Bluetooth technology has stepped up its game with the Sound ID 510 Bluetooth headset. Check out the full review here.
Sound ID 510 Overview
A decent Bluetooth headset can be hard to find these days. Sound, ease of use, and performance are often overshadowed by style, size, and compatible cash-cropping accessories. The Sound ID 510 excels on the technological forefront while maintaining an attractive appearance and simple operation. The only issue at the current moment is that the headset is mostly reliant on the free application that enables it to do all of the magical flips and somersaults. Also, it's only available for the iPhone with the latest software update. But have no fear—support for Android, Windows Mobile, and more platforms are close down the pipeline, so let's dig in and see what Mike Jones, CEO and President of Sound ID had to show me.
Using the Sound ID 510
As we can see in the video, the Sound ID 510 is a powerhouse, as long as we use the free application that enables all of its bells and whistles. We get Noise Cancelling with a demo that allows you to compare the intensity of intrusive sound with Noise Cancelling set to on and with it set to off. The difference was uncanny. A jackhammer-infested street corner transformed into a quiet little sound booth as Mr. Jones toggled between the Noise Cancelling on and off.
We also had the ability to individually customize the frequency of the Sound ID 510's sound to fit our personal auditory preferences. This was accomplished by touching our finger to the screen and moving it around until it sounded just right. That was a revelation as well, and we now began to see how much love the folks at Sound ID poured into the new 510. These are serious and necessary enhancements to Bluetooth headset sound quality that have been long overdue.
The decibel meter was amusing to play with when we wanted to show off to our friends and Find Me actually came to the aid of our ADD. However, if you don't heed its warning, your ear will not be in the best of shape. The Sound ID 510 paired easily with our iPhone and its touch sensitive volume control was easy to use. The Sound ID 510 also fit perfectly in our ear and never threatened to fall out.
Sound ID 510 Sound Quality
With so many sound tools in its arsenal, the Sound ID 510 never let us down when it came to pleasing our ear. Between the Noise Cancelling effectiveness, Environmental mode (which amplified surrounding sounds for a clearer conversation), and the ability to customize the sound of the headset itself, we really don't have any complaints. No muffled sound, no scratchy voices. Now here's the catch. Without the application, sound was decent. But it wasn't as good as when we took advantage of the application-based tools. And in order to do that, you have to launch the application every time. Hopefully in the future, Apple will let such apps run in the background on the iPhone.
Sound ID 510 Value
Here's the thing. We loved the Sound ID 510. We think it's one of the most innovative and highest quality Bluetooth headsets on the market. But right now, the Sound ID 510 application only plays with an iPhone with OS 3 or higher. So, if you've jailbroken your iPhone, fuggedaboudit. Also, Android users will have to wait a little while longer, but Mr. Jones assured us that most major platforms will be supported throughout the year. There's also the part about having to launch the Sound ID application in order to take advantage of all of the 510's tools. We still think it's worth the $130, based on our tests, and we hope those minor tweaks will be made down the road.
Price and availability
The Sound ID 510 Bluetooth Headset will be available from AT&T Wireless on June 6 2010 for $130.
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