Source: Tom's Guide | Keywords: bluetooth, headphones | Themes: Audio/Video Players
1. What Bluetooth Offers Headphones
Headphone cables tangle in clothes and bag straps and you can’t wear them at the same time as a cell phone headset. If your phone rings while you’re listening to music, you might not even hear it while wearing noise-canceling headphones. If you do, you have to pull out your headphones and put your music on pause before answering the phone. Combining a Bluetooth headset with music headphones is a solution — plus you can control your music player without pulling it out of your pocket. But can you get the same audio quality that headphones offer and Bluetooth phone capabilities in one device?
There are several different approaches to wireless headphones, ranging from Etymotic’s oddly square twin ETY8 headsets to classic over-the-ear cams from Creative. Some only stream music, while most serve as a mobile phone headset as well. We tried out nine different models, comparing them to our top-rated in-ear headphones like the Shure E500s and to the Aliph Jawbone noise-canceling headset. We wanted to see if you can get comfort, control and high quality in the same package — and how much you have to spend.
What You Can Listen To
There are a handful of personal media players with Bluetooth built-in, including several Samsung models, and very many mobile phones have music players and support the A2DP profile for streaming stereo audio over Bluetooth. If you want to control the music on your media player or your phone from your headphones, it needs to support the AVRCP protocol as well. If you want to listen to music and answer phone calls on the same headphones without playing music on your phone, look for a pair of Bluetooth headphones with multipoint capability like the Jabra BT8010 or Nokia BH-501 models.
Only a few portable media players like the Samsung YP-T9 have Bluetooth built in. Many media players don’t have Bluetooth built in – like the iPod – so you’ll need an adapter. The ETY8 headphones come with an iPod dock adapter and the Plantronics Plusar and Creative headphones include a universal adapter that fits into a headphone socket. There are numerous A2DP adapters of both types available separately. Adapters like the one supplied with the ET8s or the Motorola DC650 and Jabra A125s that fit into the iPod dock will draw power from the iPod so it will drain the battery faster (which also happens when using the built-in Bluetooth on a music player). Adapters like the Creative, Pulsar or Jabra A120s that connect to the headphone socket may not give you the same audio quality and they will need charging separately, but they won’t run down your music player any faster.
We tested these headphones with the Samsung YP-T9 media player, the Motorola MOTORIZR phone, the iPod Nano and several HTC Windows Mobile devices to see how easy they are to pair, how good they are at making phone calls, how easy the controls are to use and how good your music will sound.
- Next page Motorola MOTOROKR S9
Although the quality of the sound, range and simplicity of the 590a speak for them self, there is one area that all reviews will never tap into and that is usually the durability and the overall quality of the product. The huge minus for this product is the very cheap plastic that they have used. I have had this pair for slightly over a year and the only thing keeping it together is the epoxy mixture, lots of patience and forgiveness. So if you love sound and don't mind applying epoxy every couple of months, or if you want to give someone a gift that will eventually upset them, then this is a BARGAIN!!!
I've taken a middle ground - I use a BlueStreamer 2 device, which lets you hook up your wired headset to the device. It then can communicate with your Bluetooth phone/player. While I do have "wires" connected to the BlueStreamer, I'm not connected to my phone (or my Samsung P2). I feel comfortable in saying that using my Jays Q-Jays headset and the BlueStreamer 2 exceeds the audio quality of any of the devices mentioned. Big time (I also have the S9).
Can't you guys put up some of your own photos highlighting the pros/cons of each set rather than just using stock photos? I want to see those tiny buttons on the Motorola S9s!
I'm real curious about the Plantronics Pulsar 590As and how they compare with the Motorola s805 (which seem to have all the same features and have been around for years). I have been thinking about getting the s805 because i saw some good reviews.. and now I?d like to know which is better.
You failed to review the Sony BT50 (link below). It has a better sound quality than the Plantronics, which I also own. The Sony is also better because, being over the ears, it muffles the outside noise better than all but one you reviewed. It has a lower distance range than the Plantroics, though. I've gone thru several bluetooth headphones and the two I just mentioned are the best.
http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wc [...] 1665095015
I've got the Plantronics 590 without the analogue adaptor - alot cheaper, Eventhough I don't get the plug in desktop charger. I bought them to be as comfortable as possible to wear all day at work. They are, especially compared to over the hook over-the-ear types. I was blown away with the sound quality. Having had 4 other sets of bluetooth earpieces I didn't expect it to be anywhere near as good.
I do have 2 issues - when listening to music from my notebook I'm sure that occasionally songs slow down for a few seconds - just enough to be noticable. Then again I have had issues with my notebook bluetooth adaptor so might be unrelated to the 590s. The other issue is that headband is not comformatable around the neck when you dont have a collared shirt - ie when not using them. That's because they have sharp edges on the adjustbable area of the headband.
i had problems with Bluetooth headphones of Plantronics 590A where i would get interference. The bluetooth audio connector didnt seem to transmitt at any range other then 2m infront of the pc. I fixed it by extending output audio jack with a 3.5mm audio cable so that bluetooth transmitter thing sat ontop of the pc. Now the sound is very clear.
i just get one form http://www.yopool.com/motorola-mot [...] -p-34.html , cost me US$39.95