Galaxy S II: The Missing Manual

Bluetooth Earpieces

YOUR GALAXY S II bristles with antennas: for Wi-Fi, GPS, cellular networks, and Bluetooth. Bluetooth is a short-range wireless technology designed to let all kinds of devices connect with one another, to exchange or sync files and photos, for example, or to let a cellphone serve as a wireless modem for a computer.

With a little work (and some downloadable apps), you can get the Galaxy S II to do all that. Mostly, though, the Galaxy S II’s Bluetooth capabilities come in handy for hands-free talking with Bluetooth earpieces.

If you’ve ever seen someone walking down the street, apparently talking to an invisible friend, you’ve seen Bluetooth in action (unless he really was talking to an invisible friend). The small device clips to your ear, and you talk into its microphone and listen in the tiny speaker stuck in your ear.

Note

The earpiece you use for making phone calls is typically monaural, and not designed for listening to music. If you’re a music lover, invest in a stereo Bluetooth headset.

Pairing with a Bluetooth Earpiece

To use a Bluetooth earpiece with your phone, you’ll need to pair them—that is, get the two of them talking to each other. The process is a bit geeky, but not hard. The exact steps may vary a bit depending on the earpiece you’re using. But generally, these are the steps you’ll take:

1. Turn Bluetooth on in the earpiece and make it discoverable.

   In other words, set the earpiece so your Galaxy S II can find it. Check the earpiece’s documentation on how ...