EPL Technology Ltd sent us in a pair of their T905s Bluetooth Hi-Fi Stereo Headset and their A370 iPod Mini audio gateway. Read more for our full review.
The first thing that stroke us positively when opening the box was the amount of accessories included with the main two products! There is a USB charging cable that ends in two mini-USB plugs so you can charge both the T905s and the A370 at the same time. There is also a very small A/C wall plug that also splits on two-mini USB slots for dual charging. There is also a 3.5mm-to-2.5mm adapter for audio jacks that are usually used on mobile phones, a 3.5mm-to-6.5mm and also an adapter that allows the A370 to be used with any HiFi device and not just an iPod Mini.
The most amazing accessory though is the cable that allows to tap on any component-audio-out device and capture its audio and transmit it via Bluetooth. For example, such a device is a DVD player, a TV, the cable or satellite box etc. This is a great way to watch a movie or a sports show without disturbing your family or partner.
The neckband T905s headphones are very comfortable to wear and they are very easy to fit correctly around the head. Their design is modern and they look pretty futuristic, making the design best recommended for teenagers. On the right earphone there is a boom microphone which is used when the headphones are on the headset/handsfree profile mode. The microphone can be retracted and not be visible if the user doesn't want it to. The headphones can be condensed in a mini-position that take less space and can be easily transported in a bag or purse. The build quality is good on both products, however I had a problem with the USB charging port on the headphones which was very loose and was coming out a bit too easily.
The A370 audio gateway connects at the iPod Mini and indeed does not look like an alien add-on, it fits pretty nicely on top. The A370 transmits audio in the A2DP format which any A2DP-capable headphone can pick up (AVRCP not supported). Pairing between the A370 and the T905s went perfectly, and also the pairing of the T905s with my E680i phone and my HP iPaq rx3115 went well too. The music these devices transmitted to the T905s was reproduced by the headphones in high quality, quality that we were indeed happy with. One thing that could have been better though was the Volume on the headphones that doesn't go very high. The headphones can carry out the A2DP and HSP/HFP profiles, but there is no support for AVRCP. When your T905s are connected both on a music player and a phone, the music will be automatically interrupted in the event of a phone call, so you never miss a call. There are three buttons on the right earphone that control pairing, hangup, answer, mute, redial, voice dialing, volume, etc.
We found the T905s compatible with our phones in the HSP/HFP mode, and it also worked in A2DP format with the audio gateway and our Motorola phone. However, the headphones failed to work with the Windcom Bluetooth stack on our HP iPaq with Windows 2003SE. The pairing went well, but the actual audio wouldn't get transmitted to the headphones.
The other problem is battery life. Both devices managed barely 5 hours of continuous playback, which is a far cry from Anycom's 11 hours and Plantronics' 12 hours stereo bluetooth headphones. Additionally, the manual states that the headphones have only 140 hours of standby time, but in order to go into standby it says that you press the Power button for 3 seconds. Thing is, that's also the way to turn off the headphones completely, so I found that part a bit fuzzy.
As for the reception performance, I found it good enough, as one would expect it to be from a Class 2 device. The devices are able to transmit up to 7-8 meters in open space. Overall, this is a good product, but it could have been better. This is a product best suited for teenagers, but also for geeks who are after interesting gadgets.
Pros:
* Good audio quality
* Amazing amount of accessories
* Dual USB charging
Cons:
* Low battery life
* No AVRCP support
* Not compatible with Windcom's Bluetooth stack on Win2003SE
Overall rating: 7/10
