We used to think that people walking by talking to themselves were schizophrenic. But it turns out they were on their cell phones and using some hands-free system. Well, most of them were.

A new wireless earpiece from Cardo Systems has been getting great reviews from the walk-and-talk crowd, so we thought we’d try one too. Sure enough, we’re giving it a great review.

The gadget is called Scala 700 and uses Bluetooth technology to connect with your cell phone, which presumably is nearby — like in your purse or pocket. It weighs less than half an ounce and is worn looped around one ear. It felt comfortable enough.

The sound quality is excellent, incoming and out-going, and you can use voice commands to dial, redial, initiate a conference call or reject a call. If you have more than one cell phone, you can switch between them with the touch of a button on the tiny earpiece.

You can also push a button to find out how much battery life you have left. Normally, the battery is good for 10 hours of talk and 10 days of standby. If you put the earpiece down and can’t find it — and with something this small, that’s pretty easy to do — you can activate a location buzzer with a call from your cell phone.

The Scala 700 lists for $70 at the company’s Web site, Cardowireless.com, but we found it for $42 at Amazon.com, and it’s a good bet that other online discounters will be selling for around the same price.