Customer Reviews

Sony DR-BT21IK/B Wireless Transmitter and Bluetooth Headset for iPod

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

I'll have to say Sony has a great product on their hands here. The problem is they don't tell you this at all, neither on the box, on their website, in this listing on amazon or other reviews I have read.

Pros:
-Easy to setup
-Best sound quality out of all bluetooth headphones tested-comparable to a about a $50 pair of wired headphones (good bass, a little scratchy when you have it really loud, great mids and highs)
-Versatility (explained below)
-Most comfortable behind the ear bluetooth headphones, also the lightest, comparable to the weight and comfort to other sony behind the ear wired headphones
-Battery life is very good

Cons:
-Foldable aspect makes them a bit delicate, little worried that could be a problem in the future
-Play/Pause/Forward/Backward control for music is a little tricky and small

Versatility:
What everyone including Sony fails to tell you is these headphones can replace all of the following: your bluetooth headset for your phone (if your phone has bluetooth), your bluetooth headphones for your cell phone (if it supports this profile), headphones for your computer (if it has bluetooth), mic for your computer, allowing you to chat with your friends wirelessly. Also you can use the ipod transmitter to connect your ipod to other bluetooth enabled devices, like your stereo system in your home entertainment system, that is if it supports it. The headphones/headset has a built in microphone, giving you the ability to use the whole system for talking to people on your computer and cell phone. I tested it with multiple systems and I was well impressed. Also worked great on my macs. Another feature not mentioned is while listening to music on your phone, you can receive a phone call, and then go right back to listening to music. The last thing I need to test is if I can have my phone and ipod connected at the same time and it pauses your music when a call comes in.

The beauty of this product is it can be used in so many manners, it ends up replacing so many things. The cost is well justified when you realize it replaces the headphones for your ipod and computer, the bluetooth headset for your phone (easily $60) and mic for your computer. On top of it all what it replaces, it ends up being wireless, making it so much easier and convenient to work while enjoying your music or talking.

Five stars to Sony, now get your marketing department to realize the product you have and bring the price to exactly $99.95 retail and you'll sell tons of these.

Highly Recommended Accessory:
Case Logic makes this case for GPS units, where the DR-BT21IK/B happen to fit perfectly in it. It is made of durable and secure leather and vinyl, very hard to help protect your investment. Because of the folding plastic, I recommend this case (I just got mine from my local computer store this evening) to protect the hinges cause I can see when traveling with the headphones, those could easily get crushed.

http://www.amazon.com/Case-Navigator-Removable-portability-Complimentary/dp/B0016P02UQ/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1233627859&sr=8-3


Sincerely,
Sickboy

These were a replacement for a pair of Logitech Freepulse wireless headphones, and the Sony headphones get a definite thumbs up over those. I had no real issues with the Logitech pair, but here are the main differences (good and bad):

1. The bluetooth transmitter for the Sony set plugs into the port at the bottom of the iPod, while Logitech's plugs into the headphone jack. I had minor issues with the Logitech transmitter in that I have a case which encompasses the whole iPod and could not get the transmitter to stay flush (it tends to spin around the plug). The Sony transmitter stays in place better in the port on the bottom, and is perhaps half the size of the Logitech unit.

2. The Sony set requires only that you charge the headset, while the Logitech set requires you to charge both the transmitter and headphones. The Sony transmitter runs off of the iPod's battery, and I have noticed a slight decrease in battery life in conjunction with it. While it's in use, you're also unable to charge the iPod, since the transmitter uses the same port. It's a fair tradeoff, though. The less bits that need charging, the better.

Other than that, the Sony set gets points for being collapsible, and for having cellphone headset capability. I paired them with my phone as a test and accidentally left the pairing active, and was surprised by a phone call while driving home listening to a podcast. A minor negative is that the Sony set has a small fast forward/reverse switch on the headset itself, which as it turns out is relatively easy to bump while fumbling for the volume control. But that's a minor inconvenience. Sound is very good for wireless.

Super accessory for your iPhone!!

When I plugged the transmitter into iPhone, it said on the screen the device attached isn't compatible asking "Would you like to switch to airplane mode?" I just selected "No" and the headphones began to work in ipod mode (without me selecting it) - no problems there. I then played my favorite radio app, Pandora, which played great. I tried another favorite radio app, PBS, with excellent results as well.

The sound is amazingly good stereo - very clear! When I walked the maximum distance away from iPhone (30 ft), the headphones abruptly stopped playing, then quickly started back up again when I went back towards the phone. I
WAS able to go into an adjacent room with good results through the wall and also out onto my patio with the heavy sliding glass door closed (ran clear as a bell)!

I had excellent results talking on the phone with the headset which has a built in mic. All buttons are well placed on the right earpiece.

The directions are a bit less than ideal. Incorrect grammar tells me a native speaker didn't write them. For example: "If playback cannot start automatically, try start playback on iPod." (I think I understand that.) I never could find how you end a session correctly. The directions warn you that turning off the transmitter will "turn off iPod" (it actually just puts it into sleep mode).

There is nothing mentioned about sharing music with more than one set of headphones at the same time using one transmitter. This would be helpful to know. Perhaps someone could leave a comment on that.

My iPhone (it's new) was fully charged when I started the session. It ran down to 10% in about 3 hours of play (headphones still running strong). I dropped the transmitter on the cement patio (damn it!), but it worked fine when I tested it. I wish these came with a carrying case.

This set is just great! I love it!

First off...I'm deployed in Afghanistan, so I've put this product through its paces.

Straight out of the box, plug the transmitter into your iPod, turn on the headset and presto!! You have sound! VERY easy pairing process. All the controls work (play/pause, skip/jog, and volume) flawlessly (so far). The sound quality is really quite amazing as well. Comparable to just about any wired headset that I've bought (for $60 or less). And the range is amazing as well. I was able to listen to music and control my iPod through three walls in a steel frame building with no interference.

Pairing the headset with my cell phone (sprint HTC mogul) was a breeze too. Just make sure you make your device "discoverable". I didn't have to enter a "pairing code", but that may be different for you. It recognized it right away. However, the play/pause buttons did not function. If you have "voice dialing" on your phone the small button on the side multi-function) open your voice dial menu and prompts you for the spoken name.

Pay attention to the instructions, they're pretty well written and there for a reason. For example pairing codes for the headset are listed, as well as how to pair with up to 8 other devices.

The only complaint I have is how flimsy they feel. The fold up to carry size, and while the material is flexible, you can't help but feeling a little nervous about rough handling. Did I mention the 11 hour playback time on a single charge with up to 100 hours of standby? Trust me, I'm picky, this is one of the best investments I've made in a long time.

Enjoy!! I have immensely, best 84 dollars I've spent!

I loved it - bought it on June 4th, received it soon after... it's now September 13th, only have sound in one ear, and when I called, I have labor warranty for only 90 days. Minimum labor fee is $43, and I have to ship it there myself. Makes a lot of sense for something you can get for $50, doesn't i?

I have to revise my review. It is now 6 months later and the left speaker stopped working. You would expect better durability from $100 headphones. I only work out 3 times a week and baby these things in between. I'm pretty disappointed and will not buy these again.

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I bought these so that I could work out in the gym while still being able to view the workout routine app on my ipod touch. Indoors the bluetooth dongle and headphones work great together. I can walk over 30' away from the ipod without dropping the signal. Having the ipod controls on the headset is also very convenient since I don't need to leave the app. That's assuming that all I want to do is pause, fast forward, rewind, skip forwards and backwards. Clearly you'll need to use the ipod to do more than that, but that's to be expected.

Outdoors is a totally different story. I've had signal drops even though the ipod is in my pocket which is unusual because often indoors the ipod is also in my pocket. I don't do a lot of jogging or anything, so it's not a big deal. I suspect that the problem would go away if I was using my armband which I would do for any extensive outdoor activity like biking or jogging. Having my ipod in my pocket for either activity would be annoying.

I also use this headset for my Playstation 3. You can actually pair the headphones to a total of 8 different bluetooth devices. My PS3 is about 15' away from my couch when I'm playing and I've yet to have any problems. The mic sounds pretty clear and being wireless is nice. The headset is also comfortable enough to not be too bothersome for those extended play times. Just be sure to set the "audio devices" setting on your PS3 after you sync otherwise it'll appear like the headset is not working.

I have been looking for a good wireless headset and I feel I found it in this model. Sound is great and bluetooth functionality let's me use my cellphone and ipod at the same time, the included microphone seems to be ok as well, people can hear me clearly.

The only thing I don't like so far is battery life, which barely lasts two days of office work so I hope it takes many recharge cycles before any malfunction

I gave this to my wife to use with her new Nano 4G when she runs. It syncs up easily and is simple to use the a2dp features to control volume, play/pause, forward and reverse. She loves not having any wires and has had very little problem with signal loss when she puts the iPod in her right pocket. Battery life appears to be very good and the range in the house is amazing, (estimate about 15 - 20 feet even through interior walls). The sound quality is pretty good. I personally like a little more bass and think the iPod has tone adjust but she likes it the way it is so I have not messed with it. Time will tell how it holds up to sweaty running conditions but for now it is nice to be rid of the wires. We have not tried the bluetooth capability with any other devices yet.

Update: Six months and still going strong. I love having no wires. Sometimes they will lose signal but very, very briefly (less than a second). They get very sweaty and it hasn't affected them. I wish the band was a little thinner, it's just slightly uncomfortable after 5 miles or so. Otherwise, couldn't be happier.

These headphones seemed like a great deal at first. It's true, there are many nice features. The iPod bluetooth adapter is small and simple, the headphones sound decent, and the controls on the ear are remarkably convenient. That said, I was still disappointed by these headphones. While they can connect to my computer or phone in addition to my iPod, the connection process was incredibly difficult and had to be repeated after every time I turned the headphones off. The iPod bluetooth adapter was absolutely vampiric, and drained my iPod battery at least twice as fast as normal headphones. The range on these headphones was pretty good in some cases. I could listen to my iPod from about 20 feet away through a concrete wall if it was sitting on my desk, but when I put the iPod in my pocket, the music cut out continuously. This was still a problem even with the iPod in the same pocket as the headphones' internal antenna. I really wanted to like these headphones, but I could use them while walking around with my iPod.

I use this with my 4th gen iPod nano with no problems at all. I found the headset to sit well on my ears during my workouts. I go to a small gym (about 30' x 30'), leave my iPod in my storage cubicle and have no problems with transmission anywhere throughout the building. While the transmitter will cause the iPod to use its battery power quickly, I can easily get 2-3 hours of playback with no recharge. The headset lasts even longer. The sound quality is what you would expect from your average headset, with no artifact or hiss. I highly recommend this product for anyone seeking a wireless combination for their MP3 players. The only qualm I have is with the hard plastic over-the-ear pieces. These can become uncomfortable after an hour, but not enough to keep me from using this device on every workout.