Aluminum Metal Case for Sony Ericsson P1i/P1 (Silver)

PDair has release a new Aluminum Metal Case for the Sony Ericsson P1i/P1 (Silver) and it sure looks pretty… A black version is available here.

Thin, Lightweight and strong.
1 Memory card slot.
With transparent plastic protection.
Removable 360 degrees belt clip included.
Anodized aircraft-grade aluminum prevents from scratches.
Neoprene inner lining for extra protection and shock absorber.
Easy access to all buttons and features. High tensil strength aluminum.
Cutouts give easy access to all handheld features.
Easy to install.

i-Tech Clip 2 Review

If the Jawbone is a bit rich maybe the i-Tech is a better bet and it ia brilliant value- also works flawlessly with the P1i.

Bluetooth headsets come in all shapes and sizes- some are super sleek and cost a fortune, others make you look like a total noob and some claim to do all sorts of fancy things such as cancel out the environmental noise and display the incoming number (useful when it is on your ear?).

Mine latest one broke the other day and once again due to battery failure so you can imagine that after 5 in a year I was not particularly intent on spending lots of money on a replacement. My local Orange shop was selling the i-Tech Clip 2 which I have always liked, mainly because it is a half breed between a standard Bluetooth headset and a wired unit. All you need to do is clip the main part of the unit to a front pocket or anywhere else on your shirt and stick the other part in your ear. The rest of the set up was extremely easy and pairing was completed in a minute. All in all the set up and go effect of this accessory is excellent.

You do not get much with the headset- simply an a/c charger, 2 white earbuds and that’s your lot. To be fair I don’t really need a fancy box, smart carrying case and a desktop charger so I was not too bothered.

In use the sound quality is very good and much better than my previous headsets and most of that will be down to the fact that the speaker does sit in your ear. People on the other end of my phone calls also said that the quality was pretty good and for once a conference call done in my rather noisy car was not a waste of time. It is too early to tell how good the battery life is but my previous i-Tech headset (a Clip 1) lasted for ages on a charge. The quoted time is 4 hours talk and 160 hours standby. Charging takes 3 hours from empty to full and low battery warnings are given via a beep every minute and the LED flashes red.

Incoming calls are notified by a sound in the headset and a buzzer which is useful and there are only two buttons on the unit- a volume key on the front and an MFB (multifunction button) on the earpiece. You press the MPF to answer and end a call and pressing the volume key once when the headset is ringing will stop the buzzer but leave the normal ring in the earpiece playing. Voice dialling is also catered for- press the MFB button and say the name and away you go. Finally, pressing MFB twice will redial the last number. All in all the feature set is enough for most people and crucially easy to use when in situations that require ‘easy to useness’

In the first few days of use I have not had one problem with the headset and I am impressed with what some would call a basic Bluetooth headset.

It is fairly basic but the sound quality, battery life and build quality are very good. There is one feature that takes this accessory way up my lift of favourite accessories- when I asked the shop assistant how much it was I was surprised to hear ‘GBP12.99′. For the price it must be close to impossible to buy a better value headset than this. Available from Orange shops- availability will vary though.

Jawbone Review (the best P1i headset?)

Here is a two part review I wrote recently about the Jawbone headset. Could be the best headset on the market at the moment and works fine with the P1i of course…

The Jawbone has attracted much attention over the past few months for its looks, the fact it is the de facto choice to sit alongside the iPhone but mostly for its much touted noise reduction technology.

You can purchase the Jawbone in the UK for approx. Ј76 including postage or direct from the US for US$119.99. The postage will be higher but at current rates the UK price is over US$150 so choose between ease and price when you make your purchase.

I decided to take a look at the silver one and I would like to say it’s because the red did not match my skin colour or because the black was too shiny but it was solely down to the fact no other colours were available at the time.

First impressions are good with the Jawbone looking quite cool and the inclusion of multiple ear buds and hooks adds to the feeling of an accessory built with care. The box is very plain and is in stark contrast to the built quality of the unit itself. Apparently this is not the only box that has been produced (Neil says that his is superb) so maybe this is the cut down one for the UK market. It’s not a huge issue because it only ends up in recycling anyway and I would rather throw away a poor box than a nice looking one. In the box you get-

Jawbone headset
5 ear buds
5 ear hooks
AC adaptor (US version)
US to UK adaptor
Instruction manual

This is the UK one so I presume that everything is included in the US one apart from the adaptor for UK use. The Jawbone can be charged direct from the wall or, handily, via a USB powered laptop or desktop. All in all the impression built by the set is positive and led me to expect a lot from this headset.

After experimenting for quite a long time with the various ear buds and hooks I have found a fairly good fit but it is far from ideal. Maybe it is just my ears but I have struggled to find a fit as good as my previous headsets. To date no one have commented that my ears are a weird shape so I will blame the Jawbone at this time

If you take a wander over to www.jawbone.com and look at the demo video it is impressive and this is what made me purchase it in the first place. I travel quite a bit for work and often have conference calls while driving and my 3.5 year old daughter has not yet learnt to be quiet when Daddy is working from home so you can imagine my ‘need’ for a headset like this one.

So far my Jawbone experience has been quite positive and I eagerly awaited my first call using the noise reduction technology. I phone my wife on the way home from work and had the window open to test it out properly. I was only driving at about 30 miles an hour when I phoned my wife and she said that the sound quality was quite poor- she could not hear any background noise and strangely she found that it sounded clearer when the noise reduction was turned off. The strangeness continued because I found that she sounded a lot clearer with the noise reduction on and this was not something I expected.

It seems that the Jawbone works best when you do have a lot of background noise- driving at speed and with my daughter shouting in the background was helped a good deal with the noise reduction feature switched on but at no point has it come close to the quality shown in the demo video. In that video the voice quality is crystal clear under extreme conditions and no matter how hard I try I have not been able to reproduce this effect.

I am not saying that the video is an inaccurate representation of the Jawbone in the real world but I am saying that it has not come anywhere close to the video performance when on my ear. Having said all of that I have been quite impressed by the overall performance of this headset and it is a good unit for day to day use- it is not the ‘Jesus’ headset that some people think it is though.

My other gripe regarding the Jawbone is its size. It is of course fashionable but the design sticks out of the ear somewhat and is a bit bulbous for my liking. Few Bluetooth headsets (actually all of them) look silly in my opinion but this one brings a new level to the silliness of them.

Despite the criticisms above this is a very good quality unit and maybe there will be a part three to this review once I have gotten used to it more. It ‘is’ worth the money and I have to recommend it because it offers something that no others can and that is the assurance that you can make calls almost anywhere- just don’t expect it to produce miracle results. It is very good but not great.

UPDATE: It would appear that wind affects the Jawbone more than other headsets. I had two calls in the car yesterday in which the recipients could not hear what I was saying, even with noise reduction on. I happened to turn the air conditioning off in the car (which was on a low setting anyway) and they were mightily impressed with the sound quality. It seems that it can work very well indeed provided you are in a vacuum

Windscreen holders

A decent windscreen holder for your smartphone is a must and I cannot recommend the selection from PDA Hut enough. I have used the Banana Tower System for over a year and it has never let me down (only £12.95 as well + a bit extra for a universal attachment to hold the P1i).

“This sturdy, vibration free “Banana Global 1” Tower mount system utilises Herbert Richter’s 4 prong ratcheting system to instantly attach to custom made sleeves for Smartphone, Mobile phones and PDA devices, or universal holders for conveniences.”

Retractable Stereo Audio Adapter

The Retractable Stereo Audio Adapter is available from a variety of outlets such as here and in T-Mobile shops for under £5. It allows you to connect proper headphones to your P1 for better quality sound- it would be nice to find a way to increase the volume above the max on the P1. If you know how to do so get in touch.

P1i cases

There are not many accessories out for the P1i as yet but the following are worth a look-

PDair Leather Case (they also have a page with screen protectors and other case designs here). Proporta has a Alu-Leather case available alongside some more generic models here. I also found the Bugatti Comfort Leather Case which is different from the rest and well priced. My P1 did not come with a lanyard (not that I would use one) but you can buy them from mobile FUN. There are many other accessories out there because of the standard S.E. connector so have a look and let us know what you find. Of course eBay is also worth a try…