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BackBeat 903 Stereo Bluetooth Headphones Review

Categories: Accessories, Reviews
By: , IntoMobile
Friday, March 13th, 2009 at 10:42 AM

backbeat12At Mobile World Congress, I managed to get my mitts on some stereo Bluetooth headphones from Altec Lansing/Plantronics: the BackBeat 903s. They work via stereo Bluetooth, but if your phone doesn’t have it, fret not – the 906 model comes with a 3.5mm adapter. It was actually convenient timing to get some new headphones – my corded Bose In-Ears had died on the way to Barcelona, which made for a lengthy, tuneless transatlantic journey, made especially sucky with that group of yappy high school kids in the back. Ugh.

Cardo’s S-2s were my first shot at Stereo Bluetooth headphones, and I was looking forward to comparing them with some a little lighter. Dusan had already had some playtime with the infamous Motorokr S9s, and the super-light form factor really appealed to me – not necessarily because I’m the sporty, move-y type (far from it), but rather because I wear headphones for the majority of the work day, and the bigger ones tend to get uncomfortable over the long haul.

BackBeat 903

By Altec Lansing ($99.95)

Custom Fit: Personalize your fit with telescoping and swivel adjustments
Noise Isolation: Contoured, non-occluding eartips
Input Sensitivity: 91 dB SPL/V @ 1 kHz
Impedance: 17 Ohms
Cable Length: Wireless
Weight: 1.2 oz
Speaker: 14 mm with enhanced bass
Input Connector: Stereo Bluetooth
Frequency Response: 80 Hz – 12 kHz (-10 dB)

Pros

Extremely portable
Highly adjustable earbuds
Subtle and classy style

Cons

Poor range
Mediocre battery life
Stiff earbuds

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About The Author

Simon Sage

Simon Sage’s education largely surrounded writing, technology and online community, leading him to begin his blogging career at www.BlackBerryCool.com and to quickly discover a vibrant and active community surrounding BlackBerry and mobile technology. In exploring RIM’s platform, he has learned what enterprises are looking for in mobility as well as what makes the innocuous BlackBerry so appealing to them. Recently Simon’s been covering RIM’s gradual move into an already-crowded consumer market, and the impact of burgeoning challengers, such as the iPhone, as well as long-time leaders, like Nokia, on BlackBerry’s advancement. With plenty of content under his belt, Simon will be branching off a bit to see what other smartphone manufacturers are working on while still using BlackBerry as a barometer. At IntoMobile, you can count on his posts being even-handed, well-informed and thought-out.

  • tom

    Hi, I would like to know if the ugly white plastic peace which inside the ear can be taken off…

    thanx

  • Mike

    @ tom – yes they can be taken off, although you’ll lose quite some level of sound quality. i bought them a few days ago, replacing my aging JABRA BT8010′s – as the reviewer said, sound quality is impressively good for wireless, and battery life can be an issue if you run it all the time. package says estimated 7 hours run-time. but i think it depends on the volume and how much “work-out” the DSP has to do. one word of advice, those buggers can get really loud!

  • Barb Baarnes

    Bought Motorola – cannot use forward and backward. I use them with my iphone. Can I get this feature with altec??

  • mitch

    i got the 903, but can't sync to my iphone.