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- Average user rating: 2.5 stars out of 164 reviews Back to product review
- My rating: 0 stars
Full user review
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10 out of 10 people found this review helpful
2.5 stars
"Not such a good fit..."
Pros: Audio quality, range, style, controls
Cons: Astonishingly uncomfortable
Summary: I bought my S9's without doing my homework -- my bad. But I got lucky -- I have to say that the S9 is one of the neatest toys I've played with in recent memory.
The ear mounted controls make listening to and controlling music, as well and making and receiving calls a breeze ? plus you get to feel a little like Lieutenant O?Hura. For best hands-free calling performance you?ll want to use the S9?s with a phone that has good speech recognition.
In addition to the great controls, the audio quality of the S9 is very good as well. Clear highs, nice midrange, and warm bass -- all well balanced at both high and low volumes.
Be forewarned, however, that while the headphones are capable of great audio your device may not be. For instance, my Vista Tablet PC rocked with the S9, while audio from my phone was "fuzzy." Listening to the same music on my phone with wired headphones produced beautiful audio. Clearly some phones could use better A2DP profile support (I?m talking to you HTC.)
The styling of the S9 is nice as well. And they are light-weight. But the real issue isn?t always weight. In the case of the S9, a product that I would otherwise rate as a 10, there is a major problem that makes it loose 5 points: the S9 is the most uncomfortable device I have ever worn over my ears. The CNET review hints at, but largely sidesteps, this very serious issue.
Because of the hard plastic used in the construction of the arms, the S9 squeezes against your head just above the ears. After just 30 minutes it this can become extremely uncomfortable. And don?t even think about wearing sunglasses or a hat with the S9 as both compound the problem significantly. A lesser issue is discomfort in the ear opening where the drivers rest, although this could probably compensated for with a different size earpiece, of which several are included with the S9.
To summarize, the S9 is excellent technology that works well, but it?s industrial design is severely flawed if Motorola intended to target consumers that would wear the S9?s for hours at a time. I suppose I could just have a big head, but I wear a medium in a baseball cap. Go figure.
Where to buy
Motorola S9 Bluetooth Active Headphones (red):
$38.99 - $149.99
| store | price | in stock? | rating |
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$54.99 | Yes |
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$41.79 | Yes |
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$54.99 | Yes |
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Amazon.com Marketplace
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$38.99 | Yes |
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POSGlobal.com
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$130.42 | No |
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