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- Average user rating: 3.0 stars out of 45 reviews Back to product review
- My rating: 0 stars
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5 out of 5 people found this review helpful
4.5 stars
"Great product at a great price!"
Pros: Easy to use. Great sound quality. Very stylish. Useful USB charger!
Cons: Only one: The headset may not securely fit in your ear without the ear hook.
Summary: I have spent a lot of time researching bluetooth headsets before finally purchasing the X3, so I'm writing this email in hopes of saving other people's time.
I have successfully paired the X3 with my Samsung a950, which is under Verizon's network. From what I have read, the a950 appears to only support Bluetooth Version 1.1, not 1.2, which the X3 supports. Also from what I have read, pairing of bluetooth headsets through version 1.2 gives much better clarity and performance than compared to version 1.1. That's just a little side note in case you were wondering. My review below will be based on version 1.1's performance.
Let me first talk about charging the headset. Out of the box, the X3 must be initially charged for 4 hours. However, it takes 90-120 minutes to fully charge after that, according to the manual (for me it takes approximately 90 minutes through the USB cable). I think the coolest feature of this product is that it comes with three different chargers that come included in the box. With them, you can charge your X3 using a computer (through USB), using a car charger, or using the more common wall charger. A word of caution however - the box only comes with one "USB to headset-plug" cable (about 8 inches long), which is required to charge your X3 by any of the three means mentioned. However, I personally like using my laptop (works on both mac and pc) to charge it.
Once the X3 was charged and ready to go, pairing it with my phone took less than 2 minutes. Just follow the few steps outlined in the manual for pairing.
There are two aspects of the X3's functionality that I would like to talk about: comfort and quality.
Comfort: The X3 comes with one gel/silicone cover and two standard foam ear buds. It also comes with two ear hooks, supposedly one for each ear, but they both look and feel the same to me. One thing to note here is that the ear hooks are quite rigid, there is no flexibility to them (but surprisingly that doesn't seem to affect it's comfort or function). I tried using the X3 with just the gel/silicone earbud (no ear hook) and, while the call volume was great, it didn't feel as snug as I wanted it to. However, using the X3 with both the gel ear bud and the ear hook made it feel very secure on my ear and comfortable enough to wear for extended periods of time. My personal preference, however, is to not use an ear hook, and I can do so comfortably and snugly by using the foam ear bud. To give you an idea of how snugly this fits: I could jump up and down while the ear hook is on, and the X3 stays in place. However, within a few jumps, the X3 without an ear hook would fall out of my ear. Also, one minor note to people who intend to wear their headset on their left ear, that would require positioning the headset such that the lettering: "Blue ant" would be upside down.
Quality: Simple - whether in my room, on the road, or just walking outside, the call quality (clarity and volume) are both great. I have not had any trouble hearing people as they speak, and no one complains about not being able to hear me. I've asked them specifically about it and most people said that there's not much difference, while one person did say that I sounded like I was a little distant, but not much. Everyone said that the quality was clear and audible. Unfortunately, I have not been able to test it in NYC traffic/commotion just yet, so I can't comment on that.
Style: Being a college student, the "look" of the headset is fairly important to me. I didn't want something that looked like it didn't belong on my face. The X3 is simple and professional looking with it's mainly black body (there are more "fruity" colors available to choose from if you'd like). And being about 2 inches long (or i should say 2 inches short) it does not cover up an entire half of my face like some other headsets might (like some Motorola models). The lights are also very "cool" as most bluetooth headsets are. You can get a better picture of what the X3 looks like at this site:
http://www.blueant.com.au/BAasset/flash/x3_micro_4.swf
Also, the buttons are very intuitive (functions are clearly described in the manual) and are big enough to press easily.
Bottom line: I bought mine for $45 (including shipping) from newegg.com. If you're looking for a good quality headset that is small but stylish, then I think at the very least you should give this headset a try (only if you can buy it for less than $50 - it's not worth it to pay more, in my opinion). I would honestly suggest everyone looking for such a headset to stop researching (I assume you're researching if your reading this review) and buy the X3 from a site online (since it's made by an Australian company, I don't think you'll find it in many stores) that has at least a 30 day return policy. If you don't like it (which I highly doubt will be the case), then you can return it and try something else. But my suggestion is: Buy it!
BlueAnt Wireless X3 micro (Black):
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