Introduction:
Youngsters, here comes a Bluetooth hands-free gizmo that has been designed especially for you! The i.Tech SPLASH steps into the scene showing off its flashy colors and flaunting its set of multimedia features. Besides its catchy looks, the headset aims to win your heart with its ability to play back your tunes through its stereo earphones and to tune in to your favorite station with its built-in FM radio.
Looks pretty good on paper, doesn't it? Well, after playing with the i.Tech SPLASH for a while we are ready to give it our final verdict, so read along and let us tell you how this Bluetooth headset performs in real life.
Package contents:
Design:
The i.Tech SPLASH resembles a clip that attaches to whatever you happen to be wearing. Now, the obvious disadvantage of this form factor is that having the gadget clipped onto a light summer piece of clothing can be pretty uncomfortable. With a weight of 18 grams (0.63 ounces), it tends to dangle about quite a bit. On the other hand, the clip design spares you from the need to have the headset constantly on top of your ear. Just let the earphones rest hanging around your neck and pop them in whenever needed.
Now that we've mentioned them, we have to admit thatthe pair of detachable stereo earphones that the i.Tech SPLASH comes equipped with left us with a very good impression. They are light, comfortable, and their rubberized tips prevent them from falling off. And since the stock earphones connect to the headset’s body through a 3.5-millimeter jack, you can easily swap them for a pair of Sennheisers, for example.
Four buttons total are what you use to control the i.Tech SPLASH's functions - a multifunctional key, a dedicated on/off button for the FM radio, and a pair of buttons that you use to adjust the volume level with a single press or change tracks by holding them down for a couple of seconds. After playing with it for a while, we found this setup to be pretty annoying, and we honestly think the headset would have been easier to use if its different functions had their own keys.
Youngsters, here comes a Bluetooth hands-free gizmo that has been designed especially for you! The i.Tech SPLASH steps into the scene showing off its flashy colors and flaunting its set of multimedia features. Besides its catchy looks, the headset aims to win your heart with its ability to play back your tunes through its stereo earphones and to tune in to your favorite station with its built-in FM radio.
Looks pretty good on paper, doesn't it? Well, after playing with the i.Tech SPLASH for a while we are ready to give it our final verdict, so read along and let us tell you how this Bluetooth headset performs in real life.
 |  |  |
- Stereo earphones
- Mono earphone
- Carrying case
- Interchangeable rubber tips
- Proprietary USB cable
- User manual other papers
Design:
The i.Tech SPLASH resembles a clip that attaches to whatever you happen to be wearing. Now, the obvious disadvantage of this form factor is that having the gadget clipped onto a light summer piece of clothing can be pretty uncomfortable. With a weight of 18 grams (0.63 ounces), it tends to dangle about quite a bit. On the other hand, the clip design spares you from the need to have the headset constantly on top of your ear. Just let the earphones rest hanging around your neck and pop them in whenever needed.
 |  |  |  |
The i.Tech SPLASH resembles a clip that attaches to whatever you happen to be wearing | |||
Now that we've mentioned them, we have to admit thatthe pair of detachable stereo earphones that the i.Tech SPLASH comes equipped with left us with a very good impression. They are light, comfortable, and their rubberized tips prevent them from falling off. And since the stock earphones connect to the headset’s body through a 3.5-millimeter jack, you can easily swap them for a pair of Sennheisers, for example.
 |  |  |  |
The sides of the i.Tech SPLASH | |||
 |
With RIM BlackBerry Curve 8520 |
 |
The i.Tech SPLASH offers flashy colors |
Performance:
Regardless of all the bells and whistles it is equipped with, the main purpose of a Bluetooth headset is to handle voice calls, and thei.Tech SPLASH does not perform poorly, but it doesn’t shine with anything either. Voices trough the headphones sound loud and distinctive, yet somewhat unnatural. We were easily understood on the other side of the line, but our voice was somewhat muffled and plenty of background noise was getting picked up by the microphone.
When it comes to listening to music, however, things start looking ugly. Even though we tested it out with multiple Android smartphones, there was a constant and audible distortion, not to mention the irritating buzzing noises that were noticeable during the quiet bits of the song. Digital background hum could be heard when listening to the radio as well. Strangely, none of these symptoms were present when we paired the headset with an iPhone.
We were quite surprised by these results as the i.Tech SPLASH touts support for the aptX codec, which is used to deliver CD-quality audio over Bluetooth. However, it turned out that having the technology implemented does not make any difference since no smartphone supports it yet.
Batterywise, the i.Tech SPLASH can deliver 6.5 hours of talk time and last for 350 hours in stand-by mode, which is slightly above the average. Listening to music, however, will drain the battery in only 5 hours. A nice, little touch that we liked was that you get a battery indicator on your status bar when you pair the hands-free with an iPhone. Checking the battery level is also possible on Android smartphones through a dedicated app, which also has the ability to “read” incoming texts out loud by using the phone's text-to-speech engine.
Conclusion:
As much as we hate to say it, the i.Tech SPLASH is simply not a Bluetooth hands-free that we would recommend. Its clip design makes it tricky to wear on some types of clothing, its buttons are not too convenient to use, and its audio playback quality is below par, unless you have an iPhone. Sure, it comes in five pretty colors and its stock earphones are quite nice, but that is not enough to make up for its flaws.
i.Tech SPLASH Video Review:
 |
Wearing the i.Tech SPLASH |
When it comes to listening to music, however, things start looking ugly. Even though we tested it out with multiple Android smartphones, there was a constant and audible distortion, not to mention the irritating buzzing noises that were noticeable during the quiet bits of the song. Digital background hum could be heard when listening to the radio as well. Strangely, none of these symptoms were present when we paired the headset with an iPhone.
We were quite surprised by these results as the i.Tech SPLASH touts support for the aptX codec, which is used to deliver CD-quality audio over Bluetooth. However, it turned out that having the technology implemented does not make any difference since no smartphone supports it yet.
Batterywise, the i.Tech SPLASH can deliver 6.5 hours of talk time and last for 350 hours in stand-by mode, which is slightly above the average. Listening to music, however, will drain the battery in only 5 hours. A nice, little touch that we liked was that you get a battery indicator on your status bar when you pair the hands-free with an iPhone. Checking the battery level is also possible on Android smartphones through a dedicated app, which also has the ability to “read” incoming texts out loud by using the phone's text-to-speech engine.
Conclusion:
As much as we hate to say it, the i.Tech SPLASH is simply not a Bluetooth hands-free that we would recommend. Its clip design makes it tricky to wear on some types of clothing, its buttons are not too convenient to use, and its audio playback quality is below par, unless you have an iPhone. Sure, it comes in five pretty colors and its stock earphones are quite nice, but that is not enough to make up for its flaws.
i.Tech SPLASH Video Review:
PROS
- Light, comfortable earphones
- Fresh, eye-catching colors
CONS
- Music quality varies between devices
- Annoying multifunctional buttons
0 Comment:
Yorum Gönder