Review: BlueAnt Q1 Bluetooth Headset

I have a confession to make loyal techies. I’m a little embarrassed, but I have to be honest. In the many years that I’ve owned a smartphone dating back to the Palm Treo 600, I’ve never had a Bluetooth headset. There were many times I meant to remedy the situation, but alas, it always slipped my mind or I had seemingly better tech to spend my measly editorial assistant dollars on. So I went through life, one hand constantly on my phone which was constantly at my ear, arms constantly cramping from being in one position for way too long.

When I started reviewing earpieces, I finally got to see what all the hubbub was about and I wasn’t that impressed. Poor sound quality, uncomfortable fit, I felt justified in not committing to an earpiece. So when I went to CEA Unveiled and was given a review copy of BlueAnt Wireless’ newest headset, I was ambivalent, but I gave it a shot. I have to say, I like what BlueAnt’s working with over there.

The new BlueAnt Q1 Voice Controlled Bluetooth Headset with Multipoint, is small in size and big on sound. This is in no small part to the dual microphones which ensured neither myself or the person I was chatting with had to sound. Credit should also be given to BlueAnt’s voice isolation technology which according to their site is “an advanced software solution that separates the user’s voice from all other sounds resulting in outstanding call quality, no matter where you are.” Now this is not to say that calls were crystal clear every time and there wasn’t some static every now and then, but it was definitely few and far between.

The biggest draw of the Q1 is the voice control feature which works pretty well if you get the headset positioned correctly, otherwise response to your commands will be minimal. With voice control you can raise and lower the volume, make calls using speed dail or the voice activation software on your phone. You can also answer or ignore calls. The headset also has a tutorial option. Simply say “Teach Me” and you’ll get the full run down of menu and command functions.

Another cool feature is the multipoint that allows users to connect with two phones at the same time which is great if you’re constantly in conference calls. The Q1 gets approximately 4 hours of talk time with 100 hours standby. In the week I’ve been testing it, I’ve only out-talked the battery once.  The BlueAnt Q1 Voice Controlled Bluetooth Headset is currently on the market for consumer electronic retailers for $129.