Mickey Papillon

BlueAnt Q1 Review

More municipalities than ever are restricting the use of mobile phones while driving, and mandating the use of hands free devices to use your mobile phone while operating a vehicle.  While Bluetooth headsets are becoming increasingly common, most don’t provide an experience that makes people want to continue using them.  Whether its comfort, sound quality, or complicated use, there are many reasons to forgo use of the technology. BlueAnt Wireless is hoping to change this perception of headsets with the new Q1, touted as “the world’s most advanced voice controlled Bluetooth headset”.  I’ve been testing out the Q1 over the past few weeks, and will provide my thoughts and compile a complete rundown of what sets this headset apart from others.  At the time of this review,BlueAnt has partnered with Sprint, and is selling the Q1 exclusively through Sprint stores through May of 2009, which will be followed by additional availability nationwide.  TheBlueAnt Q1 is offered at $129.99.

In the Box

• The Q1 Voice Controlled Bluetooth Headset
• Large and small earbuds
• An ear hook
• A USB Cable, for firmware updates and recharging
• An AC Adaptor
• The Quickstart guide
• Warranty Card

Specs

• Use your voice to control the Q1
• Supports multipoint
• Designed for comfort
• Pairs with up to 8 devices
• Up to 4 hours talk time, and 100 hours standby
• Dual microphones
• Voice Isolation technology
• Custom internal wind shields
• Upgradable firmware
• 2 year replacement warranty

About the product

The BlueAnt Q1 allows users to easily control their headset with Voice Commands rather than pressing multiple buttons or looking at the phone.  Unlike other headsets that only support voice dial capabilities through the mobile phone’s voice features, voice control is embedded in the Q1 headset itself.  Beyond voice dialing, the Q1 enables the user tocontrol all headset features such as pairing, volume, connection status using their voice.  The Q1 supports the following commands:

“teach me”
“what can I say”
“am i connected”
“check battery”
“settings menu”
“phone commands”
“redial”
“call back”
“call information”
“call speed dial 1 through 8″
“switch headset off”
“cancel”

This intuitive voice feedback allows for even the novice user to easily become adapted to using the headset with little training.  As an example, saying “Pair Me” begins the pairing process with the users phone and walks them through the steps they need to take to pair the headset.  This is one of the simplest and most innovative ways of interacting with a headset to date, and users will feel comfortable knowing that at any time, saying “What can I say?” gives them the options available to them.

Comfort/Wear/Use

The design of the headset has comfort in mind.  Two soft silicon ear buds come with the Q1 allowing the user to choose the comfort level that allows for all day wearing.  The voice isolation technology uses the dual headphones for reduction of background and wind noise.  “Normal” and “Maximum” noisecancellation modes allow for adjustment on a call, depending on your environment.  Coupled with custom wind shields to reduce the wind noise, callers will simply hear the sound of you, not your environment when talking.

Results
I set up the Q1 to use the multipoint technology to connect 2 phones simultaneously, and use the headset exclusively while driving.  A simple press of the volume button toggles calls between phones, so I was able to move from phone to phone when on one phone, andreceiving a call from the other.  With summer now upon us in Arizona, good air conditioning in vehicles is a must.  The Q1 does a decent job of filtering out the wind noise when set to maximum noise reduction mode, but don’t expect it to be eliminated completely.  However, it is the best non-windscreen headset I’ve used.  Calls sounded loud and clear, and callers on the other end could tell that I was using a headset, but stated that any background noise was minimal.

Overall
The BlueAnt Q1 is a step in the right direction for enhancing the quality of Bluetooth headsets.  With its voice control features, multipoint, and noise cancellation, the Q1 is a serious headset delivering good results.  More information at http://www.blueantwireless.com