Customer Reviews

BlueAnt V1 Bluetooth Headset (Silver)

5 star:		(144)
4 star:		(91)
3 star:		(40)
2 star:		(24)
1 star:		(36)

 

 

UPDATE - after 18 months the earpiece on my BlueAnt V1 broke... BUT they sent me a free replacement!

Nothing lasts forever, right? So when the earpiece on my V1 headset began to separate from the body, I was disappointed, but figured I got my money's worth. So I went ahead and bought a replacement from Amazon cuz I still love this headset -- it's the best I've used, bar none. But before my replacement even arrived, I remembered BlueAnt offers a 2 year warranty, so I called them up on a whim and explained the problem and they gave me an RA number. I mailed my broken V1 in and about 1 week later, they sent me a free replacement in full retail packaging!!! By now, the replacement I ordered form Amazon arrived but I decided to keep both and save one as a spare. Moral of the story - BlueAnt has awesome customer service and is the V1 is still the best in my book!


And now back to my original review...


This headset is amazing!! I bought this primarily for the noise and echo canceling feature and I have to say it works like a charm. I checked out other noise & echo canceling headsets like the Motorola H710 but it looks exactly like my H700 which in my opinion has big design flaws. Motorola should've done more to upgrade the headset's look and function. As it is, the 710 is just a boring retread. But what really sold me on the BlueAnt was the dual microphones.

I've done a lot of recording work and know how difficult it can be to eliminate ambient noise, so the concept of dual mics was a revolutionary idea that made total sense to me. Liken it to having two eyes - you can see everything with just one, but when you look with both eyes, there's more depth, clarity and accuracy with what you're seeing. Well, the same is true with hearing with two ears or a headset with two microphones. The two mics are the secret to the superior noise & echo canceling of this headset. But don't take my word for it, listen for yourself online.

I went to the manufacturer's website and watched a video showing a guy using the BlueAnt headset in action in a noisy bar. First they just showed the guy talking normally in the bar and you could hear all the ambient noise around him, and that alone was enough to give me a headache (a big reason why I hate places like that.) Then the guy picks up his cell phone and turns on his BlueAnt and they let you hear actual audio from the headset with just normal noise canceling on, and it cut the ambient noise in the bar drastically! Just on the normal setting! Then the guy turns on max noise canceling and the ambient noise all but disappears!! No kidding!! His voice did sound a bit tinnier as a result of all the filtering, but that's to be expected. You'd never use max canceling in normal situations, just in circumstances where you need to take a call in a noisy location and being heard is paramount. In any case, the video was quite impressive and a brilliant marketing move. So I'm wondering if it's just doctored in some way, but the dual mic concept has me sold and the video has me intrigued enough to try it out. I believe the guy in the video is using a Z9i and supposedly the V1 is even better at noise canceling which is why I chose it. The two headsets are identical other than color and that the V1 also has voice control.

At first, I was wondering if I needed voice control or not. I also wasn't clear if I could still use my phone's built in voice control with the V1, but the answer turns out to be YES, you can. You just give the voice command, phone commands, to access your phone's own voice commands. It's very simple and I like having the option to use either the headset or my phone's voice control. At first I thought it would be an either or, using one or the other. As it turns out, I find myself using both for different situations. And I absolutely love-Love-LOVE that you can ask the headset how much battery life is left! With no accurate visual indicators on most headsets, like the disappearing battery bars on cell phones that at least give you a clue where you're at, I was always trying to estimate how much I'd used my headset so I could figure out if I needed to recharge it or not. It's not good to overcharge things so I was always doing the math in my head. Now, all I have to do is ask, and the little genie in the headset tells me!! That alone is worth having the V1 over the Z9i in my opinion!

So overall, I have to say this is a pretty awesome headset. When I buy something new, I want it to actually be new, as in, the latest technology. I always check the item's description to see when it was first available on Amazon and don't buy when I see a product is a year old or more. Technology is changing everyday, so don't waste your money buying something new that isn't really new since it's been on the market over 12 months. It's already old, useless junk by then. The V1 is newly released so it's the latest technology and as a result, won't be obsolete for a while. This is a great headset and you won't be disappointed!

I spend around 2000 minutes per month on my phone for work, mostly with an BT earpiece stuck in my ear. My previous earpiece was the Jabra JX10 (1st gen), and it was a small device that worked really well most of the time. After a couple weeks of using the V1, I can say the same about this headset. I had some initial issues with sound clarity (re-pairing helped) and with keeping it in my ear reliably (removed the black nub used for the over-ear plastics).

I am not a fan of plastic over my ear, and with the Jabra I was able to use Jabra softgels to put that earpiece in my ear - and it stayed all day if I wanted. With the BlueAnt V1, I had to work harder but finally found the solution. Softgels don't fit, and the included Comply soft tips alone were not enough. I use Comply tips with Shure headphones on my iPod, so I am already fine with foam in my ear. However, I couldn't get the foam tips far enough in my ears to stay put. Once I took off the black rubber nub that sits in the middle of the nice-idea-but-useless-in-practice 'tie clip,' I am finally able to get the V1 to stay in my apparently cavernous ear. That nub simply kept me from getting the last little bit I needed for the Comply foam to stay put.

As a user for a couple of years, I know these Comply tips wear out with any kind of regular use. They are dirt magnets no matter how clean you try to keep them and your ear, and so far they are not available from BlueAnt at the site mentioned in the included documentation. It's a very new product, so that's fair, I just hope they get them out soon. Contacting Comply directly has not elicited a response, although these tips seems to have the same larger hole as the Whoomp Earbud Enhancers for the iPod's standard mediocre earbuds. The ones from my earphone have a hole that is far to small to fit the V1.

Other critiques include the fact that pressing the button occasionally does nothing. It's as if the V1 is asleep. I try to answer a call and the V1 does not notify me nor does it respond to the press of the ant button. Or, sometimes I'll press the button and the V1 does not say "Say a command" as is normal. These are overcome with a reset or a few presses to 'wake' it back up. Still, it's a flaw as I see it.

In all cases, I am offended by the fact that many BT earpieces on the market feel they need to flash that they are active. As the wearer, I can't see the flash going on in my ear, and it does nothing but annoy other people - especially at night. The V1 and other BT headsets may be seen as a fashion accessory by some, but I bought it for the size coupled with the technology. I don't care to advertise that I have it in my ear. So, on the one hand, many thanks to BlueAnt for giving me a way to turn it off. Unfortunately, it's an annoying fact that when I turn that flashing blue square off through the voice prompts, the device forgets and starts flashing again once it is turned off for charging. If I shutdown via voice prompts (a waste of time) it seems to remember. BlueAnt, if you're reading, please fix this... that flashing square with an ant on it is huge. At least on the Jabra XJ10 it was a tiny square. Although I couldn't turn it off, a black marker took care of it. I was thrilled when I found the V1 allowed control, but less thrilled now that I have to repeat the action over and over.

Before I say anything else, let me pay a compliment that the voice quality on the other end and noise-canceling appear to be stellar.

That said, I also hope BlueAnt will consider tweaking the V1 firmware updates, per the documentation, so I can just press and use my phone's internal commands if I want. With my old earpiece that was what happened with a press. The BlueGenie voice control is cool, if a bit of a gimmick since you can only answer or ignore calls completely hands-free as others have pointed out. However, calling numbers by pressing the ant and saying what speed-dial you want to call (after memorizing them) is limiting. I have hundreds of contacts I can dial by name if you pass me through to my phone and Microsoft Voice Commander. I know I can say 'phone commands' - but why not add another voice-activated setting to just pass the button press through to the phone's internal commands? Those of us with Windows Mobile devices and VC are not a minority.

Also I want replace these canned and limiting voice-recognized names... 'office' - 'favorite' - 'home' - I don't even have a home phone, and I'm not alone. So, I've set my wife as 'home' - but I'm calling her mobile. If I make her 'favorite,' who would be home? If I make her home and leave favorite empty, I wasted one of the limited voice shortcuts available for speed-dial (voicemail, favorite, home, office, goog411, speed-dials 6,7,8 and 9). Locking me to Goog411 as speed-dial 5 is a waste of an entry. Again, if I could just pass through to my phone with a press, I already have Goog411 as an option. To me it appears the beta-testing group was a small sample.

Don't get me wrong. This is a great device with next-gen features for a BT headset. But give me a few more business-class options (and retain all settings) at this end of the price spectrum if you want to retain my business long-term.

Had about about 5 days now and I can say this is a BIG STEP forward over my previous headsets.

It takes a little getting use to but once you do the voice commands and all the helpful voice prompts make it so much more user friendly and accessible. It walks you through the pairing process by talking to you, then you can just say "Teach Me" a few times and it lets you practice the commands. They start to stick after 3 or 4 times of this. You can always ask it "What Can I Say" if you forget. You can do this all while driving, nothing you have to read and memorize the user guide for. Recognition accuracy seems good if you use the commands it asks you to use. Doesn't seem to work if you say "Battery" instead of "Check Battery"

I got extremely annoyed when trying to make calls with my old headset only to find out it had lost its connection and could not get it reconnected when driving. This thing tells you when its connected, and you just have to ask it "Am I connected" if you are unsure which will cause it to connect if it isn't already. 10x easier than having to stop and fiddle with buttons. Redial, Call Back are particularly useful voice commands as I seem to drop calls frequently and this makes it easy to reconnect quickly. I put my wife cell as "Call Favorite" and home # as "Call Home" so makes this much easier and quicker than using voice dial on phone for those 2 numbers which are half my calls. I haven't bothered to setup all the speed dial voice commands yet as I'm not sure I could remember the numbers. You can start Dial by name on your phone with a certain command, "Phone Commands" I believe.

The audible Caller ID and handsfree voice answer or ignore is pretty cool too. It is Caller ID by number but if its your closest friends or family it will save you from looking at the phone when driving when getting a call.. If you don't recognize the number then you still have to look at your phone display to see whose calling.

Be aware though the voice commands don't do everything. You still have to end calls by double clicking and can't say hangup or end call. I guess it can't try to listen to your commands during a call.

As for call quality, so far no complaints but I mainly use it in a car and can't speak to how it performs in crowd noise or a restaurant..

They give you foam tips and rubber tips. The foam tips blocked out a little too much ambient noise for me so use the old standard rubber ones.

My husband bought me this since I have an Iphone with no voice dial.

I have to say if I would have reviewed in the first day I probably would have rated it lower, but after learning how to use it I've come to appreciate what it does do very much. My only comparison is a 2 year old Jabra headset.

I was initially disappointed when I found you can't do dial by name on it directly. We were told by BlueAnt that to do this your phone itself has to support that name dial capability since that is where the phone book is. However it does let you map your Iphones speed dials to various preset calling commands in the headset which once you get used to and set it up it works just fine allowing you to quickly voice dial your most important numbers

You also have to remember the commands correctly or it can make mistakes or just won't do anything. Be sure and know to cancel by clicking if it does. After I took some time to memorize the commands I have not had any problems and it seems highly reliable.

It tells you what those commands are by asking it "what can I say" but you still have to remember who you stored as your "Favorite" or "Home" number, etc. Redial and Call Back are obviously straight forward calling commands which have proven much more useful than I expected. After a around a week of use I've found that I can use it for probably over 2/3rds the calls I make when driving to have handsfree dialing. The rest I have to do the old fashioned way.

The voice prompts are very helpful in knowing what the headset is doing. I found the Jabra very confusing and would never know what the problem was if calls were not connecting.

Call Quality seems very good and much improved over my previous one, although I have heard comments people can hear my heals clicking in the background when I'm walking on a hard floor. When I switch to the extra Noise reduction setting it removes this but people then say I sound a little muffled so its not perfect.

Also the ear hook bothered the back of my ear. I took it off and so far it stays in just fine without.

UPSIDES
*Overall very happy with the product now
*Great for Iphone, just don't expect Name Dial, and prepare to memorize a few commands
*Caller ID is nice, saves looking at the phone many times ,however only Caller ID by number though
*Handsfree voice answer is very nice if you have your hands busy doing something when calls come in (I was cooking one time and it was very convenient not to have to stop and take off my gloves to answer)
*Pairing very easy, no problems as before
*Voice Prompts are very helpful in telling you if you are connected, battery status, etc, or allowing you to turn various things on and off.
*Call Quality good

DOWNSIDES (why only 4 stars)
-no name dial unless your phone supports it, must use preset calling commands
-No Caller ID by name
-hook may bother your ear although you may not need it
-Foamtips seem to get dirty (and I'm a clean freak) and don't seem to wash well. They may expect you to order more new ones. I just use the rubber tips instead.

So long from Texas and "Go Red Raiders!"

I spend around 2000 minutes per month on my phone for work, mostly with an BT earpiece stuck in my ear. My previous earpiece was the Jabra JX10 (1st gen), and it was a small device that worked really well most of the time. After a couple weeks of using the V1, I can say the same about this headset. I had some initial issues with sound clarity (re-pairing helped) and with keeping it in my ear reliably (removed the black nub used for the over-ear plastics).

I am not a fan of plastic over my ear, and with the Jabra I was able to use Jabra softgels to put that earpiece in my ear - and it stayed all day if I wanted. With the BlueAnt V1, I had to work harder but finally found the solution. Softgels don't fit, and the included Comply soft tips alone were not enough. I use Comply tips with Shure headphones on my iPod, so I am already fine with foam in my ear. However, I couldn't get the foam tips far enough in my ears to stay put. Once I took off the black rubber nub that sits in the middle of the nice-idea-but-useless-in-practice 'tie clip,' I am finally able to get the V1 to stay in my apparently cavernous ear. That nub simply kept me from getting the last little bit I needed for the Comply foam to stay put.

As a user for a couple of years, I know these Comply tips wear out with any kind of regular use. They are dirt magnets no matter how clean you try to keep them and your ear, and so far they are not available from BlueAnt at the site mentioned in the included documentation. It's a very new product, so that's fair, I just hope they get them out soon. Contacting Comply directly has not elicited a response, although these tips seems to have the same larger hole as the Whoomp Earbud Enhancers for the iPod's standard mediocre earbuds. The ones from my earphone have a hole that is far to small to fit the V1.

Other critiques include the fact that pressing the button occasionally does nothing. It's as if the V1 is asleep. I try to answer a call and the V1 does not notify me nor does it respond to the press of the ant button. Or, sometimes I'll press the button and the V1 does not say "Say a command" as is normal. These are overcome with a reset or a few presses to 'wake' it back up. Still, it's a flaw as I see it.

In all cases, I am offended by the fact that many BT earpieces on the market feel they need to flash that they are active. As the wearer, I can't see the flash going on in my ear, and it does nothing but annoy other people - especially at night. The V1 and other BT headsets may be seen as a fashion accessory by some, but I bought it for the size coupled with the technology. I don't care to advertise that I have it in my ear. So, on the one hand, many thanks to BlueAnt for giving me a way to turn it off. Unfortunately, it's an annoying fact that when I turn that flashing blue square off through the voice prompts, the device forgets and starts flashing again once it is turned off for charging. If I shutdown via voice prompts (a waste of time) it seems to remember. BlueAnt, if you're reading, please fix this... that flashing square with an ant on it is huge. At least on the Jabra XJ10 it was a tiny square. Although I couldn't turn it off, a black marker took care of it. I was thrilled when I found the V1 allowed control, but less thrilled now that I have to repeat the action over and over.

Before I say anything else, let me pay a compliment that the voice quality on the other end and noise-canceling appear to be stellar.

That said, I also hope BlueAnt will consider tweaking the V1 firmware updates, per the documentation, so I can just press and use my phone's internal commands if I want. With my old earpiece that was what happened with a press. The BlueGenie voice control is cool, if a bit of a gimmick since you can only answer or ignore calls completely hands-free as others have pointed out. However, calling numbers by pressing the ant and saying what speed-dial you want to call (after memorizing them) is limiting. I have hundreds of contacts I can dial by name if you pass me through to my phone and Microsoft Voice Commander. I know I can say 'phone commands' - but why not add another voice-activated setting to just pass the button press through to the phone's internal commands? Those of us with Windows Mobile devices and VC are not a minority.

Also I want replace these canned and limiting voice-recognized names... 'office' - 'favorite' - 'home' - I don't even have a home phone, and I'm not alone. So, I've set my wife as 'home' - but I'm calling her mobile. If I make her 'favorite,' who would be home? If I make her home and leave favorite empty, I wasted one of the limited voice shortcuts available for speed-dial (voicemail, favorite, home, office, goog411, speed-dials 6,7,8 and 9). Locking me to Goog411 as speed-dial 5 is a waste of an entry. Again, if I could just pass through to my phone with a press, I already have Goog411 as an option. To me it appears the beta-testing group was a small sample.

Don't get me wrong. This is a great device with next-gen features for a BT headset. But give me a few more business-class options (and retain all settings) at this end of the price spectrum if you want to retain my business long-term.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Why no voting buttons? We don't let customers vote on their own reviews, so the voting buttons appear only when you look at reviews submitted by others.

My husband wanted me to start using one of those little headsets while driving so I wouldn't wreck the car while talking on the phone. I was reluctant so he went and bought me the little headset from BlueAnt that has the speech recognition.

I was surprised that I didn't have to train it and more surprised at how well it worked!! I have tried to use speech recognition on my RAZR and it required training and then didn't work more then half the time, but this WORKS!!!! Being able to just "call home", "callback" and "redial" were a huge help in the car. It really is a little genie in my ear :)

Using the speech recognition for pairing to my RAZR was also really smooth - I just had to tell it that I wanted to pair and it literally told me how to do it and what to do. I tried using my husband's headset but could never figure out how to get it to work with my phone so I just didn't use it, but BlueAnt has really solved that with this one! Oh and for the guy that couldn't get the caller ID thing to work, I was told that by putting the RAZR in vibrate mode, the Caller ID does in fact come across to and is spoken by the headset before it prompts you for voice answer. Sure enough this did the trick and it works great.

Finally, a headset that works for me!!

My old bluetooth headset was disintegrating, and just in the nick of time, I received this one as a gift. You charge it up, turn it on, and it walks you through the pairing and usage. The speech recognition was reliable, and -- other than feeling like an idiot talking to my headset -- makes interaction with the device easy. As a bluetooth headset, the sound quality is great in both directions. In fact, it's the first headset I've own whose volume can be turned up too loud.

The headset promises voice interactions to avoid having to interpret blinking, colored lights and to avoid having to press complicated sequences of buttons, but for some reason, the headset still has all of these impossible-to-remember codes. Fortunately, you don't need to remember them for the most part thanks to the speech interaction.

My one gripe is that I don't automatically route calls to the headset. If I want to pick up the call on the headset, the V1 requires that you press two buttons on the headset simultaneously. This is just about impossible to do without taking your hands off the wheel. I guess it's time to rethink auto-route.

I recently purchased the V1 after going without a BT headset for about 6 months. And I missed having one. My original bt headset was from plantronics, and while I liked the headset overall, I didn't like how flashy the LED was (HEY LOOK AT ME! I'm wearing a dorky headset) and it would often fall out of my ear. When the V1 is compared to other headsets, you'll find that it is typically in even comparison with the stylish Jawbone. Due to the V1's sound clarity and voice control, I'm sure it would have been no contest if the V1 were more stylish. As a guy that cares little about style, I believe the V1 is the right choice.

I'm going to try and skip what you probably already know about the headset (oooOOOooo voice control) and inform you on what I was curious about before I bought the V1. First, the foam ear piece does block out noise almost as if you were wearing earplugs (and as a pilot, I know ear-plugs), this does not bother me one bit, however the sound is not as clear as when used with the black earpiece, as the earplugs muffle the sound. Another problem with the earplugs is that they are too large for me to fit in me ear, the Audiologist who molds my earpieces will be the first to tell you I have very small ear canals, so for you normal sized ear canal persons, this shouldn't be a problem, but the mumbled sound may be a slight problem.

I bought the V1 hoping that I would not have to use the ear hook. Which would be possible if I were to use the earplugs. But to achieve clearer sound quality, I will make the trade off and use the ear hook. The clear plastic loop is a good touch by BlueAnt. From 20 feet away it is nearly invisible, 5 feet it is still fairly obvious.

As I mentioned before my plantronics had a very flashy LED that I disdained, the V1 also has this flashy blue/red LED with an option to turn it off (thank you BlueAnt), however once powered down the V1 resets this LED off value and you must turn the LED function off once again when turned back on, the 'sensitivity level' (low, med, high) function however, does continue to hold its value. The V1 has the ability to perform future firmware upgrades through the computer, and I hope that the LED disable function is changed in the near future to remain off on resets (currently I could not find any available firmware upgrades).

Using it with the iPhone is another non-event, took 5 seconds to pair. A few reviewers were mad the iPhone does not support voice dialing. OH Cry me a river, I would never use this function if it were available. The V1 supports 8 user defined voice commanded favorite options, defined under "Favorites" on the iPhone, more than good enough for me. Pushing the headsets button prompts V1 to say "say a command" (something that is easily disabled [thank you again BlueAnt], when disabled, a short beep is heard) then all you do is say "Call speed dial nine" or "call home" or whatever. To cancel a call you double press the headset's button.

The headset is very light, it is small enough that I forget I am wearing it most times, it doesn't fall out, the LED light can be turned off, the sound is VERY clear, and even though I didn't buy it for the voice command ability, I am very satisfied with the recognition, and the voice ability has become surprising useful.

I purchased this headset for my husband to use while driving a convertible with the top down - all previous headsets were useless in that environment. The BlueAnt performed better than all the others: my husband's voice came through loud and clear, though I could still hear the wind, also pretty loudly. Perhaps it is unreasonable to expect more from any headset. With the top up or in a regular car the sound quality is very good, both for the person wearing the BlueAnt and the person on the other end of the phone line... I recommend this product.

I've used a lot of different headsets. But now that I've tried the BlueAnt V1, I don't think that I can ever go back to using a headset without the BlueGenie voice recognition.

The voice guided pairing process is wonderful. It guides the user step by step on how to pair the headset with your mobile. While pairing is no longer a big deal for me, it does mean that I don't have to do the pairing anymore for my parents' and my wife's headsets.

One of my most favorite features is when I get in the car and turn on the headset, it lets me know if it successfully connected with my phone or not. Never again will I have to fiddle with the headset while driving because I had thought that the headset connected when it didn't and then when I answer an incoming call, I don't hear any audio.

Another great feature is voice dialing. I use an iPhone that doesn't offer the feature, but now with the V1 I can say "call home" or "call office." If my call drops, not only can I say "redial" but I can also say "call back" to reconnect a lost incoming call.

No more memorizing complicated button presses. No more deciphering cryptic LED flashes. BlueGenie voice recognition also works extremely well - even my friends with thick foreign accents had no trouble being understood.

The BlueAnt V1 headset itself works great and is sleek looking. But it is the BlueGenie that really makes this product shine.