27 November 2015

Product review: Coulax V4.1 bluetooth stereo headset

So... might be time to dust this thing off again (HOW many times has this been done?)

So anyway... was contacted about doing a review through the Android Forums. Good piece of gear to look into!

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Coulax V4.1 Bluetooth Headset

I recently received one of these headsets for review, and have to admit that I'm impressed. For some background, I use my headset when riding, doing maintainence at a local hotel, working out. And I use one side for calls when driving. My previous setup was an LG HBS-700

Comparing the two, battery life is a horse apiece: I tend to charge my electronics every night out of habit, so I didn't notice too much of a difference there. Did manage to run the V4.1 for a couple days without charging, and never had a problem. Call quality was good throughout. On par for working out, as well, and working at the hotel.

Where the V4.1 pulled ahead was at the hotel and on the bike. Mowing lawns and riding have always been problematic for me, as it gets VERY hard to hear the LG when on the mower or at speed on the bike. The V4.1 had no such troubles: even on my Sportster at 70mph (running straight pipes and no windshield), I could still hear my tunes perfectly clearly, whereas the LG became nothing more than a poor set of ear plugs.

Also give a slight advantage to the V4.1 on design: the buds are connected by a wire, with just a small control box near the right side. The advantage here was in working out: the band connector of the LG would tend to slide around while at the gym, and the V4.1 simply didn't have the extra weight being thrown around (and pulling the buds out of my ears). This eliminated a LOT of frustration!

Controls, I give a slight (think “hair”) edge to the LG: since you have a much larger piece for controls, you have separate volume and track controls. A very minor difference, as getting used to the V4.1's controls wasn't difficult at all.

Priced currently at $30 on Amazon (I paid around $80 for the LG), the V4.1 is a deal that's hard to beat this Christmas season!