I am stuck using these crude hands to hold my phone. Now that I have a headset of my own I have been comparing it to the one I bought her and I feel compelled to tell you how the Motorola H500 measures up.

I think there is a taboo on Epinions about reviewing products that you don't own. While this is technically my wife's headset I do, in a way, own it. I bought it, figured it out, and before I got my own I even used it a fair bit. I feel very comfortable telling you about it, but I wanted to be up front.

One of the biggest things I have learned since acquiring the Motorola H500 is how to buy them. More specifically I have learned how not to buy them. I bought this one at Verizon at the same time we picked out my wife's new phone. They offered us a bundle of accessories, including headset, case, and car charger, for the sale price of $70. All the while they assured me that the headset alone was normally $70. I pulled the trigger and have since come to regret it. I have bought two Bluetooth headsets since then for a combined price of about $9. If you have the inclination and leisure bide your time and shop around. Both of mine were free after rebate and all I paid was tax on one and tax plus shipping on the other.

H500 Details
One of the best things about the Motorola H500 is that it is small and lightweight. I personally have the Motorola H300 which, while it has some distinct advantages, has the rather large disadvantage of being both bigger and heavier. The Motorola H500 weighs only .6 ounces to the H300's .9 ounces. A third of an ounce may seem trivial but my ear must not be much of a weight lifter, because I can certainly tell a difference in comfort. The longer you wear them the more you will notice the difference. The Motorola H500 measures 1/8" high, by 2-5/8" wide by, 2-1/8" deep. Motorola advertises battery life at up to 8 hours of talk time and up to 200 hours of standby time. I can't challenge their assertion because my wife tends to turn it off when she doesn’t plan to use it (because of how it drains her phone's battery to keep it paired all the time, not because of the H500 battery life) and she also tends to just charge it whenever she remembers to, regardless of any sort of low battery indicator. I can tell you that she often goes 1 to 2 weeks between charges. The Motorola H500 has three buttons. A call button on the outside, across the unit from the speaker, and volume buttons on the top and bottom. This ties in to one very cool feature. There is an ear loop, like on all Bluetooth headsets. Well this ear loop is reversible in case for some reason you don’t like wearing it on your right ear. The Motorola H500 has orientation technology whereby it knows when you have reversed the ear loop. So when the unit is on your right ear the up volume control will be on the top of the headset with the down volume button on the bottom and when the unit is on your left ear the up volume control will still be on the top of your headset with the down volume button on the bottom. Other than that, there is a single blue LED light to let you know different statuses of the headset. Constant on, the headset is in find me mode, a blink every now and then lets you know it is paired and so on.

Personal Experience
I think the most important part of any product review, no matter how detailed, is the personal experience. The short, short version is that the Motorola H500 works well. I have two other headsets to compare it to. For ease of use the Motorola H500, Motorola H300, and Jabra BT350 all rank about the same. They are all equally easy to set up and use. For sound and microphone quality I would say the Motorola H500 is better than the Jabra BT350 and roughly equal to the Motorola H300. It is roughly the same size and weight as the Jabra BT350 while being slightly smaller and lighter than the Motorola H300. All things considered I think the Motorola H500 is the clear winner, except for one thing. I paid $70 for the Motorola H500 and the other two were nearly free. I have no issues with the speaker. People sound clear. Sometimes it is hard to hear them when I am walking downtown, but that is no different than my phone while not using Bluetooth. I have asked numerous people how I sound while talking to them using the Motorola H500. I keep getting the same answer back, "sounds the same as your phone, I didn't know you were using a headset". The exception is when both people are using Bluetooth headsets. There is sometimes some feedback or static. I think this is consistent with all Bluetooth headsets and not specific to the H500.

Setup
Setup is very simple, even if you are not technically inclined. The headset comes with a quick start guide. This one came with a charge already on the battery so I was able to get it up and running without even charging it. To charge it you just plug in the mini USB wall charger. Turn the Bluetooth feature on for your phone. For my phone this went MENU - SETTINGS - CONNECTIONS - BLUETOOTH LINK - SETUP. Within setup turn the Bluetooth power on. To get started press and hold the call button until the light is constantly lit. Back to the phone, MENU - SETTINGS - CONNECTIONS - BLUETOOTH LINK - HANDSFREE - LOOK FOR DEVICES. When it finds the Motorola H500 select it. The enter your pass code, included in the quick start guide for Motorola phones, and you are set. Keep in mind all the examples above were for my Motorola phone

Conclusion
My recommendation has to be based on a price to features ratio. I think this headset is probably the best of the three that I own in terms of features, but it was also the most expensive. For that reason it comes in last since it was not a good value. If you get a good price on it, I do recommend it based on the fact that it is lightweight and works quite well.