Develop Bugs

[REVIEW] Nokia BH-214 (a different kind of bluetooth headset, $48)

(LONG! But I like too much info vs not enough)
You might be asking yourself, wtf is that thing?
See stock photo (theirs):
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Imagine it as a wireless wired remote to your phone's media player! I say wired because it's wired to the headphones, but it's wireless between the device & the phone over bluetooth.
Features:
Bluetooth HFP/HSP/A2DP/AVRCP
7hrs battery time
included earphones w/short cable
Buttons (on the face), clockwise from noon:
Phone (send/end)
Next Track
Play/Pause
Prev Track
Buttons (around edge)
Vol Up
Vol Down
Power
Photo (mine):
Pros:
Cost: $48 (clone or fake for $18?)
L O U D !
Uses *ANY* 3.5mm earphones to hear
Fantastic battery life
Did I mention loud?
Phone audio in BOTH ears
Stereo audio from your phone!
Really good audio signal, clean/clear . . . AND LOUD!
Just flat works well!
Included earphones have really good sound and a short cable, no excess cable dangling about, and comfortable!
The broadcast distance is pretty long too
Cons (and these are trivial!):
Included earphones seal almost too well
The blinking blue light is bright in the dark
Button presses don't provide any real tactile feedback, but it does beep in your ear
When it times out, requires a button press to get it active again
You have to turn off bluetooth on the phone to turn the ringer up, otherwise it just turns up the bluetooth connection audio (more of a phone issue)
I can't think of anything else
I've had a couple of bluetoothes (blueteeth? blueteethes?), but never really liked any of them. I always wanted stereo over bluetooth, but I've not liked any of the devices I've seen. What's great about the BH-214 is that you can use any earphones with a 3.5mm tip to hear! You're not limited to the ones they include.
I've got some Shure SCL2 IEMs (In Ear Monitors, professional grade) & some Sennheiser HD-465 (over ear) & I was expecting to be underwhelmed by the included headphones, but I'm extremely pleased with them. They are remarkably comfortable. I wore them for about 8-9hrs today with zero discomfort. The audio quality was fantastic too. I'm no audiophile though, so YMMV.
Now for you volume buffs, these can get LOUD! I plugged in my Sennheisers and cranked the volume on the BH-214. These are full size headsets and just holding them in my hand, I could hear the audio clearly . . . as could anyone sitting nearby. We've been working in a team setting lately and we've got 4 of us cramped in a smaller room and we all listen to headphones. I had Led Zeppelin playing and a guy across the table could name the song & was whistling along. That was before I even turned up the bluetooth media volume on the phone itself.
With the cable for the headphones being only 30", it makes it real convenient for storage & not have all this excess cable dangling around. My Shure's cable are 60" long & my Sennheiser's are even longer! Shorter means its also easier to store/transport. I keep my Shure's in a little round case that came with them, but it's bulky in my pocket.
For comparison, I took some pictures comparing my Shure SCL2 IEMs next to the included Nokia headphones.
I liked the fit of the Nokia headphones so much, I made sure my Shure's were using similar size & pliability inserts. The Nokia's come with small/medium/large. Mediums are installed by default & they are the ones I think have fit better than any other in ears headphones I've had.
The only downside to the included earphones is that they do seal really well. That might be a good thing for some people, but expect to not hear things & have people wave at you to get your attention! At dinner tonight, I didn't notice the waitress checking in on me. The other kinda annoying part about them sealing so well is that things like eating tortilla chips, all you could hear at that point was the crunch inside my head! Also, I could hear the cable rubbing against my collar as a rustling/brushing sound. Not a terrible thing IMO, but something to be aware of.
I started wondering why I was having that full seal issue with the Nokia headphones, but not with my Shures. Until matching the size/pliability of the inserts, I was using the medium foam ones on my Shures & they allowed a lot more external sounds in. When I switched to the black rubber pictured here, I did experience more of the full seal isolation, but not quite to the extreme of the Nokias. Again, just relaying my experience.
I started listening to the MP3s on my phone via the BH-214 on my way to work around 830am and listened virtually non-stop all day except for around lunch. I listened straight thru dinner & until I sat down at my computer about 830pm! They were still going strong & I did not charge them at all during work. I did the button press to see the state of the battery (green good/yellow 1hr/red low!) & it did show red.
I was watching some YouTube vids & the audio came across over the BH-214 fine.
When I hit pause for awhile, it would automatically power off after a few mins. Hitting the play button will reconnect it, but I've had it not get the phone profile reconnected & just the A2DP/AVRCP stuff will work. I got some phone calls today while listening to audio & it rang in my ear, but for some reason it did not answer it on the BH-214. I sat there for a few seconds before realizing that. It might've been something I did, but it happened a few times today. Even when I tried to initiate a call, while listening to audio, it didn't trigger the BH-214 to handle it. I'm not sure it's the device or me or my phone (rooted stock 2.2). I'll have to experiment some more to find out the deal. Twice was later during the day, so I wonder if it was something to do with the charge?
[8/31 UPDATE: When I know it's not going to reconnect the phone audio, I just turn on/off BT on the phone & it will reconnect. It's a little easier using the BT widget than trying to power off the BH-214 with it's tiny power button.)
Now, yesterday I made a call with it & it sounded great in both my ears, my buddy said it sounded like I was just on my phone (he has the Icon). I used it flawlessly this morning during a conference call while pulling into work. When it was my turn to talk, everyone could hear me no problem. The funny thing about the mic sensitivity was that when I was done talking, I got out of my car in the parking garage & someone's car alarm was going off. It was on another floor & not even close to me and they asked me to mute because they could hear it!
While I was packing up for the day, I walked away from where I was working back to my desk, leaving my phone behind. That had to be like 40-45 feet away & I never even got so much as a hiccup in the audio. Nothing. You couldn't tell if I was 1 foot away much less 45 feet away.
Overall I'm ecstatic about this thing thus far. I imagine I'll figure out the quirks about answering calls with it & getting an answered call with the phone switched to BT. Since calls is the least used feature on my phone, I'm less familiar with those functions.
RATING: 4.5 / 5
I love it & would definitely buy another if I lost it. I've already considered writing my name on it in case I do drop it some place!
Here you can see how the earphones are only 30" long:
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
UPDATE:
Last night after writing the review, the phone rebooted on me when I tried to start Wired Tethering while listening to audio. Thought that was weird.
Then this morning, the BH-214 had timed out on pause, so I tried to reconnect it. The audio timer was running, but no audio was coming across. I went to check the bluetooth settings & noticed this in the menu:
Notice how it says "Connected to media audio"? When it first pairs, it will says "Connected to phone and media audio". Some how, the phone audio profiles drop even though it's checked for "Use for phone audio". Like this:
Then shortly after taking the screenshots while trying to get the audio to play, my phone randomly rebooted again. Does this have anything to do with the BH-214? It could just be my phone, but I can't tell for sure at the moment.

Sounds really cool, especially for the price. Ahh, I just wish it were a headset without wires, but for the purpose of what it is, sounds like a winner. Seems like the sweet spot looking for minus the headset (a2dp, range, battery, quality, etc). How are their other headsets?

Jbroad572 said:
Sounds really cool, especially for the price. Ahh, I just wish it were a headset without wires, but for the purpose of what it is, sounds like a winner. Seems like the sweet spot looking for minus the headset (a2dp, range, battery, quality, etc). How are their other headsets?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What other headsets? Nokias? I don't know. Wired or not, I like it, but thats primarily because I WAS looking for stereo over bluetooth. In that regard, it works really well. Set up a long playlist, hit play & you can leave the phone tucked away for a long time. Call comes in, you can answer it (or at least when I learn how to!).
ericpd said:
Nice review and nice find. You know what, this only shines light on one short coming of the Evo,... the FM radio won't work without a wired headset plugged in. This would be like succotash if HTC were able to fix,... well maybe not fix, because nothing is really broken, but if they were able to fit an antenna in there without affecting the form factor, these two would be a perfect match. Doesn't matter which decides to be the pea and which chooses to take on the role of the Lima bean.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I rarely and to date, have never, used FM. I will experiment some to see if I can get FM over bluetooth. I did experiment some with having headphones already plugged into the EVO & connecting bluetooth. It did not disconnect the audio from the wired plugins, but I didn't try to see if I could hear anything over bluetooth.
If it works, you can share audio! You keep your phone handy, plugged in directly to it, listening, hand someone the BT-214 & they get the same audio. I'm going to experiment with that right now!
UPDATE:
Experimenting with wired/bluetooth simultaneously doesn't seem possible. I think wired immediately takes priority. I was able to control the audio via BT-214 via bluetooth, but no audio came across. In order to get the audio on the BT-214, I had to unplug the wired, hit play/pause twice. As soon as I plugged in the wired, I got audio there immediately.

Found this review that showed more of the device and had similar pleasant results:
http://www.phonearena.com/htmls/Nokia-BH-214-Review-review-r_2278.html

I found that at DealsExtreme, you can get it for $18 shipped:
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.30406
Thing is, some of people claim that it is not authentic. Comparing the pictures to my device, some of the text on the clip is different. Mine says Nokia on the face and clip where as the pictures there do not. So, my guess is that it probably is fake. Or it could be manufacturer seconds (wouldn't pass retail QC).
I'm glad I didn't see the $18 one first because I would've bought it. After having bought an original for $48, I can say I'm happy enough to NOT have buyer's remorse.

LAYGO, which player were you using on your EVO? The default HTC app? I am wondering if it works with MixZing. Have you tried it with that?

sparhawk6 said:
LAYGO, which player were you using on your EVO? The default HTC app? I am wondering if it works with MixZing. Have you tried it with that?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mixzing. I did zero config to make it work, it just worked.

Based on your review, I bought this thing for running with my EVO. Thanks. I hope that the device will control the Audible app as well as MixZing.

Very nice review. I'm considering picking up a set. I must admit though, that dealextreme clone looks tempting. Though I've found time and time again that when I skimp on something like that, I end up buying the better product anyway and thus not saving any money.

sparhawk6 said:
Based on your review, I bought this thing for running with my EVO. Thanks. I hope that the device will control the Audible app as well as MixZing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd be interested to know what all the AVRCP stuff it will control. I'd imagine it's more related to the app vs the BH-214.
If you're going running with the included earphones, stay clear of traffic or run in a park. I'm telling you they seal well! Yesterday walking into the office, my supervisor was behind me talking & had to tap me on the shoulder to get my attention. I'm very attentive, but she snuck in behind me!
If you use a different set of earphones, you could clip the BH-214 to your belt with the longer length cord. You might be limited to where you can place it if you use the included earphones. I wear it on my shirt and with enough slack so I can turn my head, it sits just above the nipple line. I wear a 29-30" silver chain & the BH-214 hangs just about the same distance on my chest.
Albaholic said:
Very nice review. I'm considering picking up a set. I must admit though, that dealextreme clone looks tempting. Though I've found time and time again that when I skimp on something like that, I end up buying the better product anyway and thus not saving any money.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can say (again), I have zero regrets buying it. I use it everyday now where my old bluetooth, I'd simply forget about it until I wanted to make a call & I couldn't remember where I put it. My BH-214 sits next to my phone all day long or is clipped to me.
If you read the reviews on DE, you can hear some people complain about noise or humming. I do not have that issue at all.

LAYGO said:
If you're going running with the included earphones, stay clear of traffic or run in a park. I'm telling you they seal well! Yesterday walking into the office, my supervisor was behind me talking & had to tap me on the shoulder to get my attention. I'm very attentive, but she snuck in behind me!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I will not be running with the included headphones. Running with in-ear headphones that seal is painful for me (you can feel each step in your head). The big selling point for me was that I can use any pair of headphones with these.

sparhawk6 said:
I will not be running with the included headphones. Running with in-ear headphones that seal is painful for me (you can feel each step in your head). The big selling point for me was that I can use any pair of headphones with these.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You get it it yet?

LAYGO said:
You get it it yet?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes. I like it. It does want I want it to do.
I have a few issues:
I wish the buttons were more responsive, like a "click" or something. It's hard to tell when you've pressed them sometimes.
When I have multiple apps open that could be controlled by the device, it doesn't always control the one that's on my screen at the time. For example, if I have doubletwist on the screen and the audible app in the background, and I press pause, it will control the audible app (either play or pause depending on whether or not its running). That is probably an android problem.

Thanks for the tip off on this product. After Searching around I found it for 23.99 on Bestofferbuy.com (Resellerratings.com rates this as a good site and they state they do not sell knockoffs or fakes). I ordered this and then applied an online coupon for 10% off bringing the total value to $20.88 Shipped.
The only downside of this coupany is that it is Asian (China I believe) based so its 5-12 buisness days to ship with free shipping. I have ordered from them before and have not been dissapointed. I will report back with my opinion as well once I have it.

sparhawk6 said:
Yes. I like it. It does want I want it to do.
I have a few issues:
I wish the buttons were more responsive, like a "click" or something. It's hard to tell when you've pressed them sometimes.
When I have multiple apps open that could be controlled by the device, it doesn't always control the one that's on my screen at the time. For example, if I have doubletwist on the screen and the audible app in the background, and I press pause, it will control the audible app (either play or pause depending on whether or not its running). That is probably an android problem.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I said that as well in my review. It beeps, but there's no tactile feedback to indicate a click.
I have only ever had one app running to respond to a click, so I haven't had that problem.

Brutal-Force said:
Thanks for the tip off on this product. After Searching around I found it for 23.99 on Bestofferbuy.com (Resellerratings.com rates this as a good site and they state they do not sell knockoffs or fakes). I ordered this and then applied an online coupon for 10% off bringing the total value to $20.88 Shipped.
The only downside of this coupany is that it is Asian (China I believe) based so its 5-12 buisness days to ship with free shipping. I have ordered from them before and have not been dissapointed. I will report back with my opinion as well once I have it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I see the white one is ~$17 & the black one is $23. I should probably get the black one too!
Know what though, that's the exact same description on DealsExtreme.Com. "Designers BH-214", doesn't say Nokia. I think this is a knockoff man . . .

Thanks for pointing that out. Man, I really need to pay better attention. Fortunately the reviews on DealExtreme seem to be above average on this. They point out the included headphones are sub par, but I already have Vmoda Remix. In addition, I primarily got this to hook up to my 3.5 Jack on my car stereo. Either way, its 20 bucks. If it sucks I will throw it away. Up until now I haven't been impressed with ANY bluetooth devices.

Brutal-Force said:
Thanks for pointing that out. Man, I really need to pay better attention. Fortunately the reviews on DealExtreme seem to be above average on this. They point out the included headphones are sub par, but I already have Vmoda Remix. In addition, I primarily got this to hook up to my 3.5 Jack on my car stereo. Either way, its 20 bucks. If it sucks I will throw it away. Up until now I haven't been impressed with ANY bluetooth devices.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Seems like you could skip the middle man & connect the 3.5mm straight to the phone, no? Unless you never took the phone out of your pocket.
I did read that the DE folks some complained about audio quality or a hum. I don't experience any of that . . .

Wow.
Great product review.
I've been looking for something like this for a long time. Blackberry makes one, but it does not have its own battery.
The first great thing about it is THE DETACHABLE HEADPHONES. Why you ask? Because you can use them to broadcast to car stereo, home stereo, office stereo......any where really. Also because you can hook up your expensive set to the unit. The second, the size.....its tiny.
The only unknown is the battery life. Ill be waiting for a review on that one.

jasonziter said:
Great product review.
I've been looking for something like this for a long time. Blackberry makes one, but it does not have its own battery.
The first great thing about it is THE DETACHABLE HEADPHONES. Why you ask? Because you can use them to broadcast to car stereo, home stereo, office stereo......any where really. Also because you can hook up your expensive set to the unit. The second, the size.....its tiny.
The only unknown is the battery life. Ill be waiting for a review on that one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks.
Waiting for a review on battery life of the BH-214? I think I've covered that one already. I used it all day for roughly 12-13hrs, give or take an hour when I turned it off for lunch. It was still working at 830-900pm when I sat down to write the review.

Headphone Amplifiers

Hi. Has anyone used headphone amplifiers with the SGS2? Has it improved sound quality? Not just volume as well. I'm considering buying the FiiO E5.

I actually have the E5 and it really does improve audio quality. I won't give you any of the linguistic crap that tells you nothing. Simply put, it makes the mid and high range more crisp and clear. It is espcially noticeable if you listen to female vocals. There is a super tiny amount of increased static with the amp on maximum volume, but you will not hear it unless you turn off all audio and really try hard to hear it in a quiet environment. As always, garbage in, garbage out. Take advantage of the phone's ability to play lossless FLAC.
I'm thinking about getting another E5 for my SGS2 since the one in this pic is effectively welded to my Sansa Fuze.
I got my E5 from dealextreme before and so far I've never been disappointed by anything I've bought from there. It's free international shipping so the price you see is what you pay.
http://www.dealextreme.com/p/fiio-e5-3-5mm-earphone-volume-booster-power-amplifier-black-18350
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Can it used with the headset ( ie. does the mic fn remain intact) ?

Yes. The amplifier has a 3.5mm input and output. The E5 also comes with 2 auxiliary cables so you don't need to buy additional cables.

Well unless the sgs2 gets some sort of line out output, whatever audio they comes out of it still has to be progressed through that crappy yamaha dac.
What we need is a line out adaptor if you truly want to make an amp worth its weight
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA Premium App

True say. I'm wondering if the HDMI out provides line out. I don't think an MHL adapter would work though. I've never seen micro USB to 3.5mm jack either. Then again, if you're really worried about audio quality then you wouldn't be using the phone as a quality music device anyway.

Jeremy said:
Well unless the sgs2 gets some sort of line out output, whatever audio they comes out of it still has to be progressed through that crappy yamaha dac.
What we need is a line out adaptor if you truly want to make an amp worth its weight
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol. Line-out bypasses the AMP section of the phone's SOC, meaning you will get output DIRECTLY from that "crappy" DAC.
Truth be known, someone needs to work on digital out, using that OTG port so we can use our OWN external DACs, but it seems that this might NOT be possible before Ice Cream comes along (usb audio).

widowmaker777 said:
I actually have the E5 and it really does improve audio quality. I won't give you any of the linguistic crap that tells you nothing. Simply put, it makes the mid and high range more crisp and clear. It is espcially noticeable if you listen to female vocals. There is a super tiny amount of increased static with the amp on maximum volume, but you will not hear it unless you turn off all audio and really try hard to hear it in a quiet environment. As always, garbage in, garbage out. Take advantage of the phone's ability to play lossless FLAC.
I'm thinking about getting another E5 for my SGS2 since the one in this pic is effectively welded to my Sansa Fuze.
I got my E5 from dealextreme before and so far I've never been disappointed by anything I've bought from there. It's free international shipping so the price you see is what you pay.
http://www.dealextreme.com/p/fiio-e5-3-5mm-earphone-volume-booster-power-amplifier-black-18350
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sounds like it's worth the plunge. It's not a great cost anyway. I wonder how well it'd work with a phone though. Think the sound would vary depending on the device you're using. Hopefully they will make a USB solution like the poster above mentioned.

eiraku said:
Lol. Line-out bypasses the AMP section of the phone's SOC, meaning you will get output DIRECTLY from that "crappy" DAC.
Truth be known, someone needs to work on digital out, using that OTG port so we can use our OWN external DACs, but it seems that this might NOT be possible before Ice Cream comes along (usb audio).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would LOVE that, although I am satisfied with the SQ of Poweramp via my custom IEMs, I wouldn't mind hooking it up to an amp via line out, or digital out to my Alien DIY dac.
If only Samsung kept the Wolfson Dac on the S2... how dare they change it..

chiefroastbeef said:
I would LOVE that, although I am satisfied with the SQ of Poweramp via my custom IEMs, I wouldn't mind hooking it up to an amp via line out, or digital out to my Alien DIY dac.
If only Samsung kept the Wolfson Dac on the S2... how dare they change it..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You know, if you've tried using the stock player, you'll find that it gives you way superior output than Poweramp. Unless you're using some $5 earbuds.
Heck, the difference is even audible on $5 earbuds, or even apple stock earbuds.

moooxooom said:
You know, if you've tried using the stock player, you'll find that it gives you way superior output than Poweramp. Unless you're using some $5 earbuds.
Heck, the difference is even audible on $5 earbuds, or even apple stock earbuds.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But how do you get the stock player (I'm assuming your talking about the "Music" app?) to play ALL songs? I've got a few gigs worth of music and I want to get it to play them all in a random order but when I try to create a playlist of all of them I get told it can't add any more songs....?
And i'd love to find a way to boost the volume properly, I have the stock earbuds but with the Media volume up max I can't hear them very well over my exhaust Damn regulators, why do we have to live in a "Nanny state" world?

Monty Burns said:
But how do you get the stock player (I'm assuming your talking about the "Music" app?) to play ALL songs? I've got a few gigs worth of music and I want to get it to play them all in a random order but when I try to create a playlist of all of them I get told it can't add any more songs....?
And i'd love to find a way to boost the volume properly, I have the stock earbuds but with the Media volume up max I can't hear them very well over my exhaust Damn regulators, why do we have to live in a "Nanny state" world?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
volume + app

rab1412000 said:
volume + app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yup - tried some of those "boosting" apps and none have worked for me.

Monty Burns said:
Yup - tried some of those "boosting" apps and none have worked for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
volume + works perfectly for me at +3 and good quality equalizer.
has made a big difference for both stock (rock equalizer) and poweramp (smiley face equalizer setting).
do note there are seperate settings for headphones and phone speakers on volume +
as the guy above mentioned, the stock music player is quite good. poweramp beats it by a tad if you fiddle with settings, but really for something free you get good sound on the music player.
of course the first thing to do is get a good pair of iem's that are impedance matched to the sgs2. my woodees in-ear(16ohm) sound fabolous on my ipod but sound only average on my sgs2. but my koss portapros (60 ohm) sound great on my ipod(not as good as the woodees), but is excellent on my sgs2

Sorry, to didn't realise Volume+ was an app!! I thought you were being a bit of a muppet by saying use Volume and an App to boost heheh .... sorry! My mistake.
Just downloaded Volume+ and set the headphones to max and boosted to max, lots louder now and should do the trick!.... there is a down side to this though, I won't hear my exhaust popping and burbling on the overrun anymore

rab1412000 said:
volume + works perfectly for me at +3 and good quality equalizer.
has made a big difference for both stock (rock equalizer) and poweramp (smiley face equalizer setting).
do note there are seperate settings for headphones and phone speakers on volume +
as the guy above mentioned, the stock music player is quite good. poweramp beats it by a tad if you fiddle with settings, but really for something free you get good sound on the music player.
of course the first thing to do is get a good pair of iem's that are impedance matched to the sgs2. my woodees in-ear(16ohm) sound fabolous on my ipod but sound only average on my sgs2. but my koss portapros (60 ohm) sound great on my ipod(not as good as the woodees), but is excellent on my sgs2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sounds like a plan. Don't suppose you know the impedance of the SGS2?

Well I tried and Volume+ did nothing for me like all the other boosters. Maybe its my Litening v1.5 rom?
Guess I'll give up, at least i hear pops n gurgles and maybe the odd emergency siren as well!

steviewonders said:
Sounds like a plan. Don't suppose you know the impedance of the SGS2?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry I don't. But it's a perfect match for my koss portapros, if that helps any
sent from my samsung galaxy s2 using tapatalk

Monty Burns said:
Well I tried and Volume+ did nothing for me like all the other boosters. Maybe its my Litening v1.5 rom?
Guess I'll give up, at least i hear pops n gurgles and maybe the odd emergency siren as well!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Isn't there a much newer version of that rom
sent from my samsung galaxy s2 using tapatalk

rab1412000 said:
Isn't there a much newer version of that rom
sent from my samsung galaxy s2 using tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yup but i'm hesitant to change as it works perfectly for me and I can only guess that the volume is an issue of this ROM. I'll survive as I am and I'm sure the police would be happier about it

Review of Antec GAIN bluetooth receiver w/pics!!!

This is a review of Antec GAIN bluetooth receiver with Android phone controls: http://www.antecmobileproducts.com/product_detail/148
I think this little gadget is one of the best kept secrets, and I will tell you why in my review. After spending some time reviewing wired headphones with in-line remotes and wireless bluetooth headphones with built-in controls, I have a good idea of what to expect from a headphone and it's control when using Note 2 or any other Android phone, like S4 I was just reviewing. Bluetooth technology is great since you don't have to tie yourself up with an umbilical cord to your phone and can pickup/end a phone call and play/pause audio and maybe control volume or skip a track, depending on models you use. But you also run into an issue when you are in a middle of something and battery goes dead. Plus, not all the headphones have both volume and track skip controls, and sometimes you are dealing with a single button with multiple functionality. Either way, you have some pluses and minuses with both. What GAIN does is to bridge these both giving you an option to use either one while also providing you all the necessary controls.
This little device is small, well actually its tiny! Measured at 40mm x 23mm x 15mm and weight of under 10 grams it looks almost like a toy you get with a Happy Meal. But it actually packs a lot of functionality and executes it really well. First of all it has a clip on the back so you can attach it close to you. Keep in mind, it will host the microphone so you have to remember its not the same as in-line remote on your wired headphones which is close to your face or a microphone built into your earbuds. You want to keep it close to you so it will pick up your voice better. It has a regular micro-usb charging port which is a big bonus since you don't have to dig for any old mini-usb or proprietary cables. According to Antec the battery should last 6 hours of continuous music play. I haven't tested it for 6 hours, so can't confirm that yet. Will rely on a vendor data for now. Next you have 3.5mm jack where you connect headphones. Headphones are supplied as part of the package. These are actually decent looking earphones, doesn't look cheap at all, and they even come with 3 pairs of interchangeable ear tips. The sound quality is not top notch, but its acceptable in this case. I have to note, they have a short cable which is the whole intent of the use because you are not plugging these into a remotely located phone, but rather into a small GAIN receiver which should be closer to you with it's microphone. Of course, the main idea is that you can use ANY headphones connected to this bt receiver to turn them into wireless headphones!!! In case of any regular wired pair of headphones, you will have to deal with an excess of wires, so will have to figure out how to manage it. Another bonus, this is BT receiver so you can use it to turn ANY speaker into a wireless speaker! As a matter of fact, you can even hook it up to aux input of your car stereo to stream music from your phone and/or pick up the calls that way. The possibilities are endless, but I wish Antec would have included 3.5mm to 3.5mm audio adapter cable. They did include usb/micro-usb cable in the package, but audio adapter cable would have been nice as well.
Now, about the bluetooth interface and phone/multimedia controls. When you look at this device, you don't see any buttons. It has a top flat panel which is clickable in the corners and in the middle. The corner functions are assigned to next/prev track selection and volume control, while the area in the middle is multi functional to pick up/end the call and to play/pause the music and the videos. To prevent accidental clicking, there is a lock button on the side. You also get LED indicator in the middle with a cool blue and red light. Pairing up with Note 2 and S4 took seconds, no need to enter any code. From the get go it was working controlling the audio tracks, volume, calls, YT videos, etc. Everything worked as expected. When you pair up with Android smartphone, you get both multimedia and phone pair up and this device supports all the profiles such as EDR, A2DP, Hands Free, and Headset. I was very impressed because I have seen bluetooth receivers before, but this one has a unique functionality to integrate all the audio, multimedia, and phone controls, comes with a bonus pair of headphones and charging cable, and cost around $30 plus change. I do have to mention the sound quality. It will not make a cheap pair of headphones sound like a million bucks. It just transforms it into wireless. So the bundled headphones were not necessary of the highest quality which is noticeable especially at higher volumes. But once I plugged in a pair of my Klipsch earphones - the sound was top notch. I did a/b comparison using Klipsch (S4A II) pugged directly to a phone and through GAIN and found very little degradation. I'm not an audiophile to analyze the whole frequency spectrum to exhaustion at different volume levels. I'm looking at it from a consumer point of view, and I was satisfied.
So, this one definitely gets my two thumbs up!!! A great design, excellent functionality, easy to use, and flexibility of converting any wired headphone into wireless and then back if you run out of battery - definitely a very impressive gadget. I will try to see how it works in the car next, just need to get audio cable adapter.
Here are some pics for your enjoyment:
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OK now you have made me want something else!
How do we buy this? How much is it? The link didn't seem to have purchase info just a link to download a manual. Maybe I missed it.
Time to Google! No. Time for bed!
Edit... OK Google saved me. It comes in other colors too!
Now no more play time. Vacation's over. Work tomorrow. Bummer.
Sent From My Ginormous Note 2

Does this also support the built in mic on some headsets?

DeMiNe0 said:
Does this also support the built in mic on some headsets?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm pretty sure it won't. The whole idea is to transfer only audio to your headphones, not a two-way communication with any other control built into your headphones. As a matter of fact, I was using my S4A II Klipsch which has built in-line control and also mic, and it made no difference. Only controls on the box and its built-in mic communicate with your phone.
This this box is my new favorite toy!!! I looked up other similar devices from Sony and Samsung, and nothing even comes closer in price. Plus, I was just testing it with external bluetooth speaker (and those usually have only volume up/down control, no way to play/pause or skip a track), and after connecting GAIN to that speakers 3.5mm input - I was able to use it as a remote control. Super cool!

very nice review bro! i have the same color, and it works just great. the only difference is, you might have a newer model because mine does not have a lock/unlock button on the side.
also, you are right, you cannot use the mic button functionality of your headphones. i have confirmed this.

Can you use it as a bluetooth headset for calling?

c0nvict said:
Can you use it as a bluetooth headset for calling?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Absolutely, it support all the Phone and Multimedia functionality. So you can play and control music, and also receive phone calls, thus a built in mic.

opasha said:
very nice review bro! i have the same color, and it works just great. the only difference is, you might have a newer model because mine does not have a lock/unlock button on the side.
also, you are right, you cannot use the mic button functionality of your headphones. i have confirmed this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Gotta give you big credit for helping me discover Antec (your mentioning of ISO headphones)!!!

vectron said:
Gotta give you big credit for helping me discover Antec (your mentioning of ISO headphones)!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Haha, anytime bro!

I'm using the BlueAnt Ribbon which basically does the same thing and looks classier.

IsolatedAbyss said:
I'm using the BlueAnt Ribbon which basically does the same thing and looks classier.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Indeed, not bad! But $20 more than Antec?

IsolatedAbyss said:
I'm using the BlueAnt Ribbon which basically does the same thing and looks classier.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think the Antec looks very nice, BUT, I do prefer the way that the BlueAnt looks! That said, with the BlueAnt being almost double the price, I would definitely purchase the Antec over the BlueAnt!
I bought the Acoustic Research ARWH1 about 4 or 5 years ago(it's an antique by now going by technology standards! Lol) . I think I paid around $20-30 when it was on sale back then. It still works great and has never given me a single issue! IT is pretty small and not too much bigger in overall size, has a clip on the back, and it has all of the needed controls on it too. That said, I'm not in the market for a BT bridge, but if I was, the Antec would definitely be my choice!
Thanks to the OP for the excellent review and pictures! This will be very useful to anyone looking to get one of these devices!
Here's a few pictures of my old Acoustic Research ARWH1
SwiftKey'ed from my White Sprint Note 2 using XDA Premium

Hey
If you are Europe based, you can purchase from Overclockers UK.

acemodder said:
Hey
If you are Europe based, you can purchase from Overclockers UK.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for pointing this out. Often I forget that XDA is international community and outside you can't use US Amazon. I just looked it up from your reference and the link is: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-008-AN

Just bought from Groupon for 19,98€
Good deal

Thanks for your review

Bad audio quality! Sent back to groupon

ribelle85 said:
Bad audio quality! Sent back to groupon
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What headphones did you use? The bundled one are not that good. Also, keep in mind, this bluetooth wireless connection compresses the sound, and that going to affect some high frequencies.

vectron said:
What headphones did you use? The bundled one are not that good. Also, keep in mind, this bluetooth wireless connection compresses the sound, and that going to affect some high frequencies.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bose in ear

it's look a touch buttons wright ?
I think the normal ones is better
Maybe try it, after makes comparing with another types

Review of Super Bass portable bluetooth speaker (tvc-mall) with lots of pics!!!

Actually this is a double review where I would like to share with you my latest two portable speakers, one is Hi-Fi Super Bass Bluetooth speaker music player for $14.50 (http://www.tvc-mall.com/details/HI-...ne-Intelligent-Voice-Speaker-Black-MINS-597A/) and the other one is Kaidaer Mini-speaker music player for $8.30 (http://www.tvc-mall.com/details/Cir...e-MP4-MP3-PC-Support-TF-Card-Green-MINS-491F/)
When I started doing my reviews early this year, my main goal was to prove to myself and to others that you can get a high quality product and don't spend a fortune. That was mainly in reference to phone cases and screen protectors. I was skeptical about anything else outside of that, especially something like speakers where even big name companies with products $100+ can't get it right. Recently I had success with quality of stuff I got from tvc-mall.com, so I figured to give it a shot with a few speakers that were dirt cheap and looked cool as hell on a picture and in description. Turned out that I was in for a huge surprise when I got these in this week. I actually been playing with these for a few days just to make sure it wasn't my first impression reaction. Still LOVE it and planning to order more since both of my kids already got their hands on it lol!!!
Let's first start with Hi-Fi Super Bass speaker. When it comes to portable speakers, small is great and this one is about 55mm in height and 60mm in diameter, but also you want it to be heavy thus knowing it has a better driver - and this one at 206 g feels nice in your hand! The construction is very solid, aluminum, with a top firing speaker covered with a grill The bottom of the speaker has a non-slip rubber-ring pad to keep it steady on the surface, comes handy during bass shaking It has a rechargeable battery, 700 mAh, so no need to worry about replaceable batteries, just use mini-usb cable (included) to charge it up and you are ready to go! The speaker is both bluetooth and also has micro-sd card which turns it into a music player. The play controls are at the bottom where you have Play/Pause, +/- for volume up/down when you hold those buttons or Next/Prev track skip when you just press it briefly, and M mode change button to switch between bluetooth and micro-sd card, as well as pairing up function button. There is a guiding voice that tells you when you turn the speaker on, when its bluetooth or card, and when it gets paired up with your phone. In bluetooth, its also a speaker phone and switches seamlessly when you are playing a music from your phone and receive a call - it pauses the music, switches to call, and when you are done goes back to music. The volume control is DUAL, which means you can use either +/- control buttons or a specially designated ring volume control which is located around bottom of the speaker. That volume control is super cool, just turn the dial clockwise/counter-clockwise to raise or lower the sound.
Here is where it gets totally insane - the sound quality. Yes, it has a nice deep bass sound and a very loud overall sound with clean and clear mids/highs. The bass is so good, it will shake in your hands! For a no-name generic speaker - this is very impressive. Another very impressive part is that playing the same song through bluetooth or directly from micro-sd card - doesn't change the sound quality. Due to bandwidth limitation, bt compresses the sound often cutting lows and highs - not in this case. Overall I was very impressed, considering this is $14.50 speaker with so many features, controls, and great sound quality. You can definitely use it both indoors and outdoors because it's loud enough.
Here are the pictures.
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The second speaker is actually brand name, although its probably local HK company which I never heard of, Kaidaer. It's only a speaker with micro-sd card, no bluetooth. But it also offers Line Input to connect any other device or to use 3.5mm cable as antenna since it has built in FM receiver. You also get headphone output for private listening, you get different playback modes and a separate EQ setting buttons, along with Play/Pause button and Skip Next/Prev which doubles as volume up/down when you press and hold it. This one is also rechargeable and mini-usb cable as well as 3.5mm audio cable come with included accessories. The speaker is even smaller than a previous one, being under 2" in height and diameter, about 130g in weight, top firing speaker with a nice mesh grill, solid aluminum design (my youngest dropped it a few times already, still like new!), and a small built in translucent stand with non-slip surface which also transmits light from a blue led inside of the speaker. Although smaller than previous one and also cheaper (at $8 plus change) - it actually LOUDER and has even cleaner mids and crispier highs which actually sound natural rather than exaggerated. OK, I do listen mostly to EDM and Dubstep but I'm comparing it to other high quality sources I'm referencing it against (like Klipsch and UE). According to the description of this product, it has aluminum vibration loud speaker film. Whatever it is - its brilliant and for $8 and 8 different color case choices - I highly recommend it! Turn off the lights in the room, and have a rave party lol!!! (I have it demonstrated in my last picture).
Here are the pictures.
Last but not least, I was also using micro-sd card from tvc-mall (http://www.tvc-mall.com/details/4GB-MicroSD-TF-TransFlash-Memory-Card-with-SD-Adapter-MCARD-401B/), another no-brand product but for $5 this 4GB card with sd adapter and class 4 rating did a good job being used with both of the speakers to host my music. I have no idea if its reliable for long term use in your phone (considering even my trusted Sandisk failed and had to be replaced under warranty), but I'm definitely using it for the music.
A few pics as well.
Bottom line, I was more than impressed with a built quality, functionality, and sound quality for such a small price, and without naming other brands I can tell you these $14 and $8 speakers sounded the same or even better than some $100+ I heard and tested before.

Nice Review!

I have the Kaidaer, but mine has bluetooth. It has a very nice and solid build, and actually feels quite heavy for its size.

Volume adjustment on Super Bass portable bluetooth speaker
Hi
Is it possible to adjust the volume of the lady who tells us when the device is connected to the bluetooth or not? She's quite load.
Thanks!

Torew said:
Hi
Is it possible to adjust the volume of the lady who tells us when the device is connected to the bluetooth or not? She's quite load.
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good question I absolutely hate how loud that voice too. Unfortunately, you can't change it. It's the same controller chip with the same voice and volume level they use in a lot of these wireless speakers. I already replied to a number of distributors to get back to those companies with a feedback about loud voice. At the current time, there is no way to adjust it.

Thanks alot, hope you get an answer some day.
vectron said:
Good question I absolutely hate how loud that voice too. Unfortunately, you can't change it. It's the same controller chip with the same voice and volume level they use in a lot of these wireless speakers. I already replied to a number of distributors to get back to those companies with a feedback about loud voice. At the current time, there is no way to adjust it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks again

Can you please compare this to the Xiaomi bluetooth speaker. They look alike, and I really like the controller on Xiaomi one, where you can control it by pressing on the speaker from the different parts, since the controllers are at the bottom, holding the whole speaker...

Eleo said:
Can you please compare this to the Xiaomi bluetooth speaker. They look alike, and I really like the controller on Xiaomi one, where you can control it by pressing on the speaker from the different parts, since the controllers are at the bottom, holding the whole speaker...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you have a link to Xiaomi speaker, and hopefully in English? Never seen one before. I'm afraid I will not be able to get a sample since Xiaomi brand is still not popular outside of China and not too many retailers carry it. Everything I review comes either directly from a vendor or sent to me by a retailer. Xiaomi Pistons 2.1 headphones was an exception because there is a retailers on Amazon US from China which carries it for sale, but I haven't seen their bt speakers. Either way, sounds like that speaker is better than the one I reviewed above?

vectron said:
Do you have a link to Xiaomi speaker, and hopefully in English? Never seen one before. I'm afraid I will not be able to get a sample since Xiaomi brand is still not popular outside of China and not too many retailers carry it. Everything I review comes either directly from a vendor or sent to me by a retailer. Xiaomi Pistons 2.1 headphones was an exception because there is a retailers on Amazon US from China which carries it for sale, but I haven't seen their bt speakers. Either way, sounds like that speaker is better than the one I reviewed above?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
IMHO the designis better, but I don't have any information about the sound quality, which I'm interested in very keenly

Eleo said:
IMHO the designis better, but I don't have any information about the sound quality, which I'm interested in very keenly
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you have at least a link?

vectron said:
Do you have at least a link?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know whether it will do it, I have a youtube link ("http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmIyb_bFVYI"), and I know that it has the same battery as the phone itself. I have found it in a e-shop either ("http://www.xiaomiworld.com/xiaomi-original-bt-speaker.html").
Old one (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjaZIQ0U7FQ) (http://www.arigbuy.com/high-quality-musical-bluetooth-speaker-dock-station-xiaomi-smartphone.html) (http://vimeo.com/70177241)

Does the first speaker (super bass portable speaker) support aux input?

Love this thing!
swassi said:
Does the first speaker (super bass portable speaker) support aux input?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have pretty much exactly the same speaker, with a matte aluminium finish, got it from DealExtreme.com during a sale, was $10. Mine came with a mini usb to both normal usb and a standard 3.5 jackplug.
Sadly, it appears my cable was DOA, the speaker doesn't charge from it (Had to use a mini usb cable from a camera) and the audio barely transmits. If I put both my phone and the speaker at full volume, I can hear the speaker hissing the music when I put it to my ear. :crying:
The audio is great though! At full volume, mine starts crackling at 60 Hz beats, so I had to dampen those a bit using the equalizer on my phone. The sticker on the bottom says it had a frequency range from 60Hz to 18 KHz, but audio gets a bit distorted at the edges of that spectrum at high volumes. It was loud enough to fill a double classroom with dubstep though
Battery life is pretty good too. I had a project day at school today, had the thing blasting dubstep at full volume while working for 4 hours non-stop, and then some later on the day. It died in my backpack while walking to the station... I guess it would be better with an SD-card though, so I'll try that tomorrow.
All in all, a great machine! Although I guess I'm going to file a complaint with DealExtreme.com for the broken audio cable. I guess they'll just send me a fresh cable, or even a replacement speaker, DX customer service is pretty generous most of the time. :fingers-crossed:
TL;DR:
It's supposed to have AUX support, at least, with my model, but the cable I got was broken, could be an incident.
Good audio, loud, gets a little flaky at low Hz at high volume.
Battery life is good with Bluetooth, SD-Card and AUX untested.
Would recommend. :good:
P.S. If I made any grammar/spelling errors or typo's, please tell me, I'm Dutch, not my first language. (It is a very close second though).
P.S.S Does anyone know in what order the speaker will play songs you put on an SD-Card? Is there a way to arrange them? I'll try it in a few hours, but if someone know more about this, please tell.

Very nice review. Pictures you posted are very nice and descriptive. I bought this kind("Super bass portable speaker", the one you have reviewed 1st) of speaker from amazon.in 4 days ago. But here it is sold under brand name Maxxlite. It is exactly same and is in blue colour. I want to know whether this speaker is Mono or stereo? I am unable to decide. Sometimes I feel it is mono, sometimes stereo. The bluetooth connection to PC shows it as a "BT stereo speaker" in device manager. There is no mention on the box and no manual also. I also searched some of the chinese websites, but some say it is 2.1 channel and some say it is 1 channel. ... ... This sounds really really really good, it was a total surprise for me!

Review of LG Tone Ultra (HBS-800) Bluetooth stereo headset w/lots of pics!!!

This is a Review of LG Tone Ultra (HBS-800) Bluetooth stereo headset. http://www.lg.com/us/cell-phone-accessories/lg-HBS800
When it comes to wireless headphones, you can group them into 3 popular categories: one with a full size over-ear design heavily promoted by rap stars, the other intended for sport activities with little earbuds connected by a short cable, and the third one with around-the-neck wearing design. For a comfortable everyday use, you can probably cross the first two off your list because they are either too bulky and awkward to wear or hang loose around your neck when not in use. With the last one a lot of companies tried to come up with an ultimate solution, but only one succeeded with a design that has been recognized with multiple awards. LG Tone series took wireless headphone world by storm with their very popular HBS-700 and later follow up with HBS-730. In hope to continue this streak of success, LG introduced a new LG Tone Ultra under model HBS-800. I just had a chance to test, to review, and to compare it to HBS-730. Here is what I found.
LG Tone Ultra arrived in a very nicely packaged box with a clear full size image of the headset on the front and detailed functional description with specifications and additional features on the back. I actually did appreciate the functional description since it served a purpose of a quick start guide. You might ask why would I need one while being quite familiar with HBS-730? HBS-800 was not just a refresh similar to 700 -> 730 but actually a redesign with some significant changes. You still get the same memory flex neck band design, earbuds magnetically attached to the end ports of the neck band, and individual controls for supported functions, but HBS-800 has been refined to the next level with an updated distinct look.
Starting with around-the-neck flex band, now it features a better defined body contoured fit where it stays put even while you move around. Don't expect it to be "glued" to your shoulders as you jump up and down or do decline bench press, but as you quickly turn to the side it moves more in sync with your body. The top has been uncluttered by moving volume buttons down the Call side of the band, and song transport buttons down the Audio Playback side of the band. For a diehard fans of HBS-700/730 these changes probably going to take a little bit of time to get used to, but I found them to be an improvement in ergonomics because now you can control these buttons with your thumbs. The next big visible change was Call and Audio Playback buttons. What used to be a round generic button with a blinking light, which I found to be distracting on a few occasions, now is a beautifully crafted buttons in a shape of a phone handset and play/pause symbols. That really added a touch of class to the headset, and also made it convenient to distinguish button functionality by touch even in a dark. Another big change was an update to where you attach earbuds. Though it's still at the tip of the neck band, now it's completely covered from the top. I found this change to be both a step back and forward at the same time. This change makes it more difficult to "park" earbuds by simply bringing them close to the ends of the neck band like it was with 700/730. Now, you need more effort to make sure they are positioned correctly before attaching them. But the benefit is that design looks cleaner, and you don't have to worry about knocking them down by mistake. That was actually one of the minor issues I had with HBS-730 where half of the time I found earbuds hanging after I accidentally knock them down.
The light indicator also got relocated down to the inner side next to the power switch. I was very happy LG kept the physical power switch considering so many other headphone manufacturers prefer to consolidate multiple controls into multifunction buttons. Here, there is no confusion when headset is on or off which also controls pair up with your phone. To my surprise, closer examination of inner side of headphones revealed another power switch. As it turned out, HBS-800 added a new feature with active Ambient Noise Cancellation (ANC) functionality. Using a basic principle of sampling ambient noise and negating it with an inverse soundwave, this feature was cleverly implemented to work independent of headphone being on or off. This way you don't even need to turn your headset to pair up with your phone, and instead just turn the ANC control on to use HBS-800 as noise canceling earplugs - great for saving the battery. The same with power on, if you don't require ANC feature, which introduces a slight hissing background noise, you can turn it off and enjoy your music with a highest level of signal-to-noise ratio. Also to note, the charging power connector remained a standard micro-usb so you can use any of your phone/tablet charging cable. Or use the included high quality usb to micro-usb cable to charge your headset from any PC or external battery or wall charger. Full charging from zero shouldn't take more than 2 hours, and battery life remained stellar at 10+ hours.
Moving on, pair up with a phone was flawless and headset got connected to the phone and media audio within seconds with an audible confirmation. As with a previous models, HBS-800 supports all the major BT3.0 standards such as HSP, HFP, A2DP, and AVRCP. I also appreciate how turning the headset on tells you the battery status, which also can be accessed later by pressing volume button down. In addition, I tested multi-point connection where I paired up Note 2 and S5 without any issues. I was able to stream audio from my Note 2 while a call to S5 paused it and then resumed playing music after I was done with a call. This becomes very useful, for example, when you are streaming audio or watching video wirelessly connected to your tablet and can also pick up the call from your paired up phone without taking headphones off and manually pausing your tablet activities. Speaking of calls, I actually did some testing being outside in a wind, and everything sounded crystal clear on both ends of the connection.
And speaking of crystal clear, I'm saving the best for last. With a release of Tone Ultra, LG teamed up with JBL using their patented Harmon audio drivers. One thing a lot of people don't realize, you need to treat HBS-800 just like any other in-ear headphones, which means you have to start by selecting a proper eartip from the included selection of S/M/L pairs. The proper eartip fitment will make or break the sound. That is why I see so many people writing their comments about not noticing a sound difference between 730 and 800. Without a tight seal you will not be able to appreciate a new rich warm sound with a deep punchy bass and a clear detailed mids and highs. Don't get me wrong, these are not audiophile quality headphones, but with enhancement of new JBL audio drivers and support of aptX which reduces compression of wireless sound - these actually sound very good! By default HBS-800 is set to bass enhanced mode which can be changed to a more balanced/normal sound or treble enhanced sound. To me, the sound improvement was one of the main changes stepping up to HBS-800 model where I finally was able to enjoy some decent bass! And just like with 700/730 models, the separation of volume and song transport controls (to skip next/prev as well as rewind forward or back) enhanced the listening experience where unlike with some other wireless headsets you no longer have to remember to short or long press volume buttons in order to switch between volume and track control. Google NOW worked flawlessly as well.
Overall, while being a big fan and a long term user of HBS-730, I approached this review a little cautiously trying to figure out if the price premium of HBS-800 will justify choosing it over recently reduced in price HBS-730 model. After a closer look and continuous use over the weekend, I was able to fully justify that. The redesign with an improved ergonomics, including neck band shape and a more logical relocation and change of buttons, the addition of independently controlled ANC (though might not be necessary for some, a bonus for others), and the improvement in sound quality (as long as you choose a correct silicone eartips), made a significant enough improvement in overall decision to move from HBS-730 to HBS-800 which I'm planning to do. Without a doubt YMMV and for some creatures of habit not every change will be welcomed, but hopefully my review will be able to guide you if you are thinking about the upgrade or just looking to purchase your first set of LG Tones. Also, be careful when you are shopping around especially on Amazon where there is a number of look-a-like low quality knock offs.
Here are the pictures.
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Can you post a picture of this under your shirt collar to see how hidden it would be. ..
It's only worthwhile me buying it if it is 100% hidden when buds aren't in use.
---------- Post added at 04:21 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:20 PM ----------
Work in an professional environment so visible headphones are a big no no...

MSK1 said:
Can you post a picture of this under your shirt collar to see how hidden it would be. ..
It's only worthwhile me buying it if it is 100% hidden when buds aren't in use.
---------- Post added at 04:21 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:20 PM ----------
Work in an professional environment so visible headphones are a big no no...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here you go, looks very professional:

Thanks. They are visible... but only the last couple of cm's.

Great review, thanks! I wasn't aware there was a new model available. I've been enjoying my HBS-730 for over a year now, and battery life is still great. Depending on price, I may look into an upgrade. You mentioned multipoint connect, does the 730 have this capability as well?
Sent from my Nexus 7 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

The Fer-Shiz-Nizzle said:
Great review, thanks! I wasn't aware there was a new model available. I've been enjoying my HBS-730 for over a year now, and battery life is still great. Depending on price, I may look into an upgrade. You mentioned multipoint connect, does the 730 have this capability as well?
Sent from my Nexus 7 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't remember if I tested it, but I remember someone replying in my 730 review about having issues with it. On 800 it works flawlessly. Like I said, very useful when you are watching movies or playing music on a tablet while still connected to your phone so you don't miss a call.

vectron said:
Don't remember if I tested it, but I remember someone replying in my 730 review about having issues with it. On 800 it works flawlessly. Like I said, very useful when you are watching movies or playing music on a tablet while still connected to your phone so you don't miss a call.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the reply. I'm gonna have to pull out the manual and see because I know it doesn't work "out of the box" but I recall reading that in the feature list when I bought it.
Sent from my Evo 3D CDMA using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

User´s Manual
Hi, can you please send me the user´s manual, I buy this Great headphones but in China, I can´t read the manual. jajajaj

User manual
Yerus said:
Hi, can you please send me the user´s manual, I buy this Great headphones but in China, I can´t read the manual. jajajaj
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi. I have the same problem,bought the headset in Korea. It speaks Korean also the manual is in Korean language.Could anyone help to send me English manual or advise me where to downlod from? Thanks a lot.

Maybe I will try to take pictures of a few important manual pages and posted in here. I actually remember there was a quick start guide, that should be usefull. Just wondering since it's in your native language, why can't you understand it?

Does anyone know if there is a way to change the language on voice in the headset ? I got a pair, but unfortunately it speaks in a language I do not understand..
Much thanks

The sound is very low compared to HBS-730
Hi guys,
I was very excited when they launched the hbs-800, because even use the hbs-730 two years ago.
I'm testing two weeks ago, the sound is much lower, and even using the Viper4android. The bass is almost nonexistent.
You guys had the same feeling?

caiadinho said:
Hi guys,
I was very excited when they launched the hbs-800, because even use the hbs-730 two years ago.
I'm testing two weeks ago, the sound is much lower, and even using the Viper4android. The bass is almost nonexistent.
You guys had the same feeling?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sound is as loud as it was before. Keep in mind, you control volume both from headset and from the phone. Regarding bass, sounds like you are not getting a good seal with included eartips. Do you have another eartips to try? That's a secret for a great bass, tight eartip seal!

vectron said:
Sound is as loud as it was before. Keep in mind, you control volume both from headset and from the phone. Regarding bass, sounds like you are not getting a good seal with included eartips. Do you have another eartips to try? That's a secret for a great bass, tight eartip seal!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi buddy,
The first thing I do is test the earbuds, and have also tested it with others. I'm a user of phones from Motorola and LG. I thought my S9-HD spectacular, was disappointed with the S10-HD, and the only good thing in the S11-HD is the charge of 5 min. Bought the HSB-800 model just for finding an upgrade of 730. I read the review of this topic and decided to buy. I very disappointed with this headphone. I have three: S11-HD, HBS-730 and the HBS-800. I'm tired of auditioning, and I can no similar quality with the 730.
You got to see this release?
http://youtu.be/NXFCtom1m9U
http://www.whathifi.com/news/lg-and-harmankardon-unveil-new-premium-bluetooth-headset

caiadinho said:
Hi buddy,
The first thing I do is test the earbuds, and have also tested it with others. I'm a user of phones from Motorola and LG. I thought my S9-HD spectacular, was disappointed with the S10-HD, and the only good thing in the S11-HD is the charge of 5 min. Bought the HSB-800 model just for finding an upgrade of 730. I read the review of this topic and decided to buy. I very disappointed with this headphone. I have three: S11-HD, HBS-730 and the HBS-800. I'm tired of auditioning, and I can no similar quality with the 730.
You got to see this release?
http://youtu.be/NXFCtom1m9U
http://www.whathifi.com/news/lg-and-harmankardon-unveil-new-premium-bluetooth-headset
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm, HBS-900 looks very cool! Tried searching for availability, don't see it released yet. Will be on look out!
With 730 vs 800, I honestly prefer 800 sound but for me 730 controls make more sense. Maybe because I'm used to it. For office or more professional place, 800 look slicker with out of sight controls and better hidden earbuds when not in use. But for outdoors when I'm in our backyard or just around the house, 730 work well. But the sound, especially when it comes to bass - 800 wins that one! But I had to use my other eartips to get a better seal for low frequencies.

vectron said:
Hmm, HBS-900 looks very cool! Tried searching for availability, don't see it released yet. Will be on look out!
With 730 vs 800, I honestly prefer 800 sound but for me 730 controls make more sense. Maybe because I'm used to it. For office or more professional place, 800 look slicker with out of sight controls and better hidden earbuds when not in use. But for outdoors when I'm in our backyard or just around the house, 730 work well. But the sound, especially when it comes to bass - 800 wins that one! But I had to use my other eartips to get a better seal for low frequencies.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
On ebay you can find. It's the same seller which bought the hbs-800.
http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=251596615132&alt=web
Hugs.

caiadinho said:
On ebay you can find. It's the same seller which bought the hbs-800.
http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=251596615132&alt=web
Hugs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Uh, so this is international release for now, not in US yet. My LG review samples come from LG US, so I might have to wait until it's available in the States. One thing I'm not too crazy about is that self-retracting wire mechanism. It's a great idea for wires not to hang down, very clean, but that type of mechanism usually doesn't last for too long. I guess, will see...

Connecting the HBS-800 to a PC
I've just got the HBS-800 and testing it out. I have an issue though. Is it possible to connect the HBS-800 to a PC through Bluetooth. Considering the PC as a second device or second handset.?
Thanks.

tel2G said:
I've just got the HBS-800 and testing it out. I have an issue though. Is it possible to connect the HBS-800 to a PC through Bluetooth. Considering the PC as a second device or second handset.?
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you asking if you can pair up PC and Smartphone at the same time to a single HBS-800 headset? Since you can pair up HBS-800 with two different smartphones, I don't see why not, as long as your PC has Bluetooth 4.0. Personally I never tried it since I have old laptops.

vectron said:
Are you asking if you can pair up PC and Smartphone at the same time to a single HBS-800 headset? Since you can pair up HBS-800 with two different smartphones, I don't see why not, as long as your PC has Bluetooth 4.0. Personally I never tried it since I have old laptops.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Teah thats right. I've successfully paired the headset with the PC but it was not used as the default output for sound. So after pairing, playing songs or video still used the speaker of the PC, which is not cool