huntm856
06-14-2007, 10:09 AM
Just had it a couple days now and overall I am happy overall with a couple of reservations. Will break it down by category below (1-5, poor-excellent)
Styling: 5. Looks really cool and unobtrusive, unlike my Moto HT820.
Comfort: 4.5. I have a large neck (18 1/2 shirt) and a large head (7 5/8 hat size), so it's snug, but not uncomfortable at all. Very, very, very light, no weight at all. Earbuds (two types, in-the-ear and over-the-earhole) are both soft and comfortable.
BT pairing: 5. I have a Moto phone so no surprise there.
Range: 2. I don't know what the range of BT headsets is typically, but it seems to begin having trouble maybe 10-15 feet away. I've used my Aliph Jawbone maybe 20-30 ft away from my phone with no loss of function, and my HT820 also has a better range (though not as good as the Jawbone).
Receiving sound quality: 2.5. Incoming calls sound a bit muddy with the over-the-ear buds, somewhat better with the in-the-ear-buds, but nowhere near as good as either my Jawbone or my HT820s. Unlike the 820, calls are routed only to the left ear, which was apparently a deliberate design decision. I prefer the sound in both ears.
Transmitting sound quality: 3.5. From what I've been told and from leaving myself vmails they sound ok, though not as good as my Jawbone, and definitely not as good at cancelling background noise.
Music quality: 4. Sound is very different depending on earbuds. With over-the-ears the bass is stronger at the expense of the treble, whereas with the in-the-ears the treble is very crisp but the bass isn't as strong as I like (I listen to a lot of DnB so I *need* bass). I use the over-the-ears and a music player that has an equalizer and eq up the treble and it sounds very good.
Sound on stuff like spoken word isn't as good as my HT820 but it is more than made up for by how much louder they are than the HT820 and how much better the bass is for music. The HT820 just doesn't get loud enough for use in loud environments like mowing the lawn, etc. -- I always had to break out my wired headset when I was doing yardwork. Won't be doing that anymore.
Battery life: 2. The one thing about it I'm not crazy about. It's so small there just isn't much room for a battery, I guess. I think it's rated for like 6 hours of music listening, 7 hrs for talk, and 6 days standby, and since I've been using it a lot when I plug it in every day it shows charge level at yellow (red/yellow/green). I just charge it every day. Li-ion batteries are only good for a finite number of charge cycles so it is inevitable that it's not going to last indefinitely. This is something anyone considering buying one should take into account.
Controls: 3. Another thing I don't really like about them. The volume and music controls touch-sensitive, very, very touchy, and it takes a while to get the hang of adjusting the earpieces without accidentally touching them. Also, they tend to stick sometimes (easily corrected by pinching the frame) and I am frankly concerned about their long-term durability. But they work well, for now, once I got used to them.
In summation, I'm happy with the s9. They're not cheap but they are very comfortable, esp. for stuff like working out, sound very good for music, and have acceptable call audio quality, and now that it's getting hot the HT820 was just too hot and uncomfortable.
Styling: 5. Looks really cool and unobtrusive, unlike my Moto HT820.
Comfort: 4.5. I have a large neck (18 1/2 shirt) and a large head (7 5/8 hat size), so it's snug, but not uncomfortable at all. Very, very, very light, no weight at all. Earbuds (two types, in-the-ear and over-the-earhole) are both soft and comfortable.
BT pairing: 5. I have a Moto phone so no surprise there.
Range: 2. I don't know what the range of BT headsets is typically, but it seems to begin having trouble maybe 10-15 feet away. I've used my Aliph Jawbone maybe 20-30 ft away from my phone with no loss of function, and my HT820 also has a better range (though not as good as the Jawbone).
Receiving sound quality: 2.5. Incoming calls sound a bit muddy with the over-the-ear buds, somewhat better with the in-the-ear-buds, but nowhere near as good as either my Jawbone or my HT820s. Unlike the 820, calls are routed only to the left ear, which was apparently a deliberate design decision. I prefer the sound in both ears.
Transmitting sound quality: 3.5. From what I've been told and from leaving myself vmails they sound ok, though not as good as my Jawbone, and definitely not as good at cancelling background noise.
Music quality: 4. Sound is very different depending on earbuds. With over-the-ears the bass is stronger at the expense of the treble, whereas with the in-the-ears the treble is very crisp but the bass isn't as strong as I like (I listen to a lot of DnB so I *need* bass). I use the over-the-ears and a music player that has an equalizer and eq up the treble and it sounds very good.
Sound on stuff like spoken word isn't as good as my HT820 but it is more than made up for by how much louder they are than the HT820 and how much better the bass is for music. The HT820 just doesn't get loud enough for use in loud environments like mowing the lawn, etc. -- I always had to break out my wired headset when I was doing yardwork. Won't be doing that anymore.
Battery life: 2. The one thing about it I'm not crazy about. It's so small there just isn't much room for a battery, I guess. I think it's rated for like 6 hours of music listening, 7 hrs for talk, and 6 days standby, and since I've been using it a lot when I plug it in every day it shows charge level at yellow (red/yellow/green). I just charge it every day. Li-ion batteries are only good for a finite number of charge cycles so it is inevitable that it's not going to last indefinitely. This is something anyone considering buying one should take into account.
Controls: 3. Another thing I don't really like about them. The volume and music controls touch-sensitive, very, very touchy, and it takes a while to get the hang of adjusting the earpieces without accidentally touching them. Also, they tend to stick sometimes (easily corrected by pinching the frame) and I am frankly concerned about their long-term durability. But they work well, for now, once I got used to them.
In summation, I'm happy with the s9. They're not cheap but they are very comfortable, esp. for stuff like working out, sound very good for music, and have acceptable call audio quality, and now that it's getting hot the HT820 was just too hot and uncomfortable.