The BlueParrot B550-XT eliminates out 96 percent of background disturbances, making it one of the finest Bluetooth headsets on the market. The BlueParrrot B550-XT headset should be great for office workers or truck drivers, since it has voice control and other modern functions in addition to its high degree of noise cancellation. I spent two weeks testing the BlueParrot B550-XT Bluetooth headset, assessing its design, comfort, audio quality, and functions to determine if it was worth the $200 price tag.
Rugged and long-lasting design
The B550-XT is a monaural (single-ear) headset with a headband. The speaker includes a leatherette over-the-ear pad that is thick and comfortable. On the other side of the headset is a curved silicon rubber component that presses against the head and keeps it in place. The all-black BlueParrot B550-XT isn't very fashionable, with a huge and massive primary ear pad and a bottom-heavy, asymmetrical headset. It does, however, have a few design advantages.
The microphone rotates roughly 270 degrees, allowing you to wear the speaker on either your left or right ear, and the microphone's boom may be adjusted for ideal alignment. On the exterior of the ear cuff, there are only a few buttons: a power/pairing button, volume controls, and a customisable BlueParrot button. One hand control of the headset's features and functionalities is pretty simple. This allows you to use your opposite hand for typing or other chores.
A little too stiff in terms of comfort
The interior of the BlueParrot B550-XT's headband features a smooth, almost suede-like feel, while the exterior has a pleasant, rubberized cushioning. The single-ear speaker is covered with thick padding, but you may remove it and replace it with the alternative foam earpad that comes with the package. A windscreen for the microphone is also included.
Despite these adjustments, the headset is rigid and uncomfortable to wear on the head. The machine becomes uncomfortable after three or four hours of continuous use. The adjustable headband seems like it won't fit just properly no matter how much you tighten or loosen it, while the curved rubber headrest pushes in slightly on your head. The headset's build quality and longevity impressed me. The B550-XT has a robust and sturdy appearance, but it isn't as comfy as it may be.
Noise cancellation rate of 96 percent
The B550-XT contains a single 36 mm speaker with a frequency range of 150 to 6800 Hz. You can easily hear the person on the other end of the line, with no static or distortion. When taking calls, the speaker sounds nice, but when playing music, it sounds mediocre—mid tones are slightly tinny, and the bass end lacks richness. The sound quality is nothing like what you'd get from a pair of headphones like the Bose 700 or Sony WH-XB900N.
A bi-directional electret microphone with a frequency range of 150 to 6800 Hz is included in the BlueParrot B550-XT. The headgear, like its predecessor, offers 96 percent noise cancellation. The B550-XT is a good headset for people who work in noisy environments, although it does have a few flaws.
On a couple of instances, the mike went dead. The caller would be able to hear me, but I would not be able to hear them. Even though the mute option was turned off, it seemed like I was muffled. After a while, I decided to do a firmware upgrade, which seemed to fix the problem. The headset update, on the other hand, was not exactly a painless process. I had to install an application on my computer to update the firmware. There was no way to update the headset fast and simply via the BlueParrot companion app.
Voice control and other features
Aside from its excellent degree of noise cancellation, the B550-XT offers several nice features including IP54 water resistance, which means it has low dust ingress protection and is protected from water splashing from any direction. The B550-XT may connect to up to eight devices at once, with two of them being active at the same time.
The unit's voice control functions are aggressively promoted by BlueParrot. "Just talk, just talk." The product page touts the headset as "the world's first 100 percent voice-controlled headset." The headgear is Siri and Google Now compatible, but it also has its own built-in speech assistant. "Hello BlueParrot," the wake words, can be followed up by a command or a query. "What can I say?" you can ask, and BlueParrot will respond with a list of command possibilities. The BlueParrot assistant isn't as feature-rich or useful as a well-known voice assistant like Siri or Alexa, but it gets the job done. Because the BlueParrot's options were so restricted, I found myself utilising Siri instead of the BlueParrot assistance.
The B550-XT also contains a BlueParrot button that you may customise using the app. You may modify it from silence (the default) to speed dial, voice memo/walkie talkie, battery check, and other settings. It's a wonderful feature, but I ended up reverting back to the original after trying all of the customising possibilities.
Bluetooth range is shorter than planned
Bluetooth is used to connect the B-550XT (Version 5.0). It has a range of up to 300 feet, according to the manufacturer. I tested the headset with a variety of devices, including the iPhone XR. I could only go approximately 30 to 40 feet away from my iPhone before my connection began to deteriorate. The range expanded to roughly 100 feet in an open environment with no impediments. A USB dongle is not included with the headset. However, it does come with a USB charging cable as well as a vehicle adaptor for your charging cable. The headset charges in around 3.5 hours and has a talk duration of 24 hours and a standby period of 400 hours.
Conclusion
This isn't the Bluetooth headset for the office if you want a lot of features. (The Plantronics Voyager 5200, Plantronics Voyager 4220 UC, and the Jabra Evolve 75 are all good options.) The BlueParrott B550-XT is designed to provide exceptional call clarity in even the most challenging settings, and it succeeds admirably. It's a quiet monaural alternative that's ideal for driving trucks and other loud tasks. It's worth the extra $60 over its brother, the BlueParrot C400-XT, because you can hear your call companion better via the earpiece and it's a lot more comfortable to use.
0 Comments