I4U News

Overview
I know what you’re thinking.  Arrrgghh, another Bluetooth wireless product with promises to take away your entire “connected” world issues, right? Believe me, I’m with you in that thought process.  Until now; if you’re like me, you absolutely abhor the invention of wires altogether.  It was great “in the beginning” when all we had to worry about was the advent of the light bulb, but, yes, times change and with it were the promise our societal woes and complicated lifestyles would be solved with the coup de grace of technological innovation, and progress.  Hello?! The age of technology or digitalization has been part of our pantheon now for several decades and all I see is more wires/cables sticking out of every available crevasse leaving us a tangled mass of human spun, shapeless, mangled tentacles waiting to grab us with their “suckers” and spending an eternity attempting to set ourselves free once again.  Just look at your wife or significant other the next time you decide to buy that “cool” piece of equipment and he/she asks you what piece of furniture or demolition of the house needs to take place to hide it and the cables attached. You get the picture, don’t you?

The package includes the Bluetooth dongle, stereo headset, charging power adapter, USB cable, user’s manual and CD-ROM containing user quick guide, manual, BlueSoleil software and USB driver for Windows.  Setup and use was very, very simple.  Let’s start with the dongle itself for operation.

The dongle is 51mm X 24mm, which offers some stealth-like capabilities in not being seen, but heard. The dongle jack rotates 180 degrees and is a standard 3.5mm configuration. If you have equipment with varying sizes of “female” jacks; purchase the appropriate adapter to fit upon the dongle jack. Switch on the dongle and the blue light will flash indicating it is operating, but, ultimately, needs to “sync” with the included stereo headset. There is even a pin included on the side for those of you who are Ipod loyalists. The LED indicator provides dongle status and a USB jack is available for connection and alternate recharging solution. Now, turn both the dongle and headset on for “pairing”. Press the dongle and headset pairing switches and the dongle immediately begins searching for the device surrounding it revealing a flashing blue light on both products. Once found, you will observe a steady blue light. You are now ready to use your headset and listen to your choice of devices the dongle is connected to.

 

The stereo headset consists of a neck strap over-the-ear configuration with foam padded earmuff construction for comfort.  Both devices are black and silver, which should compliment most equipment you utilize since this is, ordinarily, the standard color palette manufacturers use. The stereo headset is semi-directional for additional earmuff ease in use and comfort for auditory anatomical differences.  The right-side earmuff of the headset contains an attached rubber USB cover and jack, reset switch and DC inlet (beside USB jack), the headset power/pairing switch/incoming call control for use with compatible Bluetooth cell phones, hidden integrated microphone, volume control (up/down) and fast forward/reverse switch, LED (linking status and battery indicator).  It’s as simple as that.  Now, just choose what you wish to listen to wirelessly. 

The pairing and all functional switches worked perfectly as advertised.  The claimed distance for interference-free listening is 30 meters, but if you do not possess equipment near the frequency of these devices or have other products, which may cause frequency disruption; you can lengthen that distance as I did to approximately 32 or 33 meters.  Obviously, electronic environmental conditions will affect your particular maximum distance.  Applicable shielding would be beneficial to reduce or eliminate emanation of electromagnetic interference and distortion.   

I tested the dongle/headset on virtually every device I have and could find, which had stereo jack compatibility and the sound experience was incredible.  Voices were crisp and the bass was more than adequate for such small headsets and in a wireless mode.  The headset was comfortable and the earmuff foam padding provided my ears with a nice cushion to avoid any soreness.  After wearing them for over three hours watching a DVD, I expected to have some sore spots on my ears, but experienced none.  Adjustment of the headset gave me room to position the earmuffs in the best position for my ears.  However, movement of your head in a rearward manner will affect the position of those earmuffs somewhat, but does not lessen, prevent or stop the listening experience.  Padding of the molded neck strap would provide additional comfort for the user. 
The simplicity and placement of the controls also enabled ease in functionality while making adjustments to volume and forwarding or reversing.  I tested the headset and dongle on my big screen television, seven disc DVD/MP3/Laser/Movie CD/CD player, THX receiver, mini rack stereo system, MP3 player (HDD and flash-based), FM radio, satellite radio, computer, PMP, Bluetooth compatible cell phone and even my “sound lounger”.  In every test, I received no distortion unless the distance went beyond 33 meters.  There was also no loss of signal up to that distance.  For some equipment, a larger stereo adapter was required for the dongle, but these are readily available at your local electronics outlets (gold plated, obviously, works best).  I especially enjoyed utilizing the Bluetooth capability with my cell phone, which provided clear sound during conversations over and above that experienced with traditional wireless headsets (having enclosed headset versus “open” wireless headsets prevents loss of sound or interjection of outside distracters). 
Another outstanding benefit of these Bluetooth device capabilities is to allow you to watch or listen to the source in the setting or volume you prefer and not disturbing those around you.  It’s great when others are asleep and you choose to listen to your favorite tunes or movie.  Many of you may have instant messaging on your computer and utilize your microphone or integrated web cam microphone.  Again, you are limited as to where you can go when using those options.  With the CNGTEK Bluetooth dongle and headset; you can feel free to move around and continue your conversations in a more relaxed manner. 

Wish list
- Over-the-ear headset to further reduce outside environmental influences during the listening experience
- Completely flexible and adjustable neck strap with foam padding for additional comfort
- Vertical adjustment capability integrated into the neck strap to compensate for auditory anatomical differences or derivations
- Equalizer capability to optimize listening preferences where attached equipment/devices possess none to do so
- Luminescence of dongle controls due to small form factor
- Applicable dongle adapter(s) availability as standard or accessories for attachment to the large product lines of cell phones available and differing configurations existing
 

Conclusion
I have owned and tested other Bluetooth products, but none with the ease, versatility, quality, comfort and abilities these devices provide. If you wish to join the future, I would highly recommend you do so and explore that new world CNGTEK provides.

How to Buy
CNGTek sells the Bluetooth Stereo Headphone Kit for $134.95.