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Functionality
As I mentioned previously, I tested the Motorola S9 Bluetooth headphones with Motorola's new RAZR maxx Ve mobile phone, a Motorola RAZR V3c, a Sony Ericsson W810i, with a Macintosh iBook, with a Dell Inspiron laptop and Logitech's Bluetooth iPod adapter.
With the RAZR maxx Ve phone, the headset paired quickly and worked well as a Bluetooth headset for phone calls. The RAZR maxx Ve phone is A2DP equipped, so it can stream stereo music using Bluetooth to the S9 headphones. The Bluetooth stereo music feature worked flawlessly.
I downloaded three tracks from Verizon Wireless V Cast service to properly test Motorola's S9 Bluetooth Active Headphones' capabilities. When the headphones were paired with the phone, the music streamed automatically. But the play/pause button only started playing music from the phone when the music capability of the phone was enabled.
The track forward/back and play/pause buttons worked when the music was on the "Play All" playlist, but the track forward/back buttons didn't work when there was only one song on a playlist. The volume up/down buttons functioned properly.
Both the play/pause and multifunction buttons were hard to find when needed between the track forward/back and volume up/down buttons respectfully, and the volume up/down and track forward/back buttons were hypersensitive. Simply brushing my finger against the volume keys sent the volume shooting up or down, and I often found myself listening to the next track in my playlist when I accidentally brushed the track forward button trying to find the play/pause button. Having these buttons on the headphones, however, is ingenious. With some tweaking to eliminate hypersensitivity of the buttons and make them easier to find, the functionality of the S9 headphones will be ideal.
The multifunction button between the volume buttons worked very well to answer and end calls, especially when I was listening to music. When a call came in while I was listening to tunes, a distinct ring sounded. By simply pressing the multifunction button, I answered the call. Then, by simply pressing the multifunction button once more to end the call, I was listening to my music again - right where I left off. This is one of the S9 headphones' best features, which is extremely useful while in the middle of exercising.
The multifunction button worked as expected when I was simply using the headphones as a Bluetooth headset; namely, to answer/end calls, to engage the voice activation feature of the phone and to call the last number dialed.
When testing the S9 headphones with the Sony Ericsson W810i, a phone built to double as a MP3 player, the music would not play on the headphones. This is because the mobile phone is not equipped with Bluetooth A2DP. Buyers should make sure their phones are compatible with Bluetooth A2DP before buying the S9 headphones. With the W810i, the S9 Bluetooth headphones worked as a headset for phone calls in the same way they did with the RAZR maxx Ve phone.
My personal phone, a RAZR V3c, worked with the S9 headphones only for calls since the phone is not equipped to handle anything more. It worked similarly to the Sony Ericsson W810i and the RAZR maxx Ve phone in this manner.
The headphones did not work at all with Logitech's adapter or the iBook. The provided USB Bluetooth Stereo PC adapter showed up as a keyboard when plugged into my Apple iBook computer and would not connect with the headphones properly. Since this is the only adapter Motorola includes with the S9 Bluetooth headphones, it is a disappointment that it doesn't work with a product made by the same company that has revolutionized music with iTunes and the iPod.
With the Dell Inspiron laptop using iTunes for Windows, the USB Bluetooth Stereo PC Adapter was plug and play, and worked instantly with the S9 Bluetooth headphones. The play/pause and volume up/down buttons worked well, but the track forward/back buttons did not work at all. Instead, they made an awkward noise and interrupted the song that was playing for a moment.
You can now buy the Motorola S9 Bluetooth Headphones at Amazon.com
Style and Comfort
The Motorola S9 Bluetooth headphones look good and are barely noticeable to others when they're on the head. With all the electronic parts of the headphones covered by rigid plastic or plastic flaps, the Motorola S9 Bluetooth headphones are resistant to sweat in the gym or in the rain. They are definitely designed first for this type of use.
The headphones are not the easiest product to put on the ears. I had to lift my earlobes over the headphones ear loops in order to secure the S9 headphones. The headphones sat securely on my head once in position, though someone with a larger head or big hair may have difficulty fitting the headphones properly.
When wearing my glasses, the S9 Bluetooth headphones interfered with my frames, making both my glasses and the headphones uncomfortable to wear. When I took my glasses off, the headphones were more comfortable. Their light weight design, at 1.14 ounces, make the S9 headphones barely noticeable. However, the rigid plastic that makes the headphones perfect for exercising makes them not the most comfortable headphones available.
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