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Setting Up The Headset
BlueAnt's X3 micro comes with two sizes of ear tips as well as a gel ear tip. It also comes with two sizes of detachable ear hooks, which simply clip on the microphone piece and swivel when you want to switch from one ear to the other.
The detachable ear hook design is commendable, in general. The headset is easy to use with the ear hook attached, even when grabbing the device quickly from a pocket to answer an incoming call.
Battery Life and Charging
BlueAnt's X3 micro gets its advertised 7 hours of talk time or 180 hours of standby time as far as I could tell. It has a remarkably short 1.5 hours to 2 hours recharging time. It must be charged 4 hours the first run through, however.
What makes the X3 micro even better is its flexible USB charger cord and the three methods you could use to charge it. Plug it into the USB port of a computer, use the included car charger, which has its own USB port, or use the traditional AC wall charger, which also has a USB port. This design feature is excellent, and BlueAnt should be commended for it. Other Bluetooth headset designers should take note of this element of the X3 micro.
The USB charger cord itself can be molded to stay in place in any which way, a design which surely will preserve the connection between the charger cord and the X3 micro. The charging port on the X3 micro is small -- something that I usually don't like in a device -- but with the charger cord's rigid flexibility (not an oxymoron in this case), I don't foresee the small connection being as much of a problem than with other headsets I've reviewed.
The device has an embedded lithium polymer rechargeable battery, a good battery, but one that will eventually lose strength the longer it's used and recharged. Like many Bluetooth headsets, the battery cannot be replaced, which means the headset itself will eventually have to be replaced when it no longer holds a charge long enough.
Pairing
Pairing was a snap. I shut down my mobile phone, a Motorola RAZR V3c, turned on the device and it activated automatically in pairing mode. I turned on my mobile phone, searched for the device in my Bluetooth menu, found it, entered the pass code (found in the BlueAnt X3 micro user manual and quick start guide) and I was good to go.
If you're pairing the X3 micro with another device, you may have to take one additional step, long press the volume up button to enter pairing mode. The headset can be paired with up to three Bluetooth worthy devices at one time.
The device will flash red and blue when it is in pairing mode.
Style and Comfort
As mentioned in the introduction, BlueAnt's X3 micro Bluetooth Headset looks awesome, and it's small at 2 inches (50.8 mm) long, one inch (25.4 mm) wide and a half inch (12.7 mm) thick.
BlueAnt's X3 micro Bluetooth Headset comes in several different color schemes, including black, cool white, hot pink, bronze, gold and red. It looks good on the ear, regardless of whether you're using the detachable ear hook or not, but the device did not stay on my ear without using the ear hook, regardless of which ear tip I used.
Unfortunately, the device is not all that comfortable to wear and is relatively heavy at 0.46 ounces (13 grams). I found myself fidgeting with the headset when it was in my ear for more than 10 minutes, and I usually talk longer than that.
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