Review posted Nov. 15,
2004 by Tong Zhang, Senior Editor
SouthWing is a relatively new name in mobile
accessory world. Established in 2001 in Europe, the company’s
focus has been designing mobile headsets that combine new technologies
and style. Their latest NeoVoice USB Bluetooth headset sports a
unique and stylish design, dual profile support, full phone feature
support, USB charging and 12 ring tones stored on the headset.
The NeoVoice has a very unique “flat” design:
the headset sits flush against your face with the speaker curved
around to fit in your ear and a short boom housing a microphone
pointed toward your mouth. The ear hook connects to the headset
via a bendable rubber that makes it easy for you to put the headset
on. Under the boom arm, you will find a volume up/down jog dial
also doubles as the multi-function button when pressed. The small
USB port is under the jog dial along with a small reset hole to
the left of the USB port. You can charge the headset using either
the A/C adapter that comes with your headset or a USB cable adapter
as well as in-car USB adapter in an optional accessory pack. There
is a small LED on the front face of the headset that indicates
power and pairing status. The headset feels very comfortable to
wear thanks to its ingenious design and light weight (about .86
oz.). For fashion conscious users, SouthWing provides 4 colors
for you to choose from.
The NeoVoice supports both Headset and Hands-free
profiles. Like many other Bluetooth headsets, hold the multi-function
button until the LED flashes green and red alternately to
pair it with your phone. Briefly pushing the multi-function
button will allow you to alternate between Hands-Free and
Headset profiles. We tested the NeoVoice with the Sony
Ericsson P800, the Nokia N-Gage QD, Motorola
MPx220,
Nokia 7610b and the HP
iPAQ 6315. The headset paired with all devices and handled
voice transferring nicely. If you have the NeoVoice paired
and connected with a phone, the voice transfer will automatically
happen. System sounds, music and video sound worked well
on all devices except the HP iPAQ 6315. We could not get
the systems sound, Voice Command or the music and video sound
on the iPAQ to transfer to the headset.
The voice quality is excellent in quiet
environments and pretty good in noisy environments. You
will faintly hear car engine or white noise if your in-car
noise level is high; however we've not experienced
any crackles or breaking-up. The incoming call volume is
lower compared to other Bluetooth headsets and is adequate
for the average home or office but not ideal for noisy
outdoor and busy public locations. The range on the NeoVoice
is decent. The headset managed 10 to 15 feet of range before
the voice quality suffers and even connections dropped.
The NeoVoice supports many phone features such as voice
dialing, mute during a call and answering or rejecting calls
from your headset. You can also turn on the automatic call
pick up to let your headset pick up all incoming calls. If
you have a Hands-Free profile phone, you can use the headset
to redial the last called number. In addition, the NeoVoice
offers 12 built-in ring tones. You can preview and select
the ring tones by holding the jog dial in either direction
for 5 seconds. Note that some cell phones will over write
the ring tones on the headset by playing the ring tones you
have set on the cell phone. In fact, in our test all of our
phones did over write the ring tones with their own.
Like most of the Bluetooth headsets on the market, the NeoVoice
has a rechargeable battery that can be charged with the include
A/C power adapter. Unlike many other headsets, the NeoVoice
can be charged via USB port as well. You can purchase the
optional USB charging accessory kit that includes a USB cable
that can connect your phone to any USB capable machine to
charge the headset. The accessory kit also includes an in-vehicle
cigarette lighter adapter that has a USB connection. The
NeoVoice will turn itself off after 4 hours of inactivate
to conserve the battery. This feature allows the headset
to give you very long standby time. Talk time for the headset
seems to be between 4-6 hours.
Above: USB cable, car charger adapter,
AC charger and headset
Conclusion
Pro: Very stylish and unique design that makes the headset comfortable
to wear. Good voice quality. Long standby time and good talk time.
USB charging will make USB fans very happy. Supports most of the
phone features on a headset and offers 12 stock ring tones.
Con: The Bluetooth range isn't impressive. Incoming
voice volume isn’t that loud. The system sound and Voice Command
doesn’t work on the iPAQ 6315.
The package includes the NeoVoice Bluetooth wireless headset, an
A/C adapter and a user manual. An optional accessory USB pack including
a USB cable and in-vehicle adapter is available for purchase.
