Customer Reviews

LTB Q-BEAN-STO Wireless Stereo Headphone with Built-in Microphone (Orange)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have been trying for months to find wireless headphones to use on my treadmill so I don't disturb my family early in the morning. Some of them worked OK other places in the room, but all had crazy interference on (or anywhere near) the treadmill. I can't rate battery life yet, but this is lighweight, easy to set up, has decent sound and works from anywhere in the room (no direct line of sight needed). Added bonus, you do not need to use the earbuds that come with it, any headphone that use a standard size jack will work.

This thing looks geeky but it works well. We wanted wireless sound for the TV that allowed us to use the headphones of our choosing. Most of the other wireless headsets that we've tried are relatively heavy and this creates discomfort after long periods of wear (I guess we should watch less telivision!). This device solves that problem by allowing us to use a very light pair or earbuds. Range travels outside the home and into the garage. Looks geeky and has a cheap plastic shell, but it works well. Sound quality is very good. Battery life is so-so, maybe around 3-4 of use hours before it requires recharging. We've purchased two of these.

Got this to use at work - I share an office and our 8 person staff is pretty 'tame' so my Steve Dahl podcasts weren't always 'PC'. At first I just hooked earbuds into the speaker and went along my merry way - but it didn't take long before I became lazy - not running to get something from a cabinet, or pick up something I sent to the printer, BECAUSE it was such a hassel to 'un-hook' from the speakers. Find the podcast window, pause it, and then either unplug the earphones and cruise around the office with them hanging from your head, or take them out and fool around 're-installing' them when you get back to your chair. When your printer is just across the room - this gets old very fast. Enter the QBean.

Works like a charm, and was very easy to 'set-up' and I am far from a 'techie' type person. Just plug it in and go - the base and 'bean' pair up together and you're off. There are a few problems though.

1) The earbuds it comes with have, literally, like a 10 inch cord. There is a lanyard to hang the 'bean' around your neck, so that the earbuds will reach - but come on, who is going to run around with a giant bean necklace on? They already don't take me seriously at work, so this was unacceptable. Luckily, my BOSE earbuds were perfectly compatible (and the system came with a converter in case your male and female parts don't get along properly). There is also a clip on the bean - so I just run around with it clipped to the back of my pants or a belt loop and feel very MTV-RealWorld-esque. But it does the job.

2) The second real problem is the controls - there are rewind/fastfoward and pause/play buttons on the bean. They don't work...at least not for me in the media players/programs I'm using. The volume control works, but that's it. It's not a big deal because I only listen to the podcasts, but if you are a music junkie who wants to skip, repeat and otherwise cycle through your songs like an ipod would - go fish. It doesn't do that job.

The sound is good, and the battery life is pretty good too - I just plug it into the USB cord when I leave work at night and we're good to go. OH BUT - if you forget to plug it in your a fish out of water, because you CAN'T listen to it/use it WHILE it's charging. Bit of a bummer there too...