i.Tech SPLASH Review

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:

• 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

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.

The i.Tech SPLASH offers flashy colors

Performance:

Wearing the i.Tech SPLASH

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:

PROS

• Light, comfortable earphones
• Fresh, eye-catching colors

CONS

• Music quality varies between devices
• Annoying multifunctional buttons

Nokia BH-218 Review

Introduction and Design:

This fall was a busy season for Nokia – the company released its latest flagship, the Nokia N8, and took over Symbian while trying to accelerate its development to match the increasing competition in the smartphone field. With all these news around the Finns, you might have missed their latest series of Bluetooth headsets. The lineup of five new earpieces carries some distinct Nokia accents and packs some innovative ideas. What we're looking at in this review is the Nokia BH-218 handsfree, which is part of this very same lineup.

In the package you will find the headset itself, a 2 mm AC-3 Nokia charger (sorry, no microUSB) and both small and large-sized earplugs. 

The Nokia BH-218 uses the unconventional clip-on design with a separate clip and a single earbud attached to it with a cable. The headset clips to your clothes and holds the earpiece until you need to make a call. Even though the design is somewhat unusual, we found it to be convenient in most cases. The headset powers on or off automatically when the earpiece is moved from the clip, which boosts the battery life significantly. Except for the design, the BH-218 has almost the same features as the BH-217, the previous model in the lineup. 

The Nokia BH-218 uses an unconventional clip-on design

The clip is minimalistic and slim with only the answer/end key and the company's logo. We didn't have any issues with the clip falling off. But the most controversial element of the headset seems to be the cableconnecting the ear bud as it dangles from the clip and we found ourselves trying to hide or better fit it every time after a call. 

The most controversial element of the headset seems to be the cable

That being said, we have to mention that the microphone is placed on a small plastic part on the cable, which holds the mute switch as well. The ear bud fits nicely into your ear with comfort level as of regular ear buds. You might find yourself looking for a volume rocker in the beginning, but you will soon realize that the volume is automatically adjusted. 

The charger port	The mute switch	Nokia BH-218 next to the Nokia E55

Performance:

Powering the device on is as simple as taking the ear bud out of the clip. The Nokia BH-218 starts to flash in blue to indicate it has entered pairing mode and we had no trouble hooking the device up to an iPhone or a Nokia phone. Multipoint is on board and this means that the headset can be paired with two phones at the same time. In addition, voice guidance can also be of some use, notifying you about the status of the device. The Nokia BH-218 supports Bluetooth 2.1, as well as the Headset (HSP) and Handsfree (HFP) profiles.

With no volume controls, it is essential that theautomatic adjustments to the sound level happen quickly and accurately. To test the robustness of the volume adjustments and the noise reduction, we took the BH-218 to the busiest streets in town. We found the device to perform very good in noisy environments, our callers were able to hear us clearly despite all the car horns and honking of rush hour. On our side, the volume controls were also good, volume adjustment was reasonably quick as we went from busier to quiet streets. 

One thing we would have wished to hear is sound that is a notch louder, but overall we are happy with the Nokia BH-218. On incoming calls, people sounded close to natural, we could tell apart familiar voices. Our callers reported hearing us loud, but not so clear as voices were a bit subdued.

Talk time stands at the very good 8 hours, while you will need some 2 hours to fully charge the headset. Battery life was on par with Nokia's claims of 8 hours of talk time and more than enough for the needs of most. Even though we used the handset in around 20-degree F weather, we did not notice a decrease in battery life. This might be due to the fact that the clip would usually be covered with a layer of clothes in winter and thus protected from the negative impact that low temperatures have on batteries.


Conclusion:

The Nokia BH-218 is on the cheaper side of Nokia's series of headsets at nearly $50. As we saw, it goes with some unconventional design decisions, but nevertheless looks discreet when you manage to deal with the dangling cable issue. But the most important feature for a headset is good call quality and comfort fit, and this one has them both. The BH-218 adds a great battery life and if you want to try a somewhat different headset, you might just find this the right pick.

PROS

• Very good calling quality
• Unconventional design

CONS

• Dangling cable
• Sound output on the quiet side