{"id":2284,"date":"2009-06-26T16:33:10","date_gmt":"2009-06-26T15:33:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mobilefun.co.uk\/blog\/?p=2284"},"modified":"2009-06-29T10:35:28","modified_gmt":"2009-06-29T09:35:28","slug":"qstik-stereo-bluetooth-headset-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mobilefun.co.uk\/blog\/2009\/06\/qstik-stereo-bluetooth-headset-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Qstik Stereo Bluetooth Headset Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Qstik EVO Q<\/a> is more than just a standard Bluetooth Headset<\/a>. It may not be made by a big household name, but that doesn’t mean that the Qstik EVO Q is missing out on features – if anything it has more than some headsets by Nokia and Sony Ericsson. I’ve been using the Qstik for the last week in place of my usual Stereo Bluetooth headset<\/a>, to see how it measures up against its rivals. In this review I tested the headset using the Nokia 5800 Xpress Music<\/a> and the Apple iPhone 3G<\/a> running iPhone OS 3.0.<\/p>\n

\"Qstik<\/a>

Qstik Evo Q Bluetooth Headset<\/p><\/div>\n

What’s Included<\/strong><\/p>\n

Normally with a Bluetooth Headset, you get a user manual and a charger and thats about all, but not with the Qstik. \u00a0I was pleasantly surprised to find that along with a Mains Charger, there was a desktop stand, an in car holder and magnetic mount, a spare ear loop and ear gel, user guide and the Stereo Headphones. I’d be impressed if a \u00a370 headset came with that many accessories, but to find them all in with a headset of this price range is fantastic.<\/p>\n

The desk holder and car holder both share the same charging cradle, so you will need to remember to carry the charging cradle with you as it’s not possible to plug the mains charger into the headset directly.<\/p>\n

2\u00a0in 1<\/strong><\/p>\n

Whilst it looks like an ordinary Bluetooth headset, the EVO Q is actually 2 products in 1. \u00a0The Qstik is a Mono Bluetooth headset that can be used for voice calls on your mobile phone & VOIP calls on your PC, and when you connect the earphones, it becomes a Stereo Bluetooth headset that you can use to listen to music from your mobile phone or PC wirelessly. \u00a0To switch between Mono and Stereo, it’s just a case of plugging in the Stereo Headphones into the headset and launching the Music Player on your phone.<\/p>\n

Pairing<\/strong><\/p>\n

Getting the Qstik Evo Q to work with my phone was extremely simple, and exactly how pairing any device should be. \u00a0Once it was charged, pairing took seconds. \u00a0On the subject of charging, it’s worth pointing out that the Qstik charger is actually a Mini USB charger, this is great as it means that I can charge it from my PC or laptop with a standard Mini USB data cable. \u00a0If you have a BlackBerry or Motorola phone then you’ll also be able to charge it with your existing mains or car charger.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\"Pairing

Pairing the Qstik EvoQ Bluetooth Headset<\/p><\/div>\n

To get the headset into pairing mode was just a case of pressing the centre button for about ten seconds until the lights flashed. Once they were flashing, a quick bluetooth search on my phone found the headset. \u00a0I entered the passkey (0000)<\/strong> and after a few seconds, the Qstik was connected to my phone.<\/p>\n

\"Nokia

Nokia BH-103 Vs Qstik Evo Q Vs Nokia BH-214<\/p><\/div>\n

Size & Style<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Qstik has unique styling, but then it’s a fairly unique product. \u00a0The main unit of the headset isn’t designed to be worn on the ear all the time, no doubt the designers planned on most people using it with the headphones, in which case the main unit can be in your pocket or clipped to your jacket. Size wise it’s comparable to the Nokia BH-103<\/a> and Nokia BH-214<\/a>, but compared to both of these headsets, it beats them hands down in terms of features and price. \u00a0I’ve put a comparison chart at the end of this post to highlight the differences between them.\u00a0If you do wear it on your ear, it’s lightweight, comfortable and has simple controls that are easy to operate without having to fiddle around.<\/p>\n

Audio Quality<\/strong><\/p>\n

Given the price point of this headset I was a little dubious about how clear the audio was going to be, but I had no reason to worry. \u00a0The Qstik features exceptional noise and echo cancellation technology to provide really clear audio. Even on the motorways at 70mph I had no problem with hearing callers, or being heard. Listening to music in stereo was equally as good. \u00a0Audio came through clearly and \u00a0paused when calls came through.<\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Connecting

Connecting the Stereo Headphones to the Qstik<\/p><\/div>\n

Music<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Qstik supports the AVRCP Bluetooth Profile<\/a> which allows you control your music play back from the headset, with out the need to touch your phone. \u00a0On the phones I was using for this test, this only worked on the Nokia 5800 Xpress Music as the iPhone doesn’t yet support AVRCP. There aren’t any dedicated music controls on the headset, so track skip is achieved by different combinations of button presses. \u00a0To skip forward you have to press and hold the ‘+<\/strong>‘ button for 1 second and to skip back you press and hold the ‘-‘ for one second. \u00a0It’s simple enough to do, it just takes a bit of time to remember which way round they are, but you’ll soon get the hang of it.<\/p>\n

Battery Life<\/strong><\/p>\n

The battery life on the Qstik is pretty good. \u00a0There are headsets that will last longer, but you’ll pay a lot more for a Stereo Bluetooth Headset with the same number of features as the Qstik. \u00a0Talk Time is upto 5 Hours, Stand By time is aroud 150 hours, and we managed to play music continually for over 4 hours before the battery died. As mentioned earlier, the fact that the Qstik charges via Mini USB means that charging is easily done through your PC, so If you take the headset and charging cradle to work with you, you can plug it in to your PC and charge it throughout the day so that it’s ready for the journey home. The Mini USB Data Cable isn’t included though, so you’ll need to buy one seperately if you don’t have a spare one at home already.<\/p>\n

Comparison<\/strong><\/p>\n

The closest alternative to the Qstik at the time of writing this post is the Nokia BH-103, but there are some significant differences. \u00a0The table below points out the key differences:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Feature<\/strong><\/td>\n\n
Qstik Evo-Q <\/strong><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
Nokia BH-103 <\/strong><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Mono Headset<\/td>\n\n
\"\"<\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
\"\"<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Stereo Headset<\/td>\n\n
\"\"<\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
\"\"<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Removeable Headphones<\/td>\n\n
\"\"<\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
\"\"<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Includes Mains Charger<\/td>\n\n
\"\"<\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
\"\"<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Includes Desk Stand<\/td>\n\n
\"\"<\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
\"\"<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Includes Car Holder<\/td>\n\n
\"\"<\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
\"\"<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Charger Type<\/td>\n\n
Mini USB<\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
Nokia 2mm<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Music Control -Track Skip<\/td>\n\n
\"\"<\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
\"\"<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Battery
\nTalktime<\/td>\n		\n
5hrs<\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
7hrs<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Battery Stand By Time<\/td>\n\n
150hrs<\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
150hrs<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Battery Music Play Back<\/td>\n\n
4.5hrs<\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
7hrs<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Current Selling Price*<\/td>\n\n
\u00a39.95<\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
\u00a329.33<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

*Prices correct as of 29\/06\/2009<\/p>\n

If this headset isn’t exactly what you’re looking for, why not take a look at our full range of Bluetooth Headsets<\/a> and Stereo Bluetooth Headsets<\/a>. \u00a0If you’ve got a Qstik EvoQ, let us know your thoughts on it. \u00a0Leave us a comment below.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Qstik EVO Q is more than just a standard Bluetooth Headset. It may not be made by a big household name, but that doesn’t mean that the Qstik EVO Q is missing out on features – if anything it has more than some headsets by Nokia and Sony Ericsson. I’ve been using the Qstik […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[239,449,920,919,917,918,171],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mobilefun.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2284"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mobilefun.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mobilefun.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mobilefun.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mobilefun.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2284"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/www.mobilefun.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2284\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2301,"href":"https:\/\/www.mobilefun.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2284\/revisions\/2301"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mobilefun.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2284"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mobilefun.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2284"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mobilefun.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2284"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}