Kensington Bluetooth Stereo Headphones Review

by Sarah Meyer

Kensington just recently released the Bluetooth Stereo Headphones with Microphone to the public. The idea is "wireless stereo headphones that will have people talking."

We decided to test the headphones out with a notebook to see if they were worthy of any chatter.

Bluetooth Stereo Headphones Specifications:

• Cord-free, Bluetooth 2.0 (A2DP)
• 66 ft. (20 m) range
• Rechargeable lithium-ion battery
• Built-in microphone, adjustable volume control
• Compatible with both PC and Mac operating systems
• 2-year warranty
• Included in the box: Bluetooth Stereo Headphones with microphone, USB mini charging cable and instruction guide.

(view large image)

Design and Build

Kensington's Bluetooth Stereo Headphones look like standard headphones. They are mostly black, with silver accents and designed to hook over the ears. The speakers are covered in a soft, foam-like material with a diameter of about 4.5 centimeters.

(view large image)

There is a small built-in microphone on the left earphone; on that same side is the play/pause button and the track forward/track rewind button.

(view large image)

The volume control is located on the right earphone along with the on/off switch, the charger outlet, and the Bluetooth pairing button.

(view large image)

On both ear phones there are LED lights to allow the user to know when the headphones are paired, charged, on or low on battery.

The headset comes with a USB mini charging cord for the rechargable lithium-ion battery. It took a little under two hours to fully charge the headphones and it's suppose to allow for 23 hours of non-stop music.

Audio Quality and Use

The audio quality on the headphones is great. The sound is clear and precise, and the volume level gets loud enough that I can drown out background noise. The volume can be controlled through the buttons on the headset if you are away from the computer.

I did have trouble with the play button and the track forward/skip button; I could not get them to work in conjunction with my computer. My co-workers have had similar problems with buttons not working on other headsets when paired with a notebook, so it might be common problem.

Unfortunately, I couldn't test the headphones with a cell phone because we couldn't get them to pair with any of the cell phones we had in the office. Because of this, I have no knowledge of how the microphone worked.

Conclusion

I enjoyed using the Kensington Bluetooth Stereo Headphones. They were comfortable to wear, easy to set up and the Bluetooth range was as good as advertised.

My biggest concern is that I couldn't get the play and track buttons to work with my notebook. This wasn't a huge deal since I could control the tracks through my music player, but it might be a concern if you were trying to use the headphones with a phone.

Pros:

• Wireless Bluetooth connection
• Simple to use, no software
• Rechargeable lithium-ion battery
• Comfortable to wear

Cons:

• Couldn't get play, track buttons to work
• Sort of expensive

Pricing and Availability

The Kensington Bluetooth Stereo Headphones with Microphone is priced at $79.99 and can be purchased on the Kensington website.

 

My question is do they really have 66 foot range? If so, thats a big improvement over most BT devices. Also was the volumn levels adequate and did the signal cut out? These were all issues with the Motorola s9's I briefly had. Not sure that was the s9's or the 1420 dell that I had also returned for a bad screen and damaged lid. So if these guys have better range and stronger connectivity I may be interested.

 

how is the audio quality on the headphones? also is microphone quality good enough to use with pc games such as TF2?

 

I tested the headphones and had uninterrupted audio for about 30 ft. I think the quality got bad around this point because I was about to walk through a second doorway and I had put two walls inbetween the headphones and the notebook. I think you might actually get 66 ft. if you were in a large room and the notebook was in line of sight.

I had no problems with the signal cutting out when I sat in front of my notebook and listened to music or other audio. The only time I had problems with the signal was when I was testing the range.

The audio quailty is good, my music was clear and crisp, the volume got decently loud without losing quality. I did not game with the headphones so I'm not sure about the microphone quality with PC games.

 

Can I ask you to try out the headphones in a few real world programs, like trying out the microphone in Skype and the audio controls in iTunes or WMC?

 

while blue tooth headphones are pretty cool.... i find i don't really mind the chord that much. Maybe that is just me.

 

I had the HP bluetooth headphones years ago, and if these are much of an improvement I might just have to buy some to use while I am at the gym. I just hate having cords get stuck on things. Any advice whether these would stay on well? How much does the band protrude from the neck?