Customer Reviews

Sony DRBT160iK Bluetooth Stereo Headset with iPod Adapter (Black)

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

 

 

I like to have my ipod playing when I do errands or workout at the gym but I hate the wires on my headphones always getting in the way and catching on things. Through friends and different stores I tried SEVERAL various wireless solutions like the Jaybird, the Motorola, the Toshiba and even another different model of Sony because I didn't want to buy something only to find the sound quality or bluetooth function was weak. Then while browsing Amazon I came across the Sony DRBT160iK. At first I thought the headset design with the behind-the-ear pods were strange looking compared to other models and I wanted no part of them... but having no friends who owned them and not finding them in any stores, I decided to buy from Amazon anyway since there were few reviews at the time that were very good ones.

Well I received them and flat out I am truly blown away. It's kinda nice when something you are hoping will work out actually exceeds your expectations. Without any question whatsoever this set-up is by far the very best sounding wireless bluetooth ipod headphones I've heard...period. I absolutely love these and what's funny is they sound better than another wired headphone I've had on my ipod. If anyone is on the fence about these and are looking for a review to help, Im giving you an honest and discerning opinion...if you can get around the funky (but fairly comfortable) design, these are worth every penny (currently around $114 on Amazon).

The sound quality for a lightweight portable bluetooth stereo headphone is simply excellent. Suprisingly so. The transmitter/receiver uses one of the latest advanced bluetooth versions known as Bluetooth ver 2.1 + EDR (extended data rate)... I have no idea why Amazon doesn't indicate this as a product feature , it makes a huge difference. Even very complex and sonically detailed parts of music are crisp and defined and play without being muddled or distorted. (I'm sure it helps that I buy most of my music from Itunes or Amazon so it's encoded well from the start). The bass response is suprisingly good and continues to catch my attention even after four months. The highs and midrange are on the spot with the same very good detail and sound quality. Last night I played the entire Dark Knight soundtrack while doing chores and the deep dark bass notes of these dramatic tracks came through with flying colors and even a hint of true stereo imaging. Love them!!

Other cool things:

-Transmitter fits securely and snugly into your ipod and is very low-profile, about the size of a quarter (don't lose it!!!) It draws a tiny amount of power from your ipod so you never need to charge the transmitter, only the heaphones with the supplied charger.

-There is a micro joystick at the end of one of the earpods and after a couple of tries is easy to master. With this tiny joystick you can skip tracks forward, backward, pause, volume up, volume down as well as scan forward and scan backward with just the touch of your finger without every needing to touch your ipod, wherever you have it stowed. You can literally put your ipod in your waistpack, purse, dufflebag, pocket...anywhere within 15-25 feet of where you are and the sound is still excellent.

-Like I said they look different but they are fairly comfortable, snug, sturdy and very lightweight. If you run or bounce around alot with exercise or chores they will not come off and disrupt you from your sound. These are earbud type of headphones so they go inside your ear and the advantage of that outside of the high sound quality is that it will take out all background sound (like the bad music they play at the gym or the people who keep yapping at the treadmill next to you). I tried a different Sony model that just sat "on" your ear and these could not even come close to muting out these annoyances with high quality sound. If you are going to use them while biking I highly suggest you keep the volume down so you can hear other sounds around you. Safety first.

-It takes about 1.5 hours to charge these from empty and this will last you about 5 realistic hours. I get about three or four 90 minute workouts in without charging usually.

- This model will also let you do phone calls with your bluetooth phone / Iphone that will interrupt if a call comes in while listening to music. I don't use my phone in this way and have not tried this feature or paired it to anything but my Ipod Nano 5G and Ipod Touch so I can't report on the phone feature, but it's there.

Reviews helped me find this model and my strong suggestion to you if you are shopping for high quality bluetooth wireless solutions with high quality sound for your ipod is to simply get over the unusual look of these and buy them. Don't waste your time like I did. I'm one of the fussy types for great sound quality and these simply please me tremendously.

I purchased a set of these with the IPod adapter included. Standard Shipping was quick and fast. The headphones themselves feel as if they are very fragile due to their flexibility which is good for comfort, but bad if you don't handle them carefully. They are very comfortable and come with S,M,L ear buds which is very nice. They are very lightweight and you can hardly feel them there, even though they look like something you would see in Star Trek. I wish Sony had used a mini-USB to charge the unit instead of a 3v plug...why you might ask? Well I could have used any type of Motorola car charger to always keep the unit ready AND charged on the go. That being said, they do have pretty good battery life. The Sony bluetooth adapter works flawless and is already paired for your IPod. All you have to do is charge the headphones before cranking them up. The controls are at the back of the right ear unit where you can change the songs and volume with a small toggle. Volume is controlled on the headphones, so no matter how high or low you turn the volume up on the IPod, it will not work. I had them up and running within 20 seconds after popping the BT adapter in and turning them on. The adapter runs off your IPod power, so make sure the IPod is charged. It also works with 4th gen IPods and IPhone 2G(first gen). Just a caveat, when you plug into the IPhone, it will say the accessory is not compatible and try to take you to airplane mode. It will work, but as for using it as a headset to take calls, it will not!!! I tried everything and it won't accept. Also, IPhone is not setup to work with ANY BT headphones(to play music) without the A2DP adapter(Motorola or Sony, etc). That being said, I thought the sound quality was good, but there was NO BASS...worse than a base model factory car stereo. This unit could easily have gotten a five star rating with better sound. You might be better off buying the larger Sony headphone BT21IK, or BT21G(same model just one with the adapter and one without). The IPhone issue is frustrating, but definitely not Sony or any other manufacters fault...we have APPLE to thank for that! I may try the Moto Rokr S9-HD, as it had good reviews with exception to the battery replacement...they will work with the Sony BT adapter if you were wondering. In the Sony unit, the battery can be replaced by the way, so with proper care, they could last a LONGGGGGGG time. Overall was satisfied, just bummed about my missing BASS!!! Everything else was very crisp which is why I listed my title as "Best Bluetooth Headphones." Where else can you find quality like this with no wires???

UPDATE: I have had the chance to work out with these at the gym. I mainly weightlift and found that sometimes the earbuds may slip out of your ears. Not a biggy, but just a little annoying when you have to push it back in. My regular bluetooth headset got lost that I use for my PS3. I figured I would see if these headphones could be found by the PS3......and it DID!! Much to my surprise, the PS3 found it after I hit "register new device" then hit the pairing button. I got a little bit of feedback from the microphone, but with a few minor adjustments I could hear in stereo and talk loud and clear. This headset is starting to prove itself and might knotch another star if I can find other great uses! By the way, the sound improves the further you push these into your ear canals, so use the set of ear buds that are large enough to fit snug, not just laying there.

overall decent bluetooth headset. good sound quality though little light on bass. very comfortable to wear. ipod controls on right ear piece simple and intuitive

I tried the jaybird first but they were expensive and had some quality control issues 1 wouldn't charge and the other had sync issues with my phone. The sony's on the other hand sync great between my ipod, macbook pro, and cell phone. I use the headphones at the gym, in the house, and when I ride the motorcycle (the whole unit fits under my full face helmet). The range is not bad, if you have a direct line of site, like at the gym, it could go about 25ft without cutting out. Sometimes when placed in a pants pocket you may get some cutout. Also, the buds sound great when pushed all the way in your ears but as you start physical activity they tend to pull out slightly (for me the right side slides out more than the left) and that is with the largest buds that came in the package. The battery life is good and all in all the headphones are not bad, they just didn't "WOW" me the way a set of $115+ set of headphones should.

Sony puts out great products but the bad part about Sony is that they insist on using unnecessary proprietary connections and accessories (memory stick). That being said this product uses the industry standard bluetooth. I tried not to buy from Sony but this product is far superior to its competitors such as the Motorola S9 HD, which is not bad but not as comfortable, and the Jaybird, which is more expensive and I was not able to get it to fit into my ears at all.

The quality of sound for the Sony DRBT160 headset was mediocre. It was not noticably better at over $100 than the $20 headset I already owned. The Sony DRBT was comfortable enough, but again, not terrific. MOST IMPORTANTLY, the headset DIED after juse a couple months use. It no longer held a charge even though the indicator light is green, indicating it's "charged." SONY has replaced the first headset, and the second has continued to work, so I have updated the review from one star to three.

Sony should change their slogan to "Awesome! (if it doesn't break)"

The first month with this product was pretty great. It took some getting used to, but they fit nicely, felt comfortable, and generally worked well as my workout headphones. They held up well to light jogging and being sweaty didn't make them slip around on you or anything. They looked a little weird but they work so nicely with my iPod touch that I thought I had exactly the product that I wanted.

All good things come to an end, sometimes sooner than later. Unfortunately about 4 days after the 30-day return window closed my headphones simply stopped holding a charge and wouldn't turn on. Nothing. Considering the rather high cost of these headphones I really expected something slightly more durable, lasting me at least six months.

I am going to try to work with Amazon to see if they will provide a replacement for the defective product. If that happens I will consider revising this review.

[EDIT]
I just got off the phone with Amazon and the best that can happen if your headset goes defective shortly after the return cut-off is Amazon will refer you to Sony regarding the defective unit. This is disappointing but understandable considering Amazon's return policy is pretty clear and to the point. Now I will be contacting Sony, but I must admit I have absolutely no confidence in this route since all of my customer support experiences regarding previous defective Sony products have been exceptionally poor. Considering that more than a few users have recently left reviews reporting a short product life span (about one month), I can not recommend this product. Buyer beware.
[EDIT]

This unit is a dream came true for me - exercising at the gym without headphone wires connected to my iPod. I keep the iPod with the transmitter on the elliptical stand or in my pocket. In fact, I like it so much that I bought two sets for fear that the product may be discontinued in the future. Sorry to say that both sets now are no longer working. The first set broke down after 4 months of use. The second set broke down after 1 month. I could not longer charge the units properly; it just won't get into charging mode.
Take my advise, stay away from this unit.

Good: Battery life, the headset has not died on me yet.
I have paired it with my iphone, PS3 and the adapter and it works great.
The microphone on it works great too, with my phone and playing online games with the PS3.
It stays in place even while your running.
It comes with 3 different sizes to fit in your ear.

Bad: Sound quality is not the best but it gets the job done.
The ipod adapter sucks the battery when it is attached, even when the power is off.
The wraparound gets in the way sometimes when your working out like laying on a bench and such.

This is my 1'st Bluetooth headset and got them today!! now i didn't have the chance to try them at the gym yet but i try them at home and the sound quality is not what I expected to be in this price range. because i usually use headsets with cords which gives me a fabulous sound with noise cancellation. overall i think this headset will be perfect for indoor not outdoor activities!!!