thrasher32's Full Review: Blueant X3 micro Bluetooth Headset
The phone that began the great quest for acceptable headphones
I recently purchased an LG CU500v cell phone, which among it's many other features, includes a very nice Music/MP3 player...read my review on the LG CU500v here:
Anyways, after trying about 4 different wired headphones and earbuds, I finally figured out that any wired headphones were not going to be loud enough (the phone's fault) and that the wires were a real pain. Realizing that the CU500v was stereo bluetooth capable, I'd figured I'd try the bluetooth stereo headphone route. The first set I purchased were the Motorola S9's.
Motorola S9 design
The Motorola S9's have an interesting design. They are a one-piece, non-folding, around the head design. The entire headset is rubberized so it's sweat and moisture resistant.
The on/off button, charger receptacle, and internal rechargable battery are located on the back of the headset. The volume controls and call pickup button are located on the left side of the headset, and the music player control buttons (next track, previous track, pause/play) are located on the right side of the headset.
The earpieces are fixed in place, and the headset is designed so that they loop around the top of your ear and the earbuds stick inside your ear canals.
The headphones in action
OK, I have an admittedly larger than usual head. I'm a big guy. That being said, I didn't really have much problem putting the headphones on and getting them situated. It takes a minute to get them situated correctly, but I got the job done.
As far as the sound quality of the headphones go, I would rate them as merely adequate. The headphones have enough volume, but at the higher end of the volume spectrum the sound breaks up noticeably and exhibits some fairly pronounced distortion.
When a call comes in, you get a pleasant ringing sound. You pick up the call using the call pickup button on the left side of the headphones. You will only hear your caller in the left headphone. This is not my phone, it's the headphones, my new set runs call sound through both earpieces.
When seated in the ear properly, that is to say pushed in your ear so there's a seal, the bass response is good. The problem is that the earbuds do not stay pressed in your ear canal, they constantly slip loose, which leaves you pushing them back in every 3 minutes or so.
A couple of more problems with the design are that after wearing the headphones for a couple of hours, they make the top of your ears sore because of the way they wrap around the top of your ear, and wearing glasses of any type is a challenge because there is not room for your glasses and the headphones behind the ear. You can rest your glasses on top of the headphones but that feels weird and makes you look funny.
The last bummer about the phone design is the buttons on either side of the headphones. They are hard to locate with your fingers, and when you do, some buttons are too easy to push (volume, track), so when you brush them you change the volume or the track, and to add insult to injury the call pickup and pause/play buttons are just opposite, they take quite a bit of pressure to activate and are equally hard to locate.
On the upside, the battery lasts 8+ hours, and I didn't have any problem at all pairing the headset with my phone. The operation range was also pretty good, about 20-30 feet from the phone and they worked fine.
Bottom line
These would be good headphones for working out I suppose, as long as you don't mind pushing them back in your ears between reps. Although I didn't use them while jogging or bike riding, I imagine that all the motion would jar them loose rather quickly. Not recommended for driving or office use because of the comfort/glasses issues.
All said, these are ok headphones, but a redesign is needed. Not recommended for anyone except gym-goers or really sweaty people.
The award winning X3 micro Bluetooth earset is one of the smallest and best performing earsets available in the world. Lightweight, stylish and comfor...More at Buy.com
The award winning X3 micro Bluetooth earset is one of the smallest and best performing earsets available in the world. Lightweight, stylish and comfor...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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