Bluetooth headset is one thing which I admire for a number of reasons, saving me from clutter of wires being on top of the list. I have use a number of different bluetooth headsets earlier the latest one’s being SoundWear SD10 and Plantronics Explorer 240.
Both of these headsets had a positive side and a negative side. One satisfied music needs whereas the other served calling requirement. With SoundWear SD50, an improvement over it’s ancestors, I expected it to include functionality overlooked earlier. Courtesy Mobilefun I had the opportunity to test it out and see by myself if SD50 really had it in.
Onto the review, the very first thing you would notice soon after unpacking:
- Increased width of ear piece with slightly more puffing to enable longer “wearable” hours, less fatigue.
- Control buttons (sleek) placed on boundary of ear piece rather than on the face.
- Extensible headband for varying head dimensions.
Extensible headband and re-positioning of control buttons are certainly welcome improvements. With stretchable headband you don’t have to adjust to find the right spot, as was the case with SD10. That has been addressed very well in SD50. However, the downside is the shiny little metal like plate and buffed up ear piece do add to the weight of headset. SD50 does feel little heavier, my only complaint with the headset. On the design front, SD50 isn’t an eye candy but it does the job.
Deviating to the performance aspect, SoundWear has managed to deliver strikingly great audio performance and with SD50 the same continues. Treble is great and bass makes your ears “feel” the music. Don’t expect boombastic bass delivery but it isn’t flat either. In short, for the price SD50 comes at, bass is more than enough and sufficient enough to enjoy music.
Another welcome addition is the inclusion of MIC within the headset thus essentially making it a multi-purpose bluetooth headset capable of streaming music, attending calls as well as connecting with your computer for using with skype, etc. Plus the MIC is placed just below the left ear piece, near to mouth, this makes the audio input to headset with lesser noise.
In terms of battery, SD50 is a great example of optimized battery performance. It doesn’t wither away quickly, you will be able to enjoy the portability aspect to the fullest. I was able to extract approximately 8 hours of playback with initial full charge, though on paper SD50 offers 10 hours of music playback. Nonetheless, this isn’t bad either considering I was running it off the first charge.
To round off the review, SoundWear SD50 is a value for money bluetooth headset offering A2DP connectivity withh almost all the mobile phone’s, devices (laptop, PC, etc) having bluetooth. Add to that awesome sound quality, MIC and great battery output, SD50 gets a thumbs up from me and a recommendation to anyone planning to buy a good stereos bluetooth headset.
You can buy SoundWear SD50 stereo bluetooth headset and ipad accessories from Mobilefun online store – Buy SoundWear SD50 (Costs $40.99, around Rs. 2,300).
