Headset Gazette

BlueAnt V1

Australian Bluetooth headset and speakerphone manufacturer BlueAnt is finally making available its award-winning V1 voice controlled headset. Using Sensory’s BlueGenie voice interface, users can now talk directly to their headset to get a task accomplished such as redialing a dropped call, calling voicemail or just simply checking battery life.

Looking similar in design to its Z9 sibling on the outside, the V1 headset offers a very rectangular, boxy shaped design and is quite small in size, measuring just 41mm x 17.5mm x 11mm (1.5″ x 0.7″ x 0.4″). The lightweight V1 is almost forgettable when in-ear at a mere 10g (0.35oz). The overall design is quite simple with just 3 buttons. It has one large multi-function button on the front and two volume buttons located on the edge of the headset. The volume buttons are easily found when the headset is in use thanks to the nicely raised + and - imprints. The main button has great tactile feedback.

The BlueAnt V1 headset is for in-ear use and ships with both rubber ear gels and Comply foam tips (in-canal) for those that like a snugger fit. I personally found the foam tips a bit too invasive, blocking too much of the outside world. The headset also ships with two ear hooks for extra stability and security. The headset ships with an assortment of charging options: car, AC wall outlet, and USB for a direct connect to a computer. We tested the BlueAnt V1 on multiple devices including a Samsung BlackJack II and a Sony Ericsson TM506 and had no trouble pairing to any device. During our testing, we did run into issues using a UMA-enabled BlackBerry Curve. The V1 appeared to interfere with the 8320 Curve’s WiFi connectivity, which prevented any calls from being completed.  We have seen this issue with other headsets, though, so the fault is likely not that of the V1.

The biggest draw to the V1 is what the company claims to be the “world’s first voice controlled Bluetooth headset”. The company basically integrated Sensory’s BlueGenie voice UI into its old Z9 headset model keeping the the stellar audio and voice isolation technology used prior, including echo and noise suppression. The V1 definitely still shines bright with its audio quality including voice isolation settings Standard and Max, which offer the best solution depending on the user’s environment, such as a loud restaurant or a quite office. The V1 kept pace and responded amazingly well. Users will need to learn to adapt and change these settings accordingly to get the most from the V1 though. The max setting will cause audio to sound tinny and should be reserved for very noisy situations. Noise suppression was quite good and was tested by blasting very loud music in the background as well as introducing fan noise into the mix. The V1 did its job well in the audio department.

Using the V1’s voice control interface is a new way for headset users to command their phones to do tasks such as checking the battery status or just calling home with just the sound of their voice. Initiated with the headset’s multi-function button, the V1 user can use voice commands to pair up to any device, answer/ignore calls, use the phone’s voice dialing system, redial/callback, call home, call GOOG-411, or even turn the headset off with a simple voice command. Let me be clear, there still is the required step of pushing the headset’s button to initiate the voice interface system - except on inbound calls, which can be answered truly hands-free. Overall, the system responded wonderfully well to all our commands even with noisy and loud backgrounds. For some, the biggest annoyance will be the lag or wait time for the V1 to finish speaking before you can give it a command. For example, when the V1 is reading the caller ID for an incoming call - you must wait until it has finished reading the entire phone number before you can answer or ignore the call. It should be noted that for those expecting the actual caller’s name that is stored in their handset to be announced, that this will not happen, only the number will be spoken. The headset does not support name or digit dialing itself. Such tasks must be passed to the phone’s voice dialing system by issuing the “phone command” command to the headset. The other issue is that there is no way to end a call with your voice - the user must wait for the other party to end the call or must press the headset’s main button twice to end the call manually.

The BlueAnt V1 Bluetooth headset is rated for up to 5 hours of talk time or 8.3 days (200 hours) of standby. That seems accurate to us.

Although there is room for improvement on looks, charging options (using a universal micro-USB), and the possibility of introducing some new ear gels for a more plush fit, the V1 headset definitely deserves a Highly Recommended rating for its innovative voice user interface and stellar audio quality. As a UMA device user, I can say I am a bit miffed with the interference bugs it has, especially since I have not experienced this with any other headset we have tested. While being able to end a call with your voice would be fantastic, we can hardly knock the V1 for not supporting a feature that no other headset on the market offers. But we still want it to do that. The headset’s hefty price tag is also a bit of drag at US$130 but, in the end, we think the V1 is probably worth it.

Jump over to MobileBurn for a full in-depth review of the BlueAnt V1 Bluetooth headset.

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