[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Accessories] richlum:
Hi all,

I bought a pair of Plantronics Backbeat 903+ headphones yesterday.

Thought I'd put a quick review and warning for anyone that is thinking of using BT headphones for anything that is latency sensitive.

I will use them mainly for music. Probably rarely for phone calls unless I happen to be listening to music when I get a call.

Sound quality is quite good. They sound fuller and not as harsh as the stock headphones that came with the Note.

Better than I expected, but there is a lack of highs. It was very noticeable when compared to my cheap, corded, Philips SHL9500 foldable headphones that I usually travel with.

Had to nudge the highs up in the EQ of Power Amp to be able to hear the treble well.

Range is better than I expected too. I'm just in a small apartment, but I could walk all around the room and into the next room and around the corner (losing line of sight), with no noticeable difference in sound. This was further than the 10m range they claim.

I also put the phone in my jeans pocket and it continued to work fine. I'd read some reviews complaining that it needed line of sight or would drop out, but no such problems for me.

Battery life is awesome on these. They claim a full charge will last 7 hours. I used them for 3-4 hours last night.

When I turned them on this morning, they said they had 5 hours remaining. I probably wasn't listening constantly over the 3-4 hours last night as I was starting and stopping apps, so that is probably about right.

Also, when you turn them, a voice announces how many hours the battery has left which is handy since there is no visual indicators.

Comfort for me was very good. I had them on for almost 4 hours last night and didn't notice them most of the time. Although when I took them off, my ears were a little sore from the buds being in there, but with most in ear phones my ears get sore sooner than that and I notice it whilst they are still in there.

Note that the cord between each ear is quite short and only just reaches around my head. I can fit 2 fingers between the cord and my head, but only just, and I have a shaved head. I also tried on the Jabra Sports in the shop, but they didn't feel as comfortable to me, and also the cord was quite a bit longer and I thought it may get in the way or get caught on something when exercising. So best to try them on in a shop to check if they fit your head.

One thing I didn't realise about bluetooth headphones is that they introduce latency. It seems to be about 500ms.

You can test the latency by connecting the BT headphones and then changing your ring tone. When you audition different ring tones it will play them through both the phone speaker and the headphones, and you will hear the lag.

In addition to listening to MP3s, what I primarily wanted them for was for music apps and recording, so that I wouldn't have a cord getting in the way, or have to be restricted to the length of the cable.

It's not too big a deal with the multi track programs I use (Loopstack and Audio Evolution mainly, with FourTracksPro) as I can adjust the latency, but it means I have to change it depending on whether I'm using the BT headphones or not).

But for apps that require live input and monitoring (like drum, guitar, piano apps that you play and want to hear yourself playing live), the latency makes them not really useable.

I can still use these headphones to record guitars and vocals through the Note's microphone, but I just need to adjust the latency which is annoying.

Any music app that is program/sequence based like Caustic or Easyband, is not too much of a problem as you don't really notice the latency, apart from the fact that what you see on the screen is slightly out of sync with what you hear.

Also for games that require the audio to be in sync with the screen, the 500ms is not really useable (I have a game called Beats, which is a rhythm game and you need the screen and audio to be in sync).

For video, though using the stock video player, it is in sync, so there must be some latency compensation going on in the software which is good.

When I tried youtube, using the youtube app, it is out of sync at the start, but then it gets into sync, so there is some kind of buffering or compensation giong on there too.

So, if it's just listening to music or watching video is what you want them for, I thin they are really good.

If you want to use them for games or music apps that will be negatively impacted by the latency, then you are probably better off sticking with corded headphones.

I will probably end up carrying corded phones with me when I travel for the times when I don't want any latency.

But for walking around, exercising, just casual use, the Backbeat 903+ headphones are really good and am happy to be free from a cord for those situations.

Cheers,

Rich