Step Communications 1150 Bluetooth Headset

	Step Communications 1150 Step Communications 1150 Bluetooth headset
Weight	20.1g
Body Size	57 x 52mm
Talk Time(1)	4:03
Ear Loop	Adjustable position
Left/Right Ear?	Both
LEDs	1 multicolor
Pairings	Multiple
Features	Mute
Headset Sound	Clear
Mic Sound	Clear, but a bit distant sounding
Link	HERE
Talk Test	MP3
Noise Test	MP3
Wind Test	MP3
Included Accessories	Charger
Pros	Nice design, comfortable, good inbound sound, optional 2.5mm adapter
Cons	Microphone needs improvement
1) hh:mm. Music was piped continually through the headset in both directions, for a worse-case scenario

There are a lot of new players in the Bluetooth headset market, as we've seen with some of the recent reviews featured here on MobileBurn. One of the things that I have been pleasantly surprised by has been the quality of some of the devices I've been testing. The designers are starting to catch on.

A good example is the 1150 from Step Communications. This headset sports the behind-the-ear style made popular by the Jabra Freespeak. The 1150, with its solid black body, is anything from flashy and obtrusive. It fits securely on your head thanks in part to its bendable rubber neck. Your own ear takes care of the rest, naturally preventing the headset from flapping around if you quickly turn your head from side to side (important if you are the type of person that is always shaking your head "no" at people).

Call and volume control are handled with a single jog-wheel type control on the back of the headset. Push it up to raise the volume, down to lower the volume, and push it in to turn it on/off or to initiate/end a call. My only complaint with the control is that the status LED that is located directly above it feels much too much like the jog-wheel itself. The LED should have been placed further away, leaving the jog-wheel as the only thing sticking out from the 1150's otherwise smooth body.

The 1150's ear piece is fairly non-descript. It is made of a slightly grippy rubber compound that is soft and comfortable. It has a relatively narrow design that allows it to fit into your ear canal loosely, so that it doesn't block other sound from your surrounding environment. I prefer this method to that of the Jabra Freespeak's, especially when you are using the headset while driving a car.

If you wish to use the headset on your left ear, a simple twist of the ear piece will allow you to do that. Since the 1150 has a symmetric form, it works equally well on the left or right ear, as long as you point the ear piece in the right direction.

The audio quality that the headset provides to the wearer doesn't quite rival what the Sony Ericsson headsets offer, but the sound is quite full and is better than that of the Motorola HS810. The 1150's only weakness, one shared by many over-the-ear headsets, is the quality of the sound that the remote caller hears. The design requires that the microphone be significantly further from the wearer's mouth than is optimal. In spite of the Step's claims of the microphone creating a "sound bubble" that encompasses the wearer's mouth (a scary thought), the audio just isn't as good as what you could get with even a short microphone boom. You can hear it for yourself by listening to the MP3 samples in the spec table in this story. The audio is still acceptable, but it has a distant quality to it, which is no surprise. Wind does pose a bit of a problem for the 1150's microphone, but most headsets on the market today share that problem.

 

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