Here’s a short review of the logitech UE900 bluetooth headphones.
Given my history with every set of bluetooth headphones i could get, I thought, i’d finally found some geat headphones, but as you’ll see, unfortunately, they’re just another disappointment.
The Nokia BH-905i were my favorite ones so far, despite the connectivity problems I described in my review.
I’ve had them for about a year until they broke and I returned them. Looking for a replacement, I heard about the newly released Logitech UE9000.
What I’m looking for is:
- the headphones should should good
- comprehensive remote-control of my phone
- active noise canceling
They come in a relatively big box that contains the Headphones along with a travel case, manual, charging cable, adapters for various power sockets etc. They can be operated while charging and so I tried to connect them to my iPhone immediately and listen to some music.
And, let me put this straight: these things are the best Headphones (not only Bluetooth but generally) I’ve ever listened to. I can’t really put the the crystal-clear and detailed sound with its full dynamic range into words but let me warn you: after you”ve had these things on, all everyday headphones will sound like speakers made from tin cans.
So much about the sound.
What’s the reason why did I return these things?
Two reasons. First, the active noise canceling is non-existant. I don’t know what rode the logitech guys to even mention noise canceling on the box because I just can’t hear it. Besides the extra-noise it generates (!), it doesn’t reduce any ambient noise at all. I’ve had the Sennheiser MM-550 and Nokia BH-905i and both wrap you into a bubble that, to a certain extent, acoustically blends out the outside world. The Nokias are better than the Sennheisers and in the Apple store where I purchased my UE9000s, I also tried a pair of Bose (wired) headphones for comparison (which are, in terms of noise cancelling, even better than the Nokias, But the UE9000 just don”t have noise cancelling, They wrap around your ears but aren’t even (without any fancy electronic anti-frequency generation) a pair of “closed” headphones to speak of. The second reason is that the controls on the Headphones are insufficient to do anything “hands-free” on my iPhone in everyday headphones usage except adjusting the volume.
These things have three buttons. (besides an on-and off switch and a, given the lack of noise canceling, useless talk-through button). One’s for volume up, one is for volume down and one is overloaded with functions.
A single click pauses or resumes music playback, unless there’s a call coming in. In this case, the button answers the call unless you hold it down for two seconds which will reject the call. A double-click on the button will skip to the next track and a triple-click (!) will play the previous track.
Even though there’s a ridiculous load of functions on this button, you can’t do what’s standard on even 40€ bluetooth headphones: There’s no voice-control button that invokes Siri or whatever voice control software you have on your handset. I’m used to calling people or asking for directions using Siri and all bluetooth-headphones I had before supported that. Just not the UE9000. You can’t even dial the last number (which you could do on any other bluetooth-headphone).
This lack of features, combined with the ridiculously overloaded command-button and the lack of noise canceling made me return these things.
I really hope, Logitech is going to release a new version of these where these points are improved, though. I’d love to have a pair of headphones that sound as great as the UE9000.
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