Review: Blue Ant T1 Bluetooth Headset
Last October, I was leaving a client in Mississauga and was heading home in my car. I came to a stop light and waited for the light to turn green so that I could make a right turn onto a really busy street. It was raining and because of the heavy traffic, I didn’t want to chance making a right turn. That when I heard the squealing of tires and from my left. I spotted a GM minivan spinning through the intersection. It barely missed a VW Passat wagon that was waiting to turn left in the opposite lane and hit the traffic light stand in the middle of the intersection. It hit it so hard that the light stand was bent backwards and partially broke it. After getting over being shocked by what I saw, I pulled myself together, climbed out of my car and sprinted over to the scene of the accident. I quickly determined that an adult male and a teenage female were in the minivan and they seemed to be stunned but didn’t have any obvious injuries. Still, I decided to dial 9-1-1 as I didn’t want to take any chances. Because of the rain and the wind, the operator had difficulty hearing me over my Bluetooth headset. That’s when I decided that I needed to get a better quality headset. So after some research, I settled on the Blue Ant T1.
The big feature is the ability to deliver high quality audio in winds up to 35 kilometres an hour. I couldn’t find wind speeds that fast, but when I tested it while cross country skiing and in shopping malls, it worked. Callers could hear me just fine, though they did mention that at times my voice sounded a bit rough and they could hear a small amount of background noise. I could also hear callers perfectly at all times and the audio quality was excellent.
Another feature is the ability to not only download up to 2000 phone book entries, but use those to announce who’s calling. Though, it did butcher non-western names. Some of the pronunciations of my Muslim and Chinese friends were just brutal. But such is the state of speech synthesis. I won’t hold it against Blue Ant. Conversely, the headset supports voice commands. For example, when a call comes in you can say “Answer” to pick up the call or “Ignore” to send it to voice mail hell. This is handy while driving so that you never have to take your hands off the wheel. The headset has other commands and you can say “teach me” to have you learn what those commands often. Handy for those who don’t like to read manuals.
The headset includes A2DP streaming so you’re able to listen to music, podcasts and the like from your phone. I thought that this was a lame feature until I tried it by listening to music on the phone while waiting in line at the grocery store. It also reinforced the excellent audio qualities of the headset. Though it did sometimes pause the audio stream for a split second. I suspect that this has to do with the Blackberry Torch that I have as I have seen this behaviour with a couple cars that I have tested recently.
Now Blue Ant calls this a rugged headset, but from what I can tell, it’s only rugged when you use the included silicon covers that protect the headset from shocks and also protecting the USB port for moisture. That’s something that I wouldn’t use on a daily basis as they look kind of cheezy and the USB port cover really doesn’t stay in the USB port all that well. But at least it’s some added protection. Speaking of looks, without this cover, the black version of this headset looks classy and doesn’t have any flashing lights to make you stand out in a negative way. In terms of getting the headset to fit you, there’s a variety ear pieces and two ear hooks so that you can find a fit that works for you. In my case I’m still experimenting to find a combo that works for me consistently. I can get a comfortable fit, but it doesn’t feel totally secure to me. Your mileage may vary. Before I forget, the battery life is outstanding. I can go days without needing a charge.
So what’s the bottom line? If you want a Bluetooth headset that delivers excellent audio quality, you want to get the Blue Ant T1. I highly recommend it.
As for the accident. Nobody was seriously injured, but the driver of the van was charged with careless driving. I’m going to court as a witness on May 9th in relation to this. That should be fun.
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