First I would like to comment that BlueAnt has outdid themselves again. The T1 is absolutely great. I purchased mine from Amazon.com from CCMACCESSORIES. I've ordered from them a few times before and never had a problem. The headset's retail price is $79.99. I was surprised that it was cheaper than the Q1 which is $129 retail. However, the Q1 has more voice commands than the T1 so that may have been a factor. I paid 53.69 + $3.95 shipping. With that said let me start with the specs.
Specs:
General Specifications
* Bluetooth v2.1
* Up to 10 metres (33 feet) RF coverage
* CE, FCC, BQB, Ctick, RoHS/WEEE Compliant
* Headset Profile, Handsfree Profile and A2DP
Frequency
* 2.4 GHz
Audio
* 3GPP with DSP solution
Battery
* 3.7V Rechargeable Lithium Ion Battery
* Up to 6 hrs talk time
* Up to 120 hrs standby time
Weight
* 0.35 oz / 10 g without ear hook (0.38 oz / 11 g with ear hook)
Dimensions
* 1.97 x 0.6 x 0.9 in / 50 x 15.2 x 22.9 mm
These are the specs listed on
BlueAnt's Website.
Package Contents
* T1 Rugged Bluetooth Headset
* 2 silicon sleeves
* 2 flexible plastic ear hooks
* 2 sets of ear buds
- 3 ear buds for use without the ear hook
- 2 ear buds for use with the ear hook
* USB cable
* AC adapter
* Quick Start Guide
As you can see BlueAnt is very generous when it comes to accessories. The silicone sleeves help protect the headset from the elements and from other causes of damage. I find the headset to be very comfortable with the ear hook. Although personally I don't like the ear hooks that come with the T1 so I used the ear hook that came with my BlueAnt Z9i as you may have noticed in the picture above.
A key feature to this headset is BlueAnt's Wind Armour Technology. It combines the design, noise cancellation technology, and duel mics to keep clear audio in winds up to 22 mph. This is currently the best on the market. I haven't tried it is such winds yet, but I did test it on a windy day. The person on the other end did hear some background noise, but not enough that they couldn't understand me clearly.
The BlueAnt T1 also has a built in voice command system. There are a few commands you can tell the headset One such command is "Phone Commands". When you say that it will activate the phone's voice command system.
The one feature that really sold me on this headset is the ability to announce the name of the person that is calling you instead of just reading the phone number. This is the first headset to do that. The way this works is the contents of your phonebook is stored on the headset itself (capable of storing up to 2,000 contacts). When you first connect the headset to the phone it will automatically upload your phonebook. To update it just hold the Multi-function button (MFB) for 3 seconds. If someone calls you and is in your phonebook the headset will read the name of the person instead of the number. However, you may find the voice of the headset to be a bit eerie. Here is a sample of what it sounds like:
http://www.mediafire.com/?unzwztv1ihymlymThe first voice (has been on the other voice capable BlueAnt headsets) you will hear whenever you want to command the headset to do something or when you power up. The second voice (the eerie one) is the one that announces calls and the name of the device you are connecting to.
Note: I did find that if you store your numbers with an area code in your phonebook you will have to make sure it is stored in the following format: 1 (111) 111-1111 or it will not read off the name of the caller.
Another great feature of this Headset is that when a call comes in you don't have to press the MFB to answer the call. The headset will read off who is calling and then ask you "Answer or Ignore". You simply have to say answer to answer the call or ignore to send the call to your voicemail.
BlueAnt even made pairing this headset easy. They made the headset with embedded interactive audio help that instructs you on how to pair the headset. The T1 even supports A2DP. You are able to listen to stereo audio and GPS turn by turn directions over the headset. A feature that I've loved about BlueAnt products is that they are upgradeable. BlueAnt will release firmware updates that you can download onto the headset via the provided USB cable. One thing though that might annoy some people is that BlueAnt decided make it so that there is a switch that powers on the headset instead of holding down the MFB. The thing that may annoy some is that the switch is located on the underbelly of the headset. It doesn't bother me at all. I happen to like it, but not all will.
The only thing that really grips me has nothing to do with the headset, but the power cable that is provided. The provided USB cable plugs into the wall adapter and is used to charge the headset. As you may have noticed from the picture above is that the cable is short. BlueAnt did this with the Q1 too. Luckily they decided to use a micro usb connection this time. On past devices they went with one of their own design. I just ended up using the spare cable I had from my LG Incite and now use the provided cable to connect via active sync (hasn't given me any disconnection problems since switching to it).
In conclusion, I would recommend this headset and can't wait to see what else BlueAnt has in store for the future.
