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BlueAnt S1 Bluetooth Speakerphone Review
August 17, 2009, 8:34 PM by ROB
Posted in BLUETOOTH, REVIEWS, MOBILE | 2016 views
I was totally impressed with BlueAnt's Q1 headset and decided I'd give their S1 speakerphone a try. I'd tried Bluetooth speakerphones in the past with marginal success; I have a very noisy Jeep Cherokee, so midrange products like the SurfaceSound Compact from Contour Design and one of Tenqa's early speakerphones—while great for light use—don't perform well enough in the harsh environment of my 1998 Cherokee.
When I first took the S1 for a ride down the Interstate, I feared the worst—it seemed difficult to hear my callers on the other end of the conversation. Once I got off of the highway and onto city streets, my calls sounded spectacular; the people I was speaking to said I sounded clearer than on my usual headset.
That being said, living in a metro area, I do spend the majority of my commute on the Beltline and that means a lot of Interstate driving.
What's Hot: When I can hear it, call quality is awesome. I've got pretty sensitive hearing, and low-quality speakers on phones and headsets frequently hurt my ears. Even though I'm still pumping phone-quality audio through the speakers, it somehow sounds more like I'm speaking with someone else in the room rather than over a phone. The audio is also louder than any other Bluetooth speakerphone I've used (though not quite loud enough for my vehicle—see above).
The design is nice and the device feels solid. Its visor clip is detatchable to protect it from breakage in case something catches the speakerphone.
Another cool feature is A2DP Stereo Bluetooth for streaming audio. Outside of the car, the S1 has found itself serving as a portable speaker for pumping music from my iPhone.
Like the Q1, the S1 supports multipoint connectivity, but I didn't have a chance to play with the feature.
What's Not: Apart from the volume issue (which is only relevant to people with noisy vehicles like mine), the only complaint I have of the device is how the buttons work for making and placing calls. The "Call" button doubles as the on/off button, so on more than one occasion, I found myself accidentally redialing my phone rather than turning the speakerphone off.
The S1 does have voice answering features and voice dial capability, but I didn't have the opportunity to receive a call with voice and my iPhone doesn't support voice dial.
The Bottom Line: While it's not quite perfect for me thanks to my noisy Jeep, the S1 is the closest Bluetooth speakerphone I've found to being adequate for my needs. Coming in at around $60, it's a great value for the money compared to other models in the same price range.
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BlueAnt Q1 Headset Review
May 20, 2009, 10:51 PM by ROB
Posted in BLUETOOTH, REVIEWS | 1672 views
The Q1 headset is BlueAnt's latest voice-enabled Bluetooth headset. The Q1 features a full set of voice commands for button-free operation and a sleek "gunmetal" finish in addition to the standard fare of mid- to high-end modern headsets: voice isolation technology, quick pairing, and multipoint technology.
What's Hot: Hands down, the Q1's most distinguished feature is its voice-enabled features. Turning on the headset for the first time, users are greeted by a set of voice prompts guiding them through the pairing process, eliminating the need for complicated button combinations when pairing the device with a phone. Once paired, the headset runs users through a crash-course on its voice commands before turning them loose to use the device on their own.
The voice commands are totally awesome. Since I ditched my Windows Mobile AT&T 8525 for my iPhone, I've sorely missed my voice-dialing ability, especially in conjunction with my headset. The Q1 gives me that freedom back. In the car, I don't have to take my eyes off of the road to answer a call; the Q1 alerts me to an incoming call and gives me the option to say "answer" or "ignore." To pair the device with a second phone, simply say "pair me" at the voice prompt. You can hear a list of commands by saying "What can I say?"
The headset's dual-microphone noise-cancelling technology identifies background noise and processes it to two degrees: "standard" and "maximum" noise reduction. The two modes can be changed on-the-fly during a call by pressing the headset's main button. I've had problems with other headsets picking up too much background noise (especially when I'm wasting time fragging on the Xbox and chatting at the same time) and call recipients report that call quality is much improved with the enhanced feature in loud environments such as the car and late-night Resident Evil 5 fragging.
What's Not: While the voice-command interface is utterly awesome, there are some issues with the voice processing. In noisy environments or if the headset is not properly aligned, response is sub-par to, say, Windows Mobile's Voice Command. I've said, "Switch Headset Off" and accidentally called a co-worker at 12:30 AM when the headset thought I said, "Call Speed Dial 5." The good news is that the phone has user-upgradeable firmware, so future revisions may or may not improve the accuracy of the voice command processing.
The Q1 also has a pretty poor battery life—just four hours of talk time. If you use a headset as often as I do, you'll be recharging often.
The Bottom Line: I'm no stranger to Bluetooth headsets (I've owned seven), so I can honestly say that the Q1 ranks near the top of my list. If it weren't for the sometimes-poor voice recognition accuracy, I'd give the device a 5/5 rating, but until a firmware update boosts that accuracy, I'll be using the Q1 solely as an "in the car" headset.
The Q1 is available now for $129.00 in Sprint stores and through Sprint's online stores. The headset should be available at retailers nationwide starting in June.
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