BlueAnt Z9 Review

Introduction:

In an attempt to satisfy consumers’ demand for more functional mobile phones, manufacturers are continuously improving their devices, launching appealing products of increasingly smaller sizes on the market .

Today we are going to focus on a Bluetooth headset, manufactured by BlueAnt and the winner of the CES 2007 Innovations Design and Engineering Award. The Australian based company is the leader in the production of Bluetooth accessories on their continent and offer a wide range of devices, both personal and for in-car use. The model we’d like to bring to your attention is called Z9.

Thanks to its two mics and the manufacturer’s own Voice Isolation Technology, this device comes with the promise of providing the next generation of Noise suppression, echo cancellation and wind noise reduction; later, we’ll be able to find out whether these promises live up to the reality of the phone’s capabilities.

In the set you’ll find:

• BlueAnt Z9 Dual Microphone Bluetooth Headset
• 3 x Translucent Ear hooks
• USB cable
• AC adaptor
• User Manual and Quick Start Guide

This is a really good set, including also a USB cable, which can be used both for charging the headset through a computer and for updating the firmware. In order to do the latter, you have to visit the manufacturer’s support site and download the software necessary and the update instructions.

Design:

In order for a new product to be successful on the market, it has to look good and to be able to attract the attention of potential buyers. With this in mind, the company’s designers have come up with a really interesting look, combining smooth shapes with slightly rounded edges. Its dimensions are 41 x 17.5 x 11.2 mm (1.5 x 0.69 x 0.44 inches), and its oval shape makes it look even smaller. If you consider also that it only weighs 10 grams (without the earhook), you can count it among the lightest and smallest headsets on the market.



As it can be seen from the pictures, Z9 is made mainly of black plastics with very few silver elements and a metallic-colored front part. The loudspeaker is protruding and its end is covered in soft black rubber (which, however, could have been softer), so that it does not cause discomfort when worn for longer. This eartip can be unscrewed, which is very convenient for cleaning it. However, we would have deemed it logical that there were other eartips with different sizes included in the set, but no such options are provided. We’ll check later whether this has an impact on the comfort while wearing the device or not.

The hook is made of hard plastics and the material does not allow it to be bent to the shape desired. As you can see, the hook is translucent and therefore it is almost invisible on your ear and it is not seen at all from afar. It is attached on a rotating mechanism, which can turn round endlessly in any direction, making the switch of the headset from one ear to the other really easy. The rotating mechanism is attached to a metal plate, which at first sight looks like a useless designer feature, but a closer look reveals that it is actually a clip to attach your headset conveniently to your clothes, rather than look for a pocket to stick it in when you’re not using it: thus you also have a quick and easy access to the headset whenever you need it. This is a very good solution offered by Z9’s designers.


The headset’s navigation is done through three buttons, located right where you would expect to find them. The company’s logo is inscribed on the multi-function button, which follows the curve of the headset and is therefore difficult to feel; however, pressing it is easy and gives a characteristic click and tactile feedback. The light indicator has the function of backlighting the multi-function button in red or blue, imitating the way an ant changes its color: from blue to… red. The other buttons are the two volume keys, located to the side of the device, rather spaced-out and allowing you to put your index finger and your thumb on both buttons and adjust the desired volume really fast and easy. The buttons themselves are bulging and therefore easy to find: there is no way you can miss them. Moreover, if you have sensitive fingers, you can even feel the relief of the „+” and „-” symbols, which, on their part, require a bit more strength to press, but nevertheless are convenient and easier pressed with the fingertips.

We were about to feel very satisfied that the good design is not at the expense of any compromise, when we came across a problem. As we have already mentioned, the headset can be worn both on your right and on your left ear. However, some of the functions (e.g. call waiting, disconnect/transfer) can be activated by pressing simultaneously „+” and „-”. Well, when wearing it on the left ear it proved impossible to press both buttons with your thumb – the only working option that we thought of, was to turn your left hand so that your index and middle fingers point downwards and thus to press the two keys. It’s not that this movement is difficult, but it causes inconvenience by being unnatural.



Normally we are used to the mic being located as close as possible to the mouth. In this case we have something like a button located closest to the mouth, which does not have any other functionality, apart from looking nice on the device. Now you may ask: Where’s the mic then? Well, it’s not a microphone, but there are two of them, positioned rather strangely on the headset’s side, opposite the volume keys. Later on we’ll have to check whether this position impacts the headset’s performance.

Functionality:

Connecting to other Bluetooth devices is very easy: to enter into pairing mode you just have to press the multi-function button and hold it for about 5 – 6 secs, until it starts to give out a blue twinkling light. From there you have to follow the standard procedure and enter the ‘0000’ code. Although Z9 is a small and light device, it is really very functional.

An interesting fact that is worth mentioning is that, upon activating the voice isolation technology, a man’s voice sounds, telling you „voice isolation max” or “voice isolation standard”. This is actually a very convenient method of signaling the activation of a function, because otherwise all those sounds with different duration and intensity can be very confusing when trying to convey their message to the user. It was high time that devices started ‘talking’ to us. We hope that this is just the beginning and we’ll be able to find such accessories in more and more devices.

In order to facilitate the activation of the voice isolation technology, the designers have assigned the task to the multi-function button, which has to be pressed once for the purpose. How do you end a call then? Well, you only have to press the multi-function button and hold it down for about 3 seconds. So, what actually happens, is: ‘it was nice talking to you. Bye”....1.....2....3 seconds; end of conversation. Not very convenient, is it?

In the beginning of this review we already mentioned that the USB cable from the set is used both for charging and for updating the firmware with the most up-to-the-minute one. The procedure is described step by step in BlueAnt’s support. The whole process of updating takes no more than 15-20 min. The headset that we tested had firmware V1, which we immediately updated with the latest possible version (V2.2). According to data from the update history, the changes from the previous version are expressed in the Update of Voice Isolation DSP code to improve removal of noise in windy conditions, while maintaining a voice signal that can still be clearly heard. The firmware version can be seen from the headset’s name, e.g. BlueAnt Z9 V1.

Performance:

Given the update possibility, all tests that we did on the Z9 were with the 2.2 version of the firmware (which was the latest version available at the time of writing the review).

According to the information, provided by BlueAnt, the headset should be able to go for 5.5 hrs of talk time or 200 hrs of standby time. We did a test with the sound at maximum volume and voice isolation technology also at max. The headset performed far below our expectations with 3.4 hrs (206 min) of talk time. However, it has outperformed Plantronics’s smaller models 655 and 645, also equipped with DSP.

Small headsets would normally have smaller range: for example, the performance of JX10 (10 m / 32.8 feet) or Motorola H9 (17.5 m / 57.4 feet) is there to show us that the smaller the size of the headset, the poorer its performance gets. We were therefore surprised to find out that, in spite of its small size, BlueAnt Z9 does not have such a disadvantage and with its 26.5 meters (86.9 feet) is one of the leaders among the small devices.

Signaling the loss of coverage is very convenient, too: you hear a sound, reminding you that you’re out of coverage and so you will not miss a call because you think you have coverage when you don’t.

BlueAnt Z9 performs comparatively well during conversation. The voices that you hear are loud but shrill, with predominantly high frequencies. The person at the other end of the line hears your voice even louder and sometimes it could be necessary to turn down the volume a bit. On this end, the voices are flat, without high frequencies and sometimes they are so loud they are even unintelligible. You won’t be able to have a conversation if there is loud music around you; you cannot rely on the Voice Isolation Technology either, no matter if it is in standard or max mode.

Comfort:

Putting the headset on is not difficult, whether you use it with or without the earhook; either way you do it single-handedly. It stays steadily on your ear and does not budge even if you move your head more abruptly; apparently, without the movable earhook the device is likely to be less stable, depending on the shape of your ear. In order to achieve maximum comfort you have to adjust the hook to the length of your ear – you can do this by pushing it through the mechanism it is attached to, until the desired position is achieved.



After wearing the device for 2-3 hours we were so much used to it that we sometimes forgot it was there at all. The earhook, in spite of being hard, does not cause any inconvenience or discomfort and it would be fair to say that this is one of the most comfortable and enjoyable headsets that we have tested. The eartip itself is comparatively big and this could easily prove to be a problem if you have smaller ears (the problem is more likely to arise if the device is used by a woman). You might not be able to stick it in your ear at all or, in case you manage to do it, you’ll feel an unpleasant pressure caused by its rubber lining. It would have been great if the set contained a few types of eartips for greater compatibility like, for example, in the Jawbone set.

Conclusion:

Our experience with small headset has lead us to believe that their smallness is at the expense of other conveniences: either the battery would be too small or the range wouldn’t be so good. Therefore, BlueAnt’s Z9 came as a surprise as a device that is both small and one with good talk time and range.

The designers’ innovative thinking has proven to us that it is possible to come up with technologies that make our busy days easier. This device ‘talks’ when the Voice Isolation Technology is activated and we can only hope that the sounds are soon replaced by voice messages. However, the designers should have thought about the headset’s wider compatibility and should have included a few eartips, rather than just a standard one.