BlueAnt Wireless have released their newest stereo wireless headphone - the X5.  This model replaces their previous stereo Bluetooth headphones of which I haven't had the experience in testing.

The X5 Stereo Bluetooth Headset is a nice and compact set of stereo headphones that includes a Bluetooth Stereo Streamer for connection to non Bluetooth enabled devices like Desktop / Laptop computers and iPods / MP3 players.  An included cable fits most MP3 players for instant connection.

FEATURES

• Wireless Stereo Music or Voice Connection to your phone or computer
• Use with your favourite iPod / MP3 player.  Connect using a standard 3.5mm audio jack
• Use with VoIP programs
• Supports Bluetooth Profiles - Handsfree, Headset, A2DP, AVRCP
• Plug and Play to utilize your computers sound card
• Ergonomic and Dynamic Design.  Collapsible Neckband for easy portability
• Detachable Microphone
• Compact Removable Rechargeable Battery lasts for more than 12 hours
• Easy Charge via a USB port on your computer
• Stores Bluetooth pairing information for up to 10 different devices
• Bluetooth V1.2
• 2 Year Warranty

IN THE BOX

The X5 Stereo Bluetooth Headset comes with the following accessories:

• X5 Stereo Bluetooth Headset
• A2DP Audio and Voice Streamer
• Detachable Microphone
• 1 x 3.5mm Stereo Cable
• 1 x 3.5mm to Stereo and Mono Y-Cable
• 2 x Rechargeable Li-Polymer Batteries
• 1 x AC Charger
• 2 x Foam Speaker Covers
• User Manual
• Quick Start Guide

The X5 Stereo Bluetooth Headset comes very nicely presented and packaged to minimize any damage during shipping and help guarantee that your device will work perfectly first time.

It is important to fully charge both of the Li-Polymer Batteries as per the BlueAnt Wireless recommendations of at least 2 hours for the first charge.  Charging can be performed with the included AC Charger or via USB when connected to a computer.

INSTALLATION & PAIRING

The X5 Stereo Bluetooth Headset can be paired with any Bluetooth enabled and compatible Phone or Pocket PC.  The X5 Stereo Bluetooth Headset can be connected to any computer or MP3 player using the supplied Bluetooth Audio Streamer for instant plug and play operation.

Windows PC / Laptop / iPod and MP3 Player Installation and Pairing:

The X5 Stereo Bluetooth Headset and the Bluetooth Audio Streamer can be connected to any computer with a sound card in seconds.  This is achieved by inserting the red 3.5mm stereo plug on the included Y-Cable into your microphone or line-in socket on the sound card and the black 3.5mm stereo plug into the headphone or line-out socket.  The other end of the Y-Cable (4-Pole Plug) is inserted into the Bluetooth Audio Streamer.

Once connected and the batteries have been fully charged on both the X5 Headset and the Audio Streamer they are ready to be paired together.  This is achieved by pressing and holding the Power button on the Audio Streamer for a few seconds until the LED flashes alternately blue and red.  Once this is done, press and hold both the Power and Volume Up Buttons on the X5 Stereo Bluetooth Headset for a few seconds until the LED flashes alternately blue and red.  Both devices must be switched off first before they can be placed into pairing mode.

Once both devices are in pairing mode, they will communicate to each other and pair automatically.  Once they have paired together, a Stereo connection will be established and the X5's LED will cease to flash.  The Bluetooth Audio Streamer will show a connection is established via its LED.  The LED will stay blue for around 3 seconds and flash off and back on again.  This sequence repeats while ever the connection exists.

The procedure to connect to an iPod or MP3 player is identical except that the 3.5mm Stereo to 3.5mm Stereo cable is used instead of the Y-Cable.

Pocket PC / PDA Pairing:

The procedure below is very similar to the BlueSonic Bluetooth Portable Speakers from my previous review, so has been used here also.

To pair the X5 Stereo Bluetooth Headset to your Phone, Pocket PC or PDA, please check with your manufacturer to determine compatibility with A2DP and AVRCP profiles.  As a rough rule of thumb, any WM2003SE device using either the WIDCOMM or Broadcom Bluetooth stacks are compatible after an upgrade or patch.  You will need to check with your manufacturer on the availability of these upgrades if native support doesn't exist.  All WM2003SE devices using the Microsoft Bluetooth Stack are highly unlikely to be compatible.  I have verified this on the XDA IIi and indeed the device is not compatible.

For Windows Mobile 5 users, there is a good article on the::unwired website with references to the xda-developers website for including A2DP and AVRCP support if it doesn't normally exist.  This modification to the registry and the addition of a few DLL files and a CAB file isn't classed as modifying the ROM in my opinion, but may still void the manufacturers warranty if something were to go wrong - so please research this for your device first before playing around.

For all other Phone, Pocket PC and PDA users, BlueAnt supplied me with a link to a site that lists A2DP and AVRCP compatible devices, with a few interesting links toward the bottom of the page.  BlueAnt have also informed me that it isn't entirely accurate, but is a good starting point for those considering purchasing accessories using these profiles.  You can view the list here.

Pairing:

Press and hold the Power and Volume Up buttons as in the pairing procedures above.  Once pairing mode has been entered, turn on the Bluetooth radio in your compatible Phone / Pocket PC / PDA and start searching for devices (consult your instruction booklet if you are unsure how to do this).  When the X5 Stereo Bluetooth Headset appears, pair with them using the passkey 1234.  At this point you should have paired the device as a Headset.  Once paired, click and hold on the X5 Stereo Bluetooth Headset icon to refresh services, explore services or add a new service.  The option for High Quality Audio on the X5 Stereo Bluetooth Headset should then be visible.  Adding this service will create another shortcut in your Bluetooth Manager.  There may or may not be an option to use a secure connection (requiring the passkey) and if you have the hp iPAQ hw6515 don't select a secure connection for high quality audio.  I could only get this connection working without encryption.

Once paired successfully with both profiles, it's just a matter of connecting the X5 Stereo Bluetooth Headset as a High Quality audio connection to enjoy CD quality stereo streaming audio.

TEST DRIVE

For the past 8 weeks I have been using the X5 Stereo Bluetooth Headset for most audio tasks where I don't want to disturb others or when I needed time to sit back and chill.  I have used the X5 Stereo Bluetooth Headset for listening to stereo music, VoIP calls, playing computer games, watching DVD's on my Laptop while away from home in Motel Rooms and so on.  For a few weeks I had the pleasure of using BlueAnt's test HP iPAQ hw6515 Pocket PC Phone Edition device and have used the X5 a number of times at home answering mobile phone calls.  My XDA Atom is still away so I haven't had a chance to try the X5 Stereo Bluetooth Headset with them.

VoIP

To make a VoIP call using the Bluetooth Stereo Streamer, the X5 Stereo Bluetooth Headset needs to be placed in Headset mode by pressing the Power button once.  In Headset mode the X5 Stereo Bluetooth Headset enables the microphone (must also be plugged in) and VoIP calls are nice and clear.  It's a pleasure to chat with family and friends using this headset.  When the call is finished, pressing the Multi-Function button once places the X5 Stereo Bluetooth Headset back in stereo mode.

Stereo Streaming

While the X5 Stereo Bluetooth Headset is in stereo mode, music or sounds are sent to the X5 Stereo Bluetooth Headset with CD quality.  It's a pleasure to kick back and listen to my favourite music or watch a DVD from my laptop after a hard day's work and a night away from home.  I would rate the X5 Stereo Bluetooth Headset comparable to $100 wired headphones as I think the audio quality is very similar.  For me, I will never go back to wired headsets, as the freedom that Bluetooth offers and audio quality is terrific.

Stereo Streaming on a PDA Phone

With the X5 Stereo Bluetooth Headset paired and connected to a PDA phone, I was able to listen to my favourite.  The audio quality on the PDA was no different to my Laptop.  One great advantage to using the X5 Stereo Bluetooth Headset on the PDA Phone is that when a call comes in, the X5 Stereo Bluetooth Headset and Phone automatically switch to Headset mode and pause music playback.  Both the Phone and X5 Stereo Bluetooth Headset start ringing.  After pressing the Multi-Function button on the X5 Stereo Bluetooth Headset the call is answered in headset mode.  Once the call has ended, music playback automatically begins again from where it left off using the High Quality audio connection.

Scatternet

Another excellent feature is termed Scatternet.  This is the ability of a Bluetooth device to connect to two other Bluetooth devices simultaneously.  In this case, the X5 Stereo Bluetooth Headset can connect to the Bluetooth Audio Streamer and a paired Phone simultaneously.  While I had the X5 Stereo Bluetooth Headset paired and connected to the PDA Phone, I also connected it to the Bluetooth Stereo Streamer and started listening to music or playing games on my Laptop.  The phone rang during this time and so did the X5 Stereo Bluetooth Headset!  Pressing the Multi-Function button accepted the call from the PDA Phone and I could talk clearly to the calling party.  When the call ended, the X5 Stereo Bluetooth Headset simply returned to the connection with the Bluetooth Stereo Streamer and I could continue listening to music or playing my game.

Firmware Upgradeable

The X5 Stereo Bluetooth Headset is also firmware upgradeable.  If your phone or device is having issues with the X5 Stereo Bluetooth Headset, chances are there is an upgrade available or in the pipeline to fix the problem at hand.  Contact BlueAnt Wireless for more information.

Battery Life

Over the past 8 weeks, I have found the X5 Stereo Bluetooth Headset to last very close to the 12 hours as stated by BlueAnt Wireless.  For example, while using the X5 Stereo Bluetooth Headset with my Laptop for listening to music or playing noisy games, I would spend the better part of four hours each night.  After three days of this use they would require charging up again.  I gave the X5 Stereo Bluetooth Headset a charge this morning and have been using them nearly constantly since 10 am (it is now 7:30 pm).

Audio Quality

I subjected the X5 Stereo Bluetooth Headset with the same series of tests as I did with the BlueSonic Bluetooth Portable Speakers.  Both the frequency response and visible distortion were very similar.  The X5 Stereo Bluetooth Headset has the same, if not better, audio quality than my Laptop's sound card.  The X5 Stereo Bluetooth Headset did have a higher Total Harmonic Distortion (THD) than the BlueSonic Bluetooth Portable Speakers of 0.2%.  The images below illustrate this.

X5 Stereo Bluetooth Headset Audio at Full Volume

X5 Stereo Bluetooth Headset Spectral Analysis at 1 kHz Showing THD of 0.2%

CONCLUSION

The X5 Stereo Bluetooth Headset is a very good accessory for listening to CD quality streaming music, for playing games, watching DVD's and VoIP calls wirelessly.  I am impressed with their operation and particularly like not having flashing LED's on the headphones when in use!  They are fairly light weight considering they run from batteries and sit on my ears comfortably.  They are definitely not as bulky as other headsets and reasonably priced.

However, the thin plastic Neckband feels a bit too weak for a perfect score.  I also would have been more impressed if they came with a nice hard case to safely store the X5 Stereo Bluetooth Headset when in transit.  The Neckband on the first headphones I was given 8 weeks ago bent out of shape slightly so that the X5 Stereo Bluetooth Headset couldn't stand on a flat surface while folded up like they are shown in the promotional pictures.  I also found that the cable between the ear pieces came out of the recess from time to time.  This didn't affect the way they performed or their comfort but does show some support would be good while storing them.

The X5 Stereo Bluetooth Headset is available from the global BlueAnt Wireless website or any authorised reseller.  The recommended retail price for these units are $199.00 AUD.  Please visit BlueAnt Wireless for further details and their brand new device simulators for some animated instruction on use.

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