I have been looking for a Bluetooth and wired noise cancelling headset for a long time. One you can use on flights and for the computer – and for any Bluetooth phone. When Nokia announced the BH-905 I knew i wanted to try them and they seemed like the could handle my requirements.
The BH-905 is a very capable package. I have used it now for about 3 months and are quite happy with it – but they are not perfect. So here are my complaints you need to be aware of.
1. Noise cancelling
a. BH-905 seems to convert most noise into a low level high pitch hiss. For normal use it is okay – but not nearly as good as my Sony MDR-NC500Ds. One flights the noise is quite annoying
b. Nokia BH-905 has a BIG problem with low pitch noise like engine noise (diesel engines) – they get “transformed” into very very low pitch humming – that is more annoying that the noise itself.
c. I took the BH-905 to Formula 1 in Abu Dhabi – but that was a big mistake. The sound from F1 cars made the BH-905 go into overdrive so they popped and clicked so badly you could not even wear them any longer. Had to resort to my good old fashioned “stuff something in your ears..” to keep noise level down.
2. Connectivity
a. It is not easy to maintain connection to multiple devices via Bluetooth – since most computers and phones support both Stereo and Headset profiles – changing source device is a pain in the b*t.
b. Computers have a hard time pushing audio in Stereo mode to the headset – and frequently changes to headset mode. Headset mode has lousy audio quality for music and video. This might not be Nokia’s problem – but it seems like a generic Bluetooth profile handling problem.
c. The Nokia BH-905 supports cable connections. But why does it not support a standard PC Mic In? So you could use the BH-905 as a headset for a PC via Wired connection? That is just stupid. Connecting to a PC gives you and Audio Out only so fine for music and video – but if the VoIP phone rings – you cant answer. Please Nokia – there are room for improvement here.
So in general – as I said the device is on the right track – but still to young to be a major player in the noise cancelling headset sector. For that to happen the noise cancelling needs to get a lot better and the bugs need to get sorted out. One could hope a later firmware could solve it – but for now I need to bring my Sony if I need real noise cancelling.
On the positive side it works with my iPhone 3GS and my Nokia N900. Not perfect – but it works.
4 comments:
The active noise cancelling on the Nokia BH-905 can take a second or two to activate..
yes I know - still does not make it any better....
On the BH-905 box, there is an illustration of the connectors. There are supposed to be two "double adapters" - one for airplane use and another with is not designated. I only received the airplane adapter which has stereo on one line and mono on the other. It barely works with one of my PCs and not with the other. One supposes that the missing adapter shown on the box is for PCs - but where is it please Nokia?
Kaz, How did you pair the BH-905 to your Iphone?
My Iphone does not find the headset. It connects to my Macbook allright. And my Iphone connects to my GPS and PC etc. They do not see each other. Any idea what to do?
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