BlueAnt Q1 Bluetooth Headset review
Excellent sound quality, excellent
feature set,
good price
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The BlueAnt Q1 is a
stylish and unobtrusive headset that is easy to mount on/in
your ear and which works very well.
Part
of our series on Bluetooth - more articles listed on
the right.
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The BlueAnt Q1 does all the
normal things that you would hope a Bluetooth headset will do,
and it does them all very well. In particular, sound
quality is excellent -- this is such a vital and essential part
of any Bluetooth headset's functionality, and it is also the
part that so many Bluetooth headsets fail at miserably.
In addition, its voice command
functions go a long way to making the unit easier to understand
and use.
All in all, this is an
excellent headset, and fairly priced (street price of about $60)
with no downside. Recommended.
What you Get
The BlueAnt Q1 comes in a
nice plastic box, clear in the top half, and with the headset
itself seemingly suspended in mid-air. It is premium
packaging and clearly intended to convey the concept of this
being a premium product.
Inside is the headset
itself, two different rubber gel 'gaskets' for mounting the device
in your ear, and an optional ear loop to provide a 'belt and
braces' approach to holding the device securely on your ear,
should you feel the need for it.
A small lightweight power
charger brick and a connecting cable (which can also connect to
any USB power supply, and to your computer to download new
versions of software for the headset), a sheet of instructions
and a warranty sheet complete the inclusions.
The unit can be found for
prices ranging from about $55 up to about $60 on
Amazon
and is readily available elsewhere, on line and in stores.
Feature Chart
Use this information to
quickly understand the capabilities of the unit and to compare
with other units.
Feature Comment |
Cost |
List price
was originally $129 and is now $99 with free shipping on the
manufacturer's website
Available on
Amazon for about $60, sometimes
less. |
Ergonomics |
Easy to put
on and take off |
Yes,
particularly if used without the optional ear
hook. |
Easy to use
the control buttons |
The unit has
one main multi-purpose button, plus two other
buttons that are primarily for volume control but
which can sometimes do other things too.
In
addition to these buttons and their inscrutable
functions, the headset also responds to voice
commands. That is the good news - the
unavoidable flip side to that being, of course,
the need to learn the voice commands to use - a
need that is somewhat resolved by having
interactive help commands 'Teach Me' and 'What
Can I Say' to refresh your memory of what you
can do and how to do it. |
Comfortable
to wear |
Yes, its
light weight makes it unobtrusive, its short
length means there is no great angular force
applied to its ear mount, and the soft rubber
ear mount makes it easy and soft to fit in your
ear. |
Can you use
with glasses |
Yes,
especially without the hook (which happily I did
not think was really needed). The hook is
thin and not too intrusive, so the Q1 is fine
with glasses even with the hook. |
Can use with
either ear |
Yes. |
Securely
mounted on ear |
It felt
secure by itself, but if you wish, you can add
an optional provided hook to the unit that loops
around the back of your ear, adding to the
unit's secure mounting. |
How to carry |
This is another
headset that has been designed with no thought
as to how it can be carried when not on one's
ear, and with a relatively fragile ear loop
assembly.
Compatible with Nectar
retractable and
necklace style headset holders. |
Weight |
The unit
weighs a mere 0.2 ounces - very light weight
indeed. Adding the optional (and to my
mind, not really necessary) ear hook increases
the weight to a still barely perceptible 0.3 oz. |
Ease of Use |
Commands
intuitive and easy to remember |
There is no
such thing as intuitive and easy to remember
commands unless you have multiple labeled
buttons.
But the Q1
takes a positive approach, by accepting voice
commands and offering voice prompts to guide you
along the way.
This is
probably as good a compromise as one could ever
hope for. The voice recognition function
seems to work well, and the interactive
prompting prevents you from making big mistakes.
The voice help files add further to the user
friendliness of the device. |
Volume
adjustable |
Yes. The unit will cycle through nine different volume
levels by repeated pushes of the Volume up and
down buttons on the
side of the unit. It gives a high beep
when you've reached maximum, and a low beep at
minimum. |
How fast
does it turn on |
It takes
about three seconds to turn on and about another
three seconds to synch with the phone. |
Manual |
The unit
comes complete with a Quick Start Guide in
English that tells most users most of what
they're likely to need to know.
You can also
download an excellent 37 page detailed manual from
BlueAnt's support website. |
Support |
There are
some FAQs on
BlueAnt's website, plus a voice command
reference guide and a comprehensive manual.
Emailed
support requests
promises a two business day response time.
There is also a phone number - 866 891-3032 -
that offers support 6am - 6pm Pacific time, Mon
- Fri. |
Pairing
password printed on device |
No. But like almost every other headset, it is 0000
so in an emergency you have a good chance of
guessing what it is! |
Features |
Battery life |
The unit
claims 'up to' 4
hours of talk (what does 'up to' mean?) or 100
hrs of standby on one part of BlueAnt's website,
and 5/120 hrs on another page. The talk
time is only moderately okay compared to other
'state of the art' units, the standby time is a
bit less than other units.
However, I never (or very seldom) leave my unit
switched on between calls, so the standby time
isn't as important to me as the talk time. |
Low battery
indicator/signal |
The unit
will flash red when switched on if the
battery is getting low.
You can also speak the command 'Check battery'
and the headset will tell you the state of both
its battery and the phone's battery (eg 'high',
'medium', etc). |
Battery type |
Lithium
polymer. |
Replaceable
battery? |
No.
As with other headsets, the chances are by the time the battery has died,
you'll probably have bought a new headset. |
Battery
charging method/time |
Yet another
headset with a nonstandard socket. Lose
the connecting cable between the headset and the
power supply and you're in trouble, at least
until you buy a replacement connecting cable
from BlueAnt ($8
plus shipping).
The only
mitigating point here is that at least the other
end of the charge cable ends in a standard USB
connector, so you have the option of charging
from a USB hub or computer.
A red
light on the headset slowly flashes on and off
while charging, and switches to a steady blue
when fully charged.
It takes about 2.5 hours for a full charge. |
Multi-voltage charger |
Yes. |
Charger
weight/size |
A small
brick charger with 550 mA output.
2.1 oz total
for the charger and the very short (6") removable cable. |
Other
charging methods |
None
provided, but because the cable that has the
charger-to-phone connection at one end
terminates in a regular USB plug at the other
end, you can connect the unit up to any regular
5V USB port or power supply. |
How many
pairings can be stored |
Eight, and
it can be connected to two phones
simultaneously.
The BlueAnt
Q1 supports true multipoint technology.
Although other headset makers claim to support
multipoint, most other headsets in the market
today actually disconnect the second phone when
you are on a call through your headset with the
first phone. This means that if you
receive a call on your other phone while you are
already on a call you will have to answer that
call using the phone handset.
With the
BlueAnt Q1 both phones remain connected even
when you are on a call. If you get a call
on your other phone you can use the Q1 to put
your active call on hold and answer your other
phone (just hold down the 'Vol +' button for one
second).
If you want
to put the second call on hold and swap back to
the first call on the other phone, just hold
down the 'Vol +' button again. You can keep
swapping between calls and phones as many times
as you like - or until you get hopelessly
confused and forget which connection is your
wife and which is your girlfriend. :)
|
Headset and
hands-free profiles? |
Yes, using
3GPP standard. |
Audio
profile for computers |
Yes - A2DP. |
Bluetooth
compatibility |
Version 2.1 |
Power/range |
33'/10m. |
Effective
range |
Effective
range was about as expected, and close to 30'
before any degradation in sound quality became
apparent.
Maximum
range, with appreciable sound quality loss, was
considerably further (and unlikely to ever be
needed in real life). |
Warranty |
The warranty
is a very generous two year warranty, but offered to
the original purchaser only. |
Free return |
Retailer
policies will vary. |
Noise
cancelling/DSP |
The BlueAnt
Q1 claims to have very impressive noise
cancelling capabilities. With dual
microphones, custom internal windshields and
'Voice Isolation Technology' (whatever that is)
and a switchable choice between normal and
maximum voice isolation, it all sounds very
impressive.
In
operation, the results were somewhere between
good and very good, with the Achilles heel being
when standing in front of a fan blowing directly
into the headset. A torture test for sure,
but one which the iPhone itself managed much
better than the headset.
Here is a
sample
with me switching several times between the
iPhone and the Q1 in both regular and maximum
voice isolation modes so you can form your own
opinion.
My feeling
is that the noise cancelling offered by the Q1
is definitely as good as on any other headsets
tested and perhaps better. |
Sound
quality |
Sound
quality was excellent - both in terms of what I
heard through the headset, and what people at
the other end of a call heard too, and the Q1
was sensitive to my voice, meaning I didn't need
to speak overly loudly to have it send my voice
out at a normal level.
Here is a
sample recording
so
you can hear the difference between talking
through the BlueAnt Q1 and directly through an iPhone, in a quiet environment, and draw your
own conclusions.
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Capabilities |
Turning on
and off |
To turn the
headset on, you hold down the main button for
three seconds. The Blue light goes on to
indicate it has switched on, then flickers to
indicate pairing, then gives an occasional
double flicker to indicate it is in standby
mode. If it is in your ear, you'll hear a
triple rising tone, followed by a voice saying
'Your phone is connected' (if it is).
To turn it
off, you can either press and hold the button
again to turn it off (you'll hear a triple
descending tone) or you can use the voice
command 'Switch Headset Off'. |
Auto connect |
Yes. |
Voice tag
support |
Supported
(if also supported on the phone, of course).
Use the voice command 'Phone commands' for voice
dialing and any other voice commands your phone
may support. |
Last number
redial |
Yes.
Say the command 'Redial' (and say 'Call Back' to
call back the last number that called you). |
Transfer
call to/from phone |
Yes - press
the Vol + and Vol - keys simultaneously to
toggle between phone and handset. But be
careful to get the timing perfect. Too
short and nothing happens, too long and you
simply mute rather than transfer the call. |
Call
waiting/Three way calling |
You can
place your current call on hold and answer a
second incoming call by pressing the Vol +
button for a second - but, be careful; if you
press the Vol - button instead, you'll cut off
the first call and answer the second call.
Three way calling doesn't seem possible via the
headset, but maybe you can manage this via the
phone instead. |
Call reject |
Say 'Ignore'
or double tap the button (careful, because a
single tap means 'answer'). |
Call
answer/end |
Yes.
If the
unit is already on, a short press of the main button
will answer an incoming call - alternatively
just say 'Answer'.
To end a call, a short press of the control button is
again needed. |
Mute |
Yes, hold
the Vol + and Vol - keys simultaneously for a
second (if you don't press the keys long enough
you'll instead transfer the call back to the
phone and so while you think you've muted the
call and are saying nasty things about the
person on the other end, they are actually
hearing everything you say through the phone.
You could potentially never know about this
(until they tell you) because if you then click
the two volume buttons again too quickly to
unmute the call, you instead switch the call
back to the headset and so as far as you are
aware you successfully muted and unmuted the
call. This is
a dangerous ambiguity of command function. |
Other Features |
The unit is
very fully featured, and most notable is its
voice recognition function which allows lots of
things to be conveniently done by voice control.
You can program eight speed dial numbers into
the headset itself - this might be useful if
using the headset with a phone which didn't have
your phone book loaded into it.
You can download new firmware into the Q1 by
connecting it to your computer and accessing the
BlueAnt website. I did that and the
firmware updated from v8.19 to v8.21 (I have no
idea what changes or enhancements were included,
but it felt good to get an update.) |
Subjective |
Attractive
design |
Yes, an
appealing understated design, small in size and
discreet rather than flashy, in a brushed dark
grey metallic color. |
Flashing
indicators on standby |
Yes,
a blue light flashes every
five seconds
while the unit is on standby.
This
can be switched off (by voice command -
'Settings Menu' then 'LED light'.
There is no flashing indicator however for when
you are on a call. |
Size |
The unit
measures about 2.1" x 0.6" and is 0.35" thick,
with the earpiece protruding out another 0.5".
The earloop
increases its size to about 2.9" x 1.6", with the
same thickness.
The fragile
earloop makes it difficult to carry in a pocket. |
Summary |
This is an excellent
headset and at the time of writing has become
our favorite headset, wrestling away that title
from the Cardo S800,
which had held that status for an impressive two
years. The Cardo unit, priced at about
$15, remains the value champion, but the lovely
Q1 is now without a doubt the best performer,
and most people will probably choose to pay the
extra money to get a Q1 rather than the Cardo
S800.
Its voice control goes
a long way towards making the unit easy to
understand and operate. It is attractive
to look at, mounts securely and easily, and all
in all, is an excellent headset.
With a list price of
$100 and currently available
on
Amazon
for a price ranging
from between about
$56 - 60, it is fairly
priced for the premium headset that it is, and
is much less expensive than many. |
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Using the BlueAnt Q1 Headset
The easiest and best way to
use the BlueAnt Q1 headset is not to bother with memorizing the
complex series of button pushes that could be used to control
it, but instead trying to remember one or two of the voice
command phrases.
As long as you remember the
key phrase 'What Can I Say' everything else sort of follows from
that point.
It was reasonably
comfortable to wear, and has just about every feature and
capability that you are likely to find on any Bluetooth headset
today.
You can even play music
through it, but of course it is neither high quality nor a
stereo music player, and so there are few reasons to want to
listen to music through this headset. But it could be used
to listen to podcasts or audio books that you have downloaded to
your phone, and it can also be connected to your computer
(assuming your computer is Bluetooth compatible), and then
becomes useful with Skype and other VoIP type programs.
Connecting with phones
Everything worked fine with
no problems encountered.
Summary
This is an excellent
headset by all measures. It provides excellent audio
quality; it is reasonably attractive, comfortable, and both easy
and secure to wear. It is fully featured and reasonably easy to
use.
Did I leave anything out?
Oh yes - it is fairly priced, too. Some premium headsets
are priced at ridiculously excessive levels; the BlueAnt Q1
lists for $100 but can be bought at Amazon for something under
$60, making its price very fair.
The BlueAnt Q1 has become
our favorite headset. To see how it compares to the other
high end contenders, we've provided a comparison page highlighting the
differences between the BlueAnt
Q1, the Jawbone,
Jawbone 2
and the Cardo S-800.
Chances are you'll be happy
with any of these choices, but our overall preference is for
this unit as being better in just about every respect than the
other contenders.
Recommended for everyone.
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Originally published
22 May 2010, last update
21 Jul 2020
You may freely reproduce or distribute this article for noncommercial purposes as long as you give credit to me as original writer.
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