Any new "active" bluetooth headphones since the S9's?

I finally got a new phone that has A2DP so I can go bike riding and things with some bluetooth headphones and get rid of the cords.

The only pair of decent "active" headphones I have known about are the Motorola S9's but those have been out forever, so wondering if something new is out by now to compete with it.

My major qualms with the S9 model is the behind the head thing looks a bit odd to me and also I hear they are uncomfortable on many people and dont play well with glasses. I always wear sunglasses when biking to protect my eyes.

So anybody have some suggestions?

 

I'm looking for the same thing. Anything out there? Anyone?

 

I did find there is an updated model of the S9's the S9-HD, now has different earbud tips that are supposed to give better bass, it has SRS Surround now, and the buttons are more pronounced, and the color changed to black instead of red.

however the cheapest I can find them for is $72 vs the $49 of the original S9 so I have to decide if a few features are worth nearly a 50% increase in cost.

 

Eh after not getting any feedback and not really finding anything on google, I just went ahead and bought a pair of S9-HD's it was $71 w/ free ship on ebay. I'll get about $6 back from live cashback and about $1.50 in ebay bucks so the net cost works out to less than $65

I find them for about $68 but the reason I took the $71 auction was it comes with a car charger in addition to the AC/Wall charger. I think this will be nice to make sure they are fully charged while driving out to the bike trail.

Could have gotten the older S9 cheaper but like the all black color of the HD model more than the red accents and figured the other various improvements to them should make the cost worth it.

I'll let everybody know my impressions and how well they work/feel after I get them and go take a long bike ride with them.

 

I actually have a pair of these and.... they really don't fit that well. And for me, them + sunglasses = no go.

 

That was my major concern as well, but the alternatives I found were regular type headphones that will just reek with sweat like my 590A's I have.

I'll have to hope for the best, or get some over the head Oakley sunglasses (just kidding on that one but they do exsist)

 

Whenever I bike I just use an old pair of shure se-210's (well, the gen before them, but I just forgot the name at the moment) that I use.

 

yeah i tried corded stuff but it just doesn't work for me, I need to tuck away my phone in a pocket or backpack and just have the headphones, esp when mountain biking the cord would get snagged on a branch or something causing mass destruction.

 

I use these headphines (they're from Nokia, but I think they work with any phone):





They're not perfect, but you'll be able to use your sunglasses.

Here's a review of these BH-903.

 

Plantronics has a similar unit that I debated getting called the Pulsar 260, its a medallion you can wear as a necklace and it has a 1/8" headphone jack to use with any earphones/earbuds (though it comes with its own pair) and its bluetooth.

So while it would keep you from having a cord coming from a backpack or pocket you still have them from your chest to ears. So I said its not good enough.

Tell you the neat thing about the plantronics unit though, since it has a 1/8" headphone jack you can just use a 1/8" --> RCA or 1/8" extension cable to make it a bluetooth adapter for home stereo use or for computer speakers.

So it does double duty and also lets you use your own favorite high end earphones/earbuds.

If you like the Nokia you should LOVE the plantroncs:



And while I was looking up that Plantronics model to show you looks like I found the next S9 (for first I should say) competitor.

Altec Lansing's Black Beat

 

I want to update again, I found a couple of cool Jabra devices that may interest some people and they are not too expensive.

First similar to the Plantronics Pulsar 260 is the Jabra BT3030





A few things to say, yes this is not a cordless solution. Just like the 260's it has a "pendant" (in this case shaped like dog tags wich I think is cool) but what this does allow you to do is keep you expensive & easily broken mp3 player or phone in your pocket or backpack and use the pendant to change tracks or answer calls. So you can just keep on going rather than try to hold a phone to your ear.

This one can be worn like dogtags like shown or it has a clip to go on your cloths.

The very notable thing here is these are meant to be user upgradable to any headphones/earbuds you want. So you will never be at the mercy of cheap earbuds and can use your favorite pair. This means if your phone has no headphone jack (as many do not) now you can use your favorite headphones with your phone. So its worth it in many ways. I think I want one of these to play around with.

The other item that was very interesting was the Jabra BT8010





This one is really neat becasue it is a regular phone headset that has a detachable 2nd earpiece you can connect for when you want stero. So it can be two in one. It also has dual pairing functions and a OSD and a lot of other neat tricks.

Only issues is I read its a bit too big and uncomfortable, so this is maybe not a good "active" option but still a neat little gadget.

 

I was thinking about these at one point, expensive, but seem very worth it.

 

Ooh, those do look nice Caleb, its like the active version of the Logitec ones I was looking at back in the day:



same idea just 2 small earphones connected by a cable but these are like traditional earphones so the sweat would build up.

I was able to find the jaybird for $120 shipped if I used ebay cashback it would be a bit cheaper but still a pretty big purchase.

Reading a few reviews the final word was, pretty comfortable, small and light.

Good music quality and balance sound, but bad call quality, too expensive for what you get, and not so great battery life.

Looking at the design I say the one main advantage is that the cable is something you can lay on, so if your a gym rat you can benchpress with these on, while the cheaper and similar S9's may not work due to the unit being behind your head (I have to test this when I get mine, maybe it works because the unit will sit in the recess of your neck)

In reading up on these reviews tonight for all these devices I saw the Plantronics 590A mentioned several times as a "better" product for quality/sound/volume. That makes me feel good about buying them long ago, I have indeed never failed to be impressed with the 590A's there design and quality/comfort are superb, just with a traditional headphone design and foam cushions they are not going to be good for athletic stuff.