Received 1st HBM-30, battery level display on 1 bar with brand new battery, Played music for approximately 30mins before packing up on me, bought loads of batteries ever ready, Sony, Duracell some success with these but again unit quit after 10 mins of play, decided to contact Sony Ericsson customer service. They didn't have a clue, I eventually decided to exchange for new one, replaced within a week, no problems. Battery display 3 bars with Duracell lasted 8-10hrs, decided to try rechargeable not bad, left to charge over night, got about 6hrs continuous play (saved a fortune). Unit still going strong after 6mths. ADVICE.. IF UNIT DOES NOT DISPLAY 3 BARS ON BATTERY INDICATOR AND DOES NOT LAST FOR 6-8 HRS OF CONTINUOS PLAY RETURN TO DEALER...When you have a decent HBM-30 in full working order it's not a bad little gadget, helps me through the long bus and train journeys throughout the day and I don't have to worry about missing a call.

Have been using a Sony Ericsson HBM-30 for about 5 months, but my unit just doesn't work. Sony claim a 10 hour battery life- nope. 10 hours not playing music with b.tooth disabled yes, but that is disingenuous. You need to put in fresh batteries every day- a new batt lasts about 30 minutes, and can manage about 10 minutes after a day's break. The battery itself is not exhausted, it would still work in a TV remote, but the unit requires a high power level (that means no rechargables) to operate. I have asked Sony Ericsson to comment, but they have thus far ignored me competely. The battery compartment is also fiddly- lord knows why they didn't make it a bit bigger with a rechargable cell that could be plugged in every nite with the phone, rather than this dog's dinner that would work great for about the duration of a review, but is no good for anyone using on a daily basis, who would like to listen to music and know when they're being called, but doesn't want their head fried by cellphone radiation. Avoid, perhaps get a PDA with bluetooth and appropriate connection software.