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The Lubix Bluetooth stereo headset was my first, so I may be more impressed with it than if I'd already had some experience with stereo Bluetooth. Keeping that in mind, this is an extremely light, comfortable accessory for your Treo (or any mp3 player).

Obviously, the greatest disadvantage of stereo Bluetooth is that you are forced to use Softick's Audio Gateway. I discovered quickly, the trick to using SAG is that if you are streaming to your headset, return to the menu and stream to the internal speaker when you're done. Unfortunately, if your music is interrupted with a phone call, you are frequently stuck doing a soft reset if you want to return to your Bluetooth musical experience.

Using the Lubix as a normal Bluetooth headset for making calls is mediocre. While you can hear your caller just fine, you have to speak very loudly for them to hear you. The microphone is weak. I found that in order to carry on a decent conversation with the Lubix, I either had to remember to keep shouting, or to pull the left side out of my ear, and hold it in front of my mouth. The left side is where the microphone is, and when directly in front of your mouth, picks up sound great…but that does contradict the point of hands free.

The Lubix has more buttons and button functions than any non stereo headset I've seen, but due to the Treo's Bluetooth stack, most of the functions are useless. The one feature that works almost too well is Redial. I have accidentally hit the redial button more times than I care to admit. The manual says to press the phone button twice to redial, but one good push sets you on your way to a phone call. If you happen to be holding the device in your hand when it happens, you'll know instantly because the bright LED panel on the side informs you immediately that you are Redialing.

I always wondered why any manufacturer would put an LED on a headset. The headset should be in your ears, right? Well here's where the ingenuity of the Lubix design begs for that LED. If you're not wearing the symmetrical earbuds, but want them ready for use, you wear them as a necklace. The two earbuds are magnetic, and fit together so that they won't slip off your neck when not in use. If your Treo is in your pocket/purse/holster when it rings, and your Lubix is hanging around your neck, you only have to look at the LED to see who's calling. (This is especially handy if your phone is on silent.) If you want to answer, accept the call and put the earbuds in. If not, you can reject the call by a simple touch of a button. The LED also tells you when you are in pairing mode, and when you have connected to your device.

For simply enjoying sound, the Lubix is more than adequate. The stereo is great watching movies on The Core Player, sound is crisp and clear in Kinoma, and watching my Slingbox is a dream come true. Because these are in-ear, rather than over the ear, the sound is strong, and background noise is not an issue. You will never confuse the output on the Lubix with a set of high end stereo headphones, but for Bluetooth, the quality is quite good.

The Treo's Bluetooth stack is, again, at fault when it comes to using the Lubix to control music. Although one of the buttons is designed to fast forward, rewind, and pause music, the controls are useless on the Treo.

When you open the package, you'll find a spare pair of ear cushions, and perhaps the nicest feature of the Lubix: a usb charge cord. While the connector on the headset itself is unique, you can plug the charging end directly into your computer to charge. You also get an a/c adaptor so that when you're away from your computer, you can charge it in a more "traditional" manner. Of course with usb, you can also take advantage of the Seidio power kits and charge your Lubix headset in the car by plugging the cord into a usb car adaptor.

Pros

• On/off switch
  
• Unique form factor
  
• Great volume
  
• LED
  

• Too easy to accidentally redial
  
• Microphone weak

Related Links

Join the Treo Discount Club and save up to 60% on all your store purchases!

Check out other Bluetooth devices in the mytreo.net store

Download Softick Audio Gateway

Visit Lubix on the web

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