BlueAnt Z9i/V1 Bluetooth Headsets

Z9i Rating: (4.5 / 5)

V1 Rating: (4 / 5)

The two headsets represent BlueAnt’s newest offerings and they come with some nice features. For the most part these two headsets are the same so when I don’t specify which one I’m talking about, I’m talking about both of them.

The headsets pair with ease to your phone. I had no trouble pairing the Z9i at all, and the V1 is just cool. V1 is a voice-controlled unit that you can actually pair using voice control. When you start it up for the first time, all you have to do is put your phone in pairing mode, and the BlueAnt will talk you through the rest of the process. It was incredibly easy and worked just as it should have.

Once paired with my phone, the devices have no trouble maintaining contact with it as it comes in and out of range. You would think that wouldn’t be a problem, but it’s been a problem for me several times in the past with different devices. So connectivity with these devices is excellent.

Clarity I think is where these devices didn’t perform quite as well for me. I’m sorry to say that while I could hear people really well, many reported to me that I sounded a little fuzzy. And I actually proved this myself when I paired one of them to someone else’s phone and talked to him while he was using the headset. I could still hear him just fine, but he was a little fuzzy. Walking in high winds actually performed better though. The voice isolation can be increased manually and it does a good job of blocking out the extra noise around you. So in a way, these pieces behaved better for me in those conditions than they did in clear conditions.

Moving on to the V1 specifically now. The V1 has certain voice commands that you can give it that it understands. And most of the time it hears them and complies. Two of my favorite voice commands are “Am I connected?”, and “Check Battery.” What I have had a problem with is getting the voice dialing to work. For some reason, I can tell it to call someone and it’ll even respond appropriately, but it just won’t do it. I did this on my Blackberry which is less than a year old so it has voice dialing and I use it all the time. So I don’t really know why it doesn’t work from my V1, but I’m willing to go out on a limb and say it could be a configuration issue with the phone somewhere.

I also had a problem adjusting the volume of my phone with the V1. Part of the problem is I’m not sure exactly how it’s supposed to work. On other devices, like the Jawbone, you can adjust the volume manually either on your phone or on your device. That doesn’t appear to be the case with the V1. For starters, if I’ve got my volume all the way up on my phone, when I make a call on the BlueAnt, it automatically drops my volume by half and doesn’t allow me to re-adjust it. I never did figure out what that was all about. But adjusting it on the device or on the phone doesn’t work for me. That’s really just a point of interest though because the volume is plenty loud and I have no problems hearing what I need to hear. And everyone I talked to came in very clearly… barring when I was talking to someone who was also on one of these devices.

After these initial tests I moved on to the durability tests. I started by putting my V1 in my back pocket and sat on it all day long in different types of chairs. I wasn’t careful at all. It didn’t even skip a beat. I then tossed it into the bottom of my backpack with all my books, computer, and other stuff and just left it there for a week or so. And again, the V1 held-up nicely. I tested the call quality after both of these abuses and nobody reported any loss in quality. I performed similar tests with the Z9i, and it withstood the same abuse.

The Bottom Line: I’d say that overall, both of these devices are money well-spent. The Z9i has solid performance, excellent connection, and a wonderful earpiece that’s easy to get on and off without falling off in the middle of a call. And the V1 expands on the Z9i’s capabilities by adding voice control functionality. They both perform well in high wind and other noisy conditions, but were a little fuzzy in the really quiet conditions where you’d expect them to shine. Both of these devices are also tough as hell and took plenty of punishment without any problems. I might also add that these devices are not only small and very comfortable to wear, but they’re the only ones I’ve seen that come with an array of chargers. They both came with a PC, wall, and car charger… just excellent.