[Tilt, TyTN II, MDA Vario III Accessories] ledrocnoc:
BT3030 - my feedback

I just got a Jabra BT3030 a few days ago and I have used it a few times now. Here is a quick feedback.

First impression right out of the box is that the build quality is pretty good. The controls have a silicone / rubber 3D texture over a stainless steel backing that makes them easy to find and operate. The controls are also big enough to be used with gloves (important to me since I use it while doing outdoors activity). The most frequently used buttons are the largest (full width of the device) and at opposite ends, good design.

The BT3030 comes both with a neck strap (nice metal one, can be replaced with anything you like) and a plastic clip to clip it to a shirt pocket, etc... The clip looks and feels pretty flimsy and I wouldn’t trust it for anything more than just preventing the BT3030 from flapping around when on the neck strap.

Finally in the box there is a set of headphones (in the ear style), two pairs (small and large) ear bud shell, an AC charger, a “getting started” guide and the usual legal notices.

My BT3030 powered up right out of the box, but I still charged it for a couple of hours before using it. One of the great thing is that it uses a mini USB port for charging. This is a critical selection factor for me as I am trying to standardize on mini USB for as many devices as I can to make my like easier - and not have to carry one charger per device.

Pairing with my ATT Tilt was a breeze and I got it going within a couple of minutes.

As mentioned earlier, the BT3030 comes with a set of headphones (look nice enough), but since there is a standard 3.5mm stereo headphone jack connector, you can use you favorite headphones (I use a pair of Sony MDR-EX71 - not top of the line, but still pretty good one). The headset connector is on the side of the unit, which isn’t the greatest for cable management: I would have preferred it on top, where the neck strap attaches, but that’s a minor detail.

For music testing I used both the windows media player as well as PocketMusic 5.0. and there the results are mixed.

On the plus side

, the BT3030 works as advertised.

I was able to record voice tag for contacts and use the voice calling feature with no problem.

I made a few phone calls with it and the sound quality was very good at both ends (or so was the persons I called claim).

Listening to music, I am able to start / stop / skip to next / previous track with both applications.

When a calls comes in while listening to music, there is a beep in the headphones and your can decided to take (click on the call button) or ignore (click and hold the call button) the call. You can terminate the call by pressing the call button. Music playing will resume automatically within a few seconds of the call been terminated (by either party). On the music application side, I found that Pocket Music would take longer (10+ seconds) to resume playing and it would reset at the beginning of the song that was played while interrupted while Window Player would resume within 5 seconds where it left off.

Finally, there are no independent volume settings for call / music, which could be a problem depending on what you listen / etc…

On the minus side, a few issues

:

Volume management: when you press the volume up / down on the BT3030, it is not clear which volume it is controlling: the BT3030, the Tilt system volume or the music application volume. After some testing, I came to the conclusion that they all operate independently and that the volume buttons on the BT3030 control the internal amplification volume of the Jabra BT3030 itself.

Max volume: which bring the next complain. The max volume on the BT3030 is just shy of what I need (I am getting older, but I am not deaf yet ) . For regular listening (loud music, both ear buds plugged it), it is adequate. My major use is for listening to podcasts when I ride my mountain bike (got keep you brain occupied during these longs grinds uphill) and between the usually lower volume level of the podcasts and the wind noise generated around the ear buds, the max volume generated by the BT3030 is just a few click short of what I need.

Fast forward / reverse: This last issue has to do with the inability to fast forward / reverse through music. I was expecting that keeping either the << or >> buttons pressed on the BT3030 would fast reverse / forward through the current song. Well, it doesn’t work, it just skips to the previous / next song in the playlist. At this point I am not sure whether it is a limitation of the BT3030 itself or a issue with the Bluetooth profile.

Summary:

Plus:

- Works as advertised

- Mini USB interface for charging

- Small, rugged, splashproof

Minuses

- Flimsy clip

- Max volume not enough

- Fast forward / Reverse not working

Denis