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(More customer reviews)There are two things that can annoy faster than anything else: having to spend 5 minutes untangling headphone cords before listening to music, or having a wires running around all over the place when active. For example, when riding a bicycle, one has to run wires down clothing, which tends to pull the earbuds out or the headphones off.
Research indicated there were very few options in wireless headphones that were affordable and would beam music wirelessly from source to headphones. Most solutions seemed to include a rather large base that remained somewhat fixed near a home media source. The Blueant X5 stereo headphones are about the only affordable, portable wireless solution available.
These headphones work absolutely perfectly, if all you ever do is listen to one device plugged into the base transmitter. Right out of the package, the headphones connect to the base and music plays through them immediately with no real work at all. They are portable, sound really great, and the specialized battery packs get about 16 hours before they need recharging. The range on them for a bluetooth device is pretty impressive, certainly enough to have the transmitter ride along with an iPod shuffle or other MP3 player in a fanny pack or backpack while riding.
They work perfectly, that is, once you get them working the first time and never change the setup. They don't work as perfectly if you try to take advantage of the other capabilities Blueant offers in these.
For example... these headphones can pair with a cell phone, and be used to take phone calls, which is perfect during the workday. The recent firmware upgrade (we won't even get into what a nightmare that was to try to do, but it DID work) makes things a LITTLE easier to re-connect to the previous phone, but trying to get the unit to balance between what it should connect to and when it should connect can be tricky at best, further complicated by the cryptic flashing blue and red lights (which I found in many cases indicate different things than the user guide said they were).
And now we get into more of the negatives. The battery packs are proprietary, and belong only to this device, meaning if you want a new one or a spare, you have to buy it through Blueant. So far, I haven't needed new ones. When plugging in the units to charge, the base transmitter automatically starts itself up, and refuses to shut off. Then, plugging in the headphones at the same time seems to lead to some weird pairing where you can't get everything to shut off, or the headphones to charge. They may be charging; the lights just don't seem to indicate that.
Next, a couple of design flaws.
-Flaw #1: the microphone plugs into the headphones in the same place as the USB/charge cable does. This wouldn't be a problem, except the microphone is tiny, and I am constantly forgetting to plug the microphone back in after charging, meaning I can't use this device to talk on my cell phone because the mic is sitting on my desk at home.
-Flaw #2: the wire that runs from L to R on the headphones itself is not enclosed, and continuously "escapes", making it vulnerable to breaking. Fortunately a small amount of electrical tape remedies this.
-Flaw #3: the batteries seem awfully easy to dislodge just enough to lose power, meaning you've shut off either the headphones, or the transmitter, or both. It happens every so often, usually when I try to click on the "accept call" button.
Learning what all the buttons do, and how they do it, if you want to pair with other devices, is its own form of complex programming. It seems like just when everything is working the way it should be, the headphones lose connection and re-pairing is needed with devices.
Overall, I'm giving these a 4. I'd give them less, except they really are the only feasible wireless headphone solution of their kind, which offers portability and the ability to connect to any device with a headphone jack. They are perfect for someone who exercises, especially on a bicycle or other equipment where a wire can cause a somewhat dangerous situation sometimes. Despite the difficulty, I am usually able to use them to talk on my cell phone during the workday, and the sound is very clear and stereo (makes phone calls a little weird, but they SOUND great). It just seems like Blueant could make them function a little easier, and fix a few simple design flaws, and this product would easily be a 5, no question.
For the money I paid, and what I use them for, they are a still a good value, despite some of the headaches, and should make any audiophile happy about not having to deal with extra wires or being connected to devices without sacrificing sound quality.
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