Not long ago I was sitting in a doctor’s office, visiting with him, when I noticed an iPod on his desk. We shared our mutual love for the iPod, and then he told me, “But you ought to try it with Logitech’s wireless headphones. They’re great!”
Up until that point I had been listening to my fourth-generation 60 GB Photo iPod (
http://www.epinions.com/content_176234860164 ) with some Sony earbuds, which made for a great listening experience, along with playing it through my car’s FM radio (with a Monster Cable iCarPlay FM Transmitter), and, in another way, my computer’s external sound system, and I was fully satisfied with the way things were. But when I saw an advertisement (4/06) that said that Logictech was selling the $99.00 wireless headphones for the iPod at half price (with a rebate), I took the plunge and ordered a set from amazon.com.
I had a couple of concerns though. From the reviews I had read on epinions, amazon.com, and a few other places, it sounded like these behind-the-ears wireless headphones might be, literally, an albatross around one’s neck. Why?
Well,
for one thing, while the Bluetooth headphones were reputed to be an outstanding wireless headphone set with great sound and great battery life, many people had reported that it had a critical Achilles' heel:
the plastic headband often cracked, rendering the otherwise superlative unit useless. That gave me pause indeed. Several of the buyers/reviewers had the same question: “Why in the world would a company like Logictech, which markets so many other outstanding products, sell an expensive headphone set which can break so easily?” It was, and still is, a mystery.
My
second concern was with something Apple, the company that makes iPods, has (apparently) done. On the top of my fourth-generation iPod there is a unique connection slot for several wonderful devices, ranging from the Bluetooth transmitter for the Logictech headphones, to other things, like various kinds of FM transmitters and digital recording add-ons, even to such things as tiny flashlights. But voila! With the
fifth generation iPods this connection slot for all these wonderful external goodies has apparently been omitted, so you can’t use the aforementioned headphones- and all the other devices, with your newer iPod. In other words, if you have one of the new fifth-generation Video iPods, you seem to be out of luck. Unless I am missing something.
There may an adapter for this for the fifth-generation iPods out there in iPod-land, but if there is no such thing, I can’t understand Apple’s marketing decision to change things. I would expect that the availability of so many aftermarket add-on devices, which use the old connection slot, is something that would boost the sales of the basic Apple unit, and it seems, on the surface, as if Apple is cutting itself out of a lot of potential sales by changing the hardware. Of course, Apple may have another strategy here altogether, presuming there is no such adapter. Could they be planning to market their own external goodies, using the new connection slot, and cut out the other aftermarket companies? Or are they working with those aftermarket companies to create new goodies using the new connection? I’m sure there is a reason behind the decision, but I can’t yet understand what it’s about.
At any rate, my point with this second concern is that the current model of the Logitech Wireless Headphones for iPod apparently may only be used with the fourth-generation iPod and hopefully others (like the Nano?) similar to it that came before it. Which may explain in part why Logictech has them on sale for half price. This doesn’t affect those of us that already have the “older” iPods, of course; I am perfectly happy with my fourth-generation model.
But for the fifth generation Video iPod folks, I’m not sure you want to invest in these headphones.
Back to my first concern: the fragile plastic band which has cracked and broken for a number of buyers. I decided to take the risk and get a set of the headphones anyway. At least one other optimistic purchaser/reviewer, after experiencing the cracking problem, has reported that Logictech is
aware of the problem and will send out a (presumably stronger) replacement headband if you go through the replacement routine with them. Since my unit is almost brand new, I hope so. But just to be on the safe side, I reinforced my headband with a thick coating of clear epoxy glue on the outer side of the headband as an insurance measure. I am reasonably sure that the epoxy won’t give me problems if it contacts my skin. It looks a little funky, but I feel better about the set with that added d.i.y. “feature”. Even so, I still wonder what engineer at Logictech greenlighted the “crackable” headband in the first place.
Now that I have addressed those two concerns, I’ll tell you shortly about the positive stuff. I suppose that wireless headphones might possibly have
another concern issue, that of electromagnetic radiation’s effects on your brain cells, but since the medical data at this point appears to be inconclusive I’ll let that one go for now. My medical doctor surely would have noted that. I presume that the unit is as safe as my cellphone, although I plan to use to the headphones for hours instead of minutes, but even so, I wonder, “Would Logictech market something that would turn your brain to mush?” Ordinarily I would say no, but if they can sell you a $99.00 headphone set which will possibly crack into uselessness in a matter of weeks, it certainly does have an affect on your trust level for the otherwise reputable company.
Okay, now for the good stuff.
I
love the wireless factor that goes with these headphones. It is hard to put it into words, but wires of any kind, even earbud or standard headphone wires, are made to feel a bit restrictive after you have experienced headphone wirelessness. It is something akin to the feeling of freedom you get with a wi-fi broadband computer connection.
Both the transmitter, a tiny unit that attaches to the top of the iPod, and the earphones have small rechargeable batteries, and the battery life appears to be excellent as well. They will give you about 8 hours of playing time on a 3-hour charge.
The learning curve and the procedures involved in setting up the unit are simple, simpler than I had expected. After charging the batteries for the sending and receiving units (tell-tale lights tell you when they are both fully charged), you plug in the transmitter and hold down a button on the transmitter until it blinks, then you do the same on one of the earpieces of the headphones. The tiny lights flash red to begin with, but when they glow blue you know they have established the Bluetooth connection and the unit is good to go. There are some basic controls (volume, play/pause, fast forward and backward) right on the headphones, although these take a while to get used to and I still tend to use the more familiar controls on the good old iPod if it is within reach, which it usually is.
The Bluetooth technology in this unit is way-cool. As an experiment, a few weeks ago I tried hooking up an FM transmitter on top of the iPod with a set of headphones with an FM radio in them, looking for the same effect, but there was lots of static and you don’t want some FM station’s radio waves messing with the transmission. On the other hand, with the Logictech headphones, with the (local) Bluetooth transmission, the sound is crystal-clear with no interference or static.
What about the headphones on your head? The behind-the-neck headphone design takes some getting used to if you’ve never been that route, but you soon get adjusted. Sort of. The one-size-fits-all design may be a little tight, and I wish the band was adjustable, but it works okay. My only real gripe about this arrangement is that if you wear eyeglasses, corrective lenses or sunglasses, you have to learn how to put these on in a specific way, after experimentation, or else the combination of the fairly-tight headband and your eyeglasses can be a bit uncomfortable. As noted, adjustability in the band would have probably solved this problem. And I have to wonder- why didn’t they just make the headphones the simple, old-fashioned way, top-down? I’m sure the headphones have a unique look being “behind the neck”, but I can’t see the practicality of the design, unless it was to accommodate people with bike (half-) helmets or something. Maybe the jet-set likes designs like this.
The range of the transmission from the iPod to the headset seems to be about 20-30 feet, depending on whether or not the transmission is blocked by a wall or something. If you keep the iPod in a pocket or on a nearby table or even in a desk cabinet nearby, you should have no problems.
As for the sound, it is magnifico. Maybe not as good as coming out of Bose speakers or a very expensive wired headphone set, but it is even so astoundingly pleasant. The headphones are every bit as good as my doctor friend said they would be.
The unit has an auto-shutoff if the iPod shuts down. Which is nice; one less thing to remember. When you turn the iPod back on, the transmitter switches on automatically, although the headphones don’t until you turn them on, requiring re-acquisition of the Bluetooth connection before you will hear the sound.
So, what’s the verdict? When I compare the ease of use, the superb sound, the battery life, and the (rebated) price over against the concerns, for someone with an iPod like mine I will give the unit four stars, even though I feel a little bit like a guy who just bought a Ferrari with no spare tire. After all, a Ferrari is still a Ferrari and these headphones, in their own way, have a lot in common with it. This is a product, however, with which I really don’t want anything to “give me a break”, so-to-speak, if you get my drift. If the band will remain strong, and if the epoxy holds (knock on plastic), these headphones and I, along with “our” iPod, should be making music for a long time. If not, I’ll amend this review down the road.
Assuming these refrain from cracking, down the road I'll be highly satisfied again and again. I'll keep you posted if there are any new developments.
Four Stars/****
