[General Accessories] vectron:
This is a review of iClever IC-BTH01 wireless Bluetooth headset. http://www.amazon.com/iClever-Lightweight-Headphones-Microphone-Transmitter/dp/B00RF27R9I/

I always say that wireless headphones/headsets are my weakness, thus a reason why I review a lot of them. One particular headset design with two earbuds connected by a short cable with built in inline remote has been a topic of a lot of my reviews. There are a lot of brand name manufacturers with their own interpretation of this design, and also a lot of other companies rebranding one particular design from China. Some of you might ask, what is a point of singling out one specific company if they are all rebranded from China and just the same thing with a different name? Well, apparently there is a variation among many models I looked at, and this is the first one I found to be suitable for review. To be honest, I already tested a handful of similar headsets and never bothered to write a review about it. This one is not 100% golden, but it has more features and better quality in comparison to others. Here is what I found.

iClever is part of HISGadget brand (http://www.hisgadget.com/) which specializes in various electronic gadgets. My review model of their latest headset (IC-BTH01) arrived in a nice small packaging with a clear display to fully reveal the headphones and a detailed list of key features and specification on the back. Along with a headset, you get a selection of accessories such as 3 sets of hybrid eartips (S/M/L sizes), a pair of stabilizer fins for improved fitment, usb to micro-usb charging cable, a pair of clips to control the cable length, and a detailed instruction manual. No storage case or pouch was included which makes sense because packaging is very small with hardly any room for extras. Eartips are actually of a surprisingly good quality to provide a good seal and secure fitment. Stabilizer fins could be useful for some, though in my case I found them unnecessary. One thing to note, iClever design prevents the fin from sliding all the way down the earpiece which is great because other similar headsets had an issue where there was no stopper and pushing earpiece in my ear affected the fin by sliding around.

USB to micro-usb cable is also great news because you don’t have to deal with proprietary cable attachments. On the back of the right earpieces there is a cap which you lift to reveal micro-usb connector. The full charge will give you about 5-6 hours of playback time, and charging of headset itself was pretty fast – a little over an hour using my 2A smartphone charger. Bluetooth pair up was quick and it got connected to phone and media audio right away. There is also an option for NFC, though I wasn’t able to test since I’m having an issue with NFC on my phone (has nothing to do with headset, but rather my phone setup). Also, I was able to test the wireless range to work flawlessly for up to 40 feet away from my phone in the open area.

With a Bluetooth version BT 4.0, this headset supports every available profile such as HSP, HFP, A2DP, and AVRCP. Regardless if you are playing music or switching to a call, it worked as expected. With a flat rubbery cable and sealed in-line remote, this headset is definitely great for exercising and outdoor activities; just make sure you don’t get it in a direct contact with water. Plus, if you sweat excessively during exercising, you might want to look for eartips that will cover a nozzle of earpieces since the moisture can get inside of the driver. But for a general use they are great, and inline remote performed well with multifunction button controlling Play/Pause/Call and Volume buttons controlling up/down volume change with a single click, as well as track skip with a long press of the same buttons. Plus, the cable has a small tab/clip which can be moved around, and I found it useful when headphones are not in use to connect earpiece together around my neck when they are not in my ears.

But a true star of these headphones is a support aptX codec which is very rare to see in such “generic” design. Bluetooth signal is transmitted digitally, encoded/compressed at a source (smartphone, tablet, laptop, etc.) and decoded/uncompressed at the target (your headphones). Typical BT audio compression focuses mostly on midrange with roll off of lows and highs to save bandwidth. With aptX codec you get a wide bandwidth compression to preserve low and high frequencies which results in a more accurate and dynamic sound quality. So if your source supports aptX codec (most of the newer phones do), you will enjoy a benefit of higher quality audio! Together with an angled nozzle of earpieces (so they don’t stick out too much), and a selection of the right size eartips to give you a good seal for a bass and a more robust fitment, you will enjoy a benefit of a clear and detailed sound with a nice bass punch and a pleasant treble sparkle without a need to EQ anything. The sound was definitely more balanced, detailed, and transparent in comparison to other headsets, such as the one from Jabra, Plantronics, Jaybird, and others I reviewed in the past.

A lot of people ask me “which one is better”, and it’s a hard question to answer because wireless headset is a function of 3 things: encoded digital signal from a source, chipset/DAC used to decode it inside of your headphones, and the drivers of headphones itself. Other brand name products haven’t implemented aptX codec yet, so they are relying on internal processing of the signal to enhance the missing bits of sound quality, to enhance it, and to use better quality drivers. In case of this iClever model, the drivers might not be top of the line, but the fact they use aptX codec means they don’t have to rely on internal signal processing to compensate for shortfalls of missing aptX support. And speaking for drivers, iClever and other similar designs all have one common problem of driver flex. When you insert the headphone earpiece in your ear and use a large size earip for a better seal, you have air going into the nozzle and pushing on the driver membrane inside. If earpiece doesn’t have an air vent hole, there is no place for the air to exit and it could cause internal pressure with an audible “click” of the driver known as driver-flex. With so much electronics inside of these earpieces, there is no room for air vent, and it’s a common problem with ALL of these sports wireless headsets. The only solution is to play around with a fitment and different eartips while trying to avoid that “pop” because it can damage the driver.

Overall, I was very impressed with iClever IC-BTH01 wireless headset model, and finally was able to enjoy a clear and detailed wireless sound without a need to adjust the EQ. These are not bass-head headphones for those who are used to Beats wireless in-ear headphones and their muddy low end. iClever model is about accuracy of the sound, about the quality rather than exaggerated quantity. If you want more booming bass, use EQ, otherwise enjoy a crispy clear sound with a decent bass and treble extension!

Here are the pictures.