Best Wireless (Blue Ant X5 £80/$150) |
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 If you want to join the wireless revolution, Bluetooth Stereo Headphones are for you. No wires to get tangled up in the gym and great for phone calls.
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Every so often, I get to test a product that I would term “revolutionary” as opposed to most which are somehow “evolutionary.” BlueAnt Wireless is an Australian company specializing in Bluetooth short range wireless devices.
Bluetooth Stereo is a killer feature, but it is so new that I have yet to really experience it implemented in an effective, user-friendly fashion. Enter the X5.
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Design |
 The X5 is a behind the head, over the ear headphone – often called a “street” style. The X5 comes with soft, cushioned pads and a set of foam pads as well. I preferred the cushioned feel.
The headphones fold for easily storage and the cups swivel for a good fit over the ear. The right headphone has all the controls – the on/off switch and the multi function button. There are also a volume up and volume down buttons along the edge. The multi function button can be used to answer calls or to disconnect or initiate voice command when the headphones are used as a headset.
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Ease of Use |
The first thing you need to do with the X5 is pair it with your Bluetooth device. I used both a Treo 650 and a Motorola Q for test purposes. Pairing was a snap – hold the volume up button and the power button for a few seconds and alternating blue and red lights start blinking. Just search for the headset with your Bluetooth device, enter the 1234 passcode and you are good to go.
One thing I found was that I was asked after the first pairing as a stereo headphone if I also wanted to pair the X5 as a headset. In theory, you can have the X5 play your music and a different headset take phone calls – at least you can do this with Windows Mobile devices.
Once it is set up the fun begins. In order to truly appreciate the marvel of this product, you need a Bluetooth phone/device that supports A2DP.
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What is A2DP? |
| This is techno-speak for the ability to stream Stereo signals over the Bluetooth Wireless connection of your Device. Your phone, PDA or MP3 player will say that it is A2DP or Bluetooth 2.0 compatible |
Using the X5 with a non-Bluetooth device |
 The X5 very thoughtfully ships with a Stereo Streamer – a small device which looks like one of the headphones disconnected from the headband. Just plug the streamer (with a standard, included audio cable) into the headphone jack of any device. I tried this with my iPod and it was great. The streamer sees the X5 and the music streams wirelessly across the room. |
Sound Quality |
Overall, I found the sound quality of the X5 to be more than satisfactory – it was quite good. Now, it was no where near the sound quality of my Super.fi Pro’s – but they cost a bit more as well.
The bass was good and the treble was a little weak. I found vocals and instruments to sound quite nice through the X5’s. What was amazing to me was the clarity of the signal and the beautiful stereo separation. I was sceptical of Bluetooth stereo – now I am a believer. As a Headset for phone calls, the X5 was nothing short of amazing. It was very cool to have the sound coming into both ears. The microphone did a good job at canceling background noise as callers had no trouble hearing me.
The best part of the X5 as a headset is that if you were listening to music prior to the phone call – it goes back to playing once the call is done.
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Coolness Factor |
 This is where this produce shines. Stereo headphones with no wires - for me, that’s huge. It means I can cut the grass with my Q in my pocket and my wires won’t get tangled in the trees. It means I can ride my Bike with no wires to get caught. And, it means that I could stream Sirius Satellite radio directly to my headphones from the Q with no wires. How cool is that? |
What the Critics Say |
Mr. Gadget (www.mrgadget.com) said: “Absolutely superb! The Blueant X5 Stereo Bluetooth Headset is by far the best sounding bluetooth stereo headphones that I've used and it's versatility is also amazing!”
PocketNow.com gave them a 4.5 (out of 5.0) and said: “The X5 stereo Bluetooth headset has a lot going for it: excellent volume, good microphone voice quality, a folding design for compact storage, memory for 10 paired devices, upgradeable firmware capability, and user replaceable batteries.”
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Overall Conclusions |
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This is a “revolutionary” product. I really think this is the future of Bluetooth technology. It was very, very cool to listen wirelessly. Sound quality was good and this product did exactly what it stated.
One thing to check is the A2DP compatibility of your phone or Bluetooth device. The Motorola Q worked great at streaming music. With the Treo, you need Pocket Tunes and a third party app called Audio Gateway from Softik.
The build quality was great, the included cables were terrific and the documentation is very clear. |
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