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(More customer reviews)With the release of Apple's iPhone OS 3.0 I have found myself on the market for a pair of nice A2DP Bluetooth stereo headphones. I currently switch between a Jabra BT125 for wireless talk and Shure i2c-M earbuds for wired stereo music while walking/running.
With my iPhone 3G updated and finally able to support stereo BT streams, I found myself stuck with the choice of either the Motorola ROKR S9-HD wrap arounds or the JayBird 200i, which appear to be the two most widely distributed BT stereo setups available in my local big box marts. I wound up choosing the Motorolas, which I purchased from Target.
I chose poorly.
I will say, I am generally skeptical of tech product user reviews, and knowing the Motorola ROKR series BT stereo headphones (both the S9s and now these S9-HDs) have recieved so many mixed reviews across a number of different sites, I was left unconvinced either way, so went ahead and purchased them for myself to see if these were really as good, or as bad, as previous reviewers have made them out to be.
Unfortunately, the *bad* camp wins. I wound up returning my S9-HDs to Target the day after I purchased them, even in spite of some quite favorable first impressions.
I have owned a number of Motorola products over the past decade (Timeport and RAZR V3 cellphones chief among them -- in fact, prior to the iPhone I'd owned only Motorola brand cell phones for the previous eight years) and have a favorable overall impression of Motorola's products, build quality, and reliability. Because of this I purchased the S9-HDs with an open mind and presumed the headphones couldn't really be as poorly constructed and unreliable as other reviewers have written.
When I brought the S9-HDs back to my office after purchasing them on a lunch break, I cut into the package and immediately got the headset on the charger, because I was so eager to put them through their paces. After charging completed (~2 hours), I paired the headset to my iPhone 3G without any problems. At no point did I need the included D650 adapter, though I do own a fourth gen iPod that would have been a candidate for it, I wound up not keeping the headset long enough to even bother.
So, what's good?
- Weight/comfort. The headset weighs under an ounce, so is very light and rides off the neck and just over the ears. Some people complain that these 'pinch', though I had no such issues. I found I was able to wear them for about two hours listening to music at my desk and not be bothered by the ergonomics, fit, or weight.
- Sound quality. I thought the sound quality was excellent in both modes ('regular' stereo and 'SRS Wow'). There was some noise/static at higher volumes, so I would put these behind my Shures in clarity, but otherwise I wouldn't make an argument against these based on sound quality alone. In fact, through the first two hours of my purchase, I was extremely happy with the S9-HDs, though I hadn't left my desk.
Then what's bad?
- BT signal strength. The deal breaker for me would come about four hours later when I went for my evening 5K run. My opinion of the S9-HDs really couldn't have been higher until I discovered they were completely unusuable for the primary purpose for which I bought them: Cutting the wire to the earbuds when I'm running. As soon as my gait switched from a walk to even a light jog (~5-6 mph) the headset began bouncing up and down uncomfortably and the sound would intermittently cut out from the BT stream for seconds at a time. My experience left me with the impression that these headphones were 100% unworkable for any outdoor physical activity whatsoever, which confirmed the complaints of a number of other owners who wound up giving these only one or two stars.
- Fixed battery. The battery is not replaceable and not user accessible. The rated life of the battery is approx 400 charges, which you can expect to last between 5-6 hours for stereo music. Unless you intend to use these sparingly, they are for all practical purposes $100 2 to 3-year disposable headphones.
- Behind the head wrap-around design only works if you're sitting up/standing. Due to the design that has the band "float" just off the back of the neck, this headset is also unusable while laying down or sitting back in a high-backed chair, such as a recliner or executive office chair.
- Remote buttons on the S9-HD don't control the iPhone 3G's music player, because OS 3.0 does not offer AVRCP. There are six control buttons on the headset along the earpieces including volume up/down and next/previous track. These buttons do not control the iPhone 3G even with OS 3.0. The volume up/down buttons affect the headset independant of the iPhone's volume controls, and I also found that there was not a selection available to turn the volume down so low as to have complete silence. The lowest available volume selection was still loud enough that I had to completely remove the headphones in a pinch to hear somebody talking to me. The next/previous track buttons don't do anything. Track selection still requires handling the iPhone's touchscreen.
Last, I will point out that a number of complaints seem to center around the S9 and S9-HDs lack of waterproofing, which is a huge problem for active wear due to sweat entering the unit. As I did not own mine long enough to verify these claims because all the other faults were so deal breaking as to lead me to return these in less than 24 hours, my impression of the construction was the speaker units themselves did not appear to be sealed very well, nor did the rubberized portions of the volume/track controls on the outsides of the unit. Even the charger port cover showed little attention to fit and finish and was clearly not going to be suitable for moisture proofing. That said, I am inclined to agree with those suspicious of the long term durability of these for active use, presuming you're lucky enough to get any use out of them whatsoever in that capacity.
In the end, until something better comes along, I've taken the refund and will stick with my Shures. All things considered, I'm certain these would make an excellent wireless, stereo headset option for those who need such an item for casual indoor use, such as while cleaning, doing other chores, or sitting at a desk. However the short life-expectency, half-a-day charge lifetime, poor BT signal range, complete failure of the unit outdoors during active use, and overall poor finish makes these unworkable for any serious travel, all-day, or active-performance use.
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