Following the SOLO9C we have another new product from Microlab to look at, this time we encounter an affordable wireless headset packed with features, the T1.
Product on review: Microlab T1
Manufacturer & Sponsor: Microlab
Street Price: £49.99inc VAT GBP
Moving strength to strength, Microlab have made the time to focus on the mass market of consumer electronic goods with a stylish lightweight headset that is aimed at people on the go, the T1. To throw a couple of spanners into the existing market, Microlab decided to make their entry wireless, packing aptX high quality Bluetooth streaming over an A2DP connection. Aside from the increasing list of acyronymed wireless technology, they also pack some impressive specifications at an affordable price. Available in Black, white, blue, pink and yellow, there is enough choice to match the aesthetic appeal of a wide audience.
Overview by Microlab
Incorporating latest Bluetooth® wireless technology, this headset lets you connect to your mobile phone or media player without cables. Using A2DP profile, it lets you listen to stereo music by connecting to any Bluetooth®wireless technnology enabled products. Designed with beautiful finishes, this headset system is ideal for your personal entertainment. Ideal for digital moview, TV, PC/notebook, CD/DVD and multimedia application. With its built-in microphone, this system functions as an headset for your video conferencing and communication application. Comes with rechargeable battery for longer lasting use, and easy charging via USB interface. Includes additional 3.5 mm stereo jack for traditional analog audio input.
Specifications & Features
Frequency response: 60-20 000 Hz
Signal/Noise ratio: 85 dB
Material: plastic
Interfaces
Input: micro-USB, 3.5 mm stereo jack
Bluetooth
Version: Bluetooth® V4.0
Profile: HFP 1.6, A2DP 1.2
RF Range: 10 m
Sound: aptX
Battery
Playback time: 10 hours
Charging time: 2 hours (6 hour for initial charge)
Standby time: 30 days
Signal/Noise ratio: 85 dB
Material: plastic
Interfaces
Input: micro-USB, 3.5 mm stereo jack
Bluetooth
Version: Bluetooth® V4.0
Profile: HFP 1.6, A2DP 1.2
RF Range: 10 m
Sound: aptX
Battery
Playback time: 10 hours
Charging time: 2 hours (6 hour for initial charge)
Standby time: 30 days
Features:
– Bluetooth® wireless music transfer lets you play from your mobile and any Bluetooth® product with Bluetooth® headset protocol
– Bluetooth® 4.0 with HFP 1.6 A2DP 1.2 and AVRCP 1.4
– Bluetooth® stereo audio using A2DP for wireless music streaming
– Quality headset with depth and full range audio performance
– CD sound quality with aptX function
– Clear sound with strong bass
– USB charge and play function
– 10 m wireless operating radius
– Built-in noise reduction function
– Microphone/answering phone call
– 3.5 mm stereo jack
– Quality ear-cups for comfortable wear
Packaging & Accessories
packaging front
Taking a minimalistic approach, the outer packaging looks attractive and sleek. There is a central image of the product with information provided to say that this is a high performance wireless headset that supports aptX high quality Bluetooth audio streaming.
Reverse side
The minimalistic theme runs around to the rear with a simple diagram showing off the features, controls and specifications.
Opened up
The packaging is surprisingly high quality for this price point, opening up the magnetically sealed box reveals a comprehensive manual with the product itself and accessories hiding beneath.
Included accessories
Included with the manual are two cables, one USB and one 3.5mm jack-jack. Also included is a small carry case for when the headset is folded.
Included cables
Strangely the cables are different colour, one is a very cool white, where as the other is a very warm off white. No matter, the fact that this headset has both these options is impressive.
Closer Look
The microlab T1
The Microlab T1 is a lightweight glossy plastic type affair more targeting the mainstream mobile media use. There is various uses of metals in there too which is a nice sign.
The headband
There is a soft squishy layer of padding on the headband to keep things all soft on top.
The earcup
The hole in the earcup is around 60x40mm which makes it sit between over ear (circum-aural) and on ear (supra-aural). The padding is very soft as on the headband, the material seems to be some kind of faux leather. The earcup swivels on the spot which should allow for a nice fit.
Base of the right side
At the bottom of the right hand side we can find the micro USB port and the integrated microphone.
Base of the left side
On this side we can find the 3.5mm jack, this opens up a lot of versatility for the T1.
Control panel
On the right hand side there is a host of multi-function media buttons. Primarily there are volumes up and down, play/pause and skip track buttons.
Easy to adjust
Upon extending the headset it is revealed that there is metal used on the headband too. Overall there is a surprising amount of metal parts used for strengthening this product.
Folded flat
The Microlab T1 is also capable of folding for easy transportation and storage.
Folded standing
Metal joints used for folding
Performance Testing
Setup, Design & Observations
I decided to leave the T1 charging for a few hours to see how it runs from full charge, this was simplified by the micro-USB connection which has become synonymous with contemporary technology. Once charged, to power up, you hold the play button for several seconds until a red LED comes on, then to pair with your phone or another Bluetooth device you hold the two volume buttons to activate pairing mode which is indicated by a flashing white/red LED, once paired, it will intermittently flash white. Volume controls, play/pause and skip track functions worked well using VLC player on my Samsung Galaxy S2. There were times when there was a noticeable amount of lag behind button presses as well as times when certain features didn’t respond, as well as some drops, however, it seemed like it was dependent on what the my old phone was doing/processing at the time rather than fault to the headset. Calls were easy to answer and hang up by using the play button on the right hand side too. The buttons feel firm with a tactile click so it was easy to know when you had pressed them or not. I tested the range by leaving my phone playing in my room and roaming the house and cooked some tea. I was surprised by how well the range held up (stated to be 10m). After letting the T1 play its guts out at max volume all day, I ended up running out of time to really judge how long the battery would really last for getting close to around 10 hours + preliminary testing of a few hours, but it is still chugging away!! (At lower volumes you could possibly get over 12 hours?)
The T1 was surprisingly comfortable and though the earcups didn’t perfectly surround my ears, they were soft and forgiving easily fitting to the shape of my head, even when wearing glasses they remained comfortable. I found that, being a warm day, I did get a little sweaty but once I had cooled down things were fine again. I also noticed that when spreading the headset open to wear there was a slight plasticky creak, and noticed that small area of the headband padding did unstick a little, however on close inspection to the design this is not likely to cause any issue should this happen. There is a substantial amount of metal parts used on this product, from the folding joints, to the adjustable strap and the fixings for the headband. Regardless of their actual strength or worth over plastic, it certainly does make a change and gives confidence to the robustness of this product.
The overall aesthetic is well defined yet simple, giving an attractive minimalistic edge that can either be discrete with the black or white versions or stand out with its attractive design should you prefer the bolder colours.
Multi-media
Listening through my playlist of music via the SoundCloud app, it became clear that the T1 has quite a muddy sound. The bass was prominent, lacking in definition and muddied the middle and treble. Running a frequency swoop of 20-10,000Hz there was a significant drop at around 2000-4000Hz, this could cause a huge lack in definition in those ranges. Turning the volume up, the T1 could certainly reach a loudness that was uncomfortable for me, so those who enjoy louder playback will be happy to hear (or not) that they can make themselves go deaf with these (not that I would recommend it).
Plugging the T1 into the PC via USB resulted in improved clarity over using a phone but the same trend of muddy bass, weak mids and highs remained, testing through the 3.5mm jack was similar in performance. Generally speaking, considering this type of product and the price, the audio quality is fairly reasonable and is much more suited to mainstream dance, pop and hip-hop so there is a fair bit of enjoyment to be had from the T1. However it is most certainly aimed more at those looking for a deep bass, rather than those looking for balance.
Microphone
Answering a phone call using the T1 was simple and worked well, the microphone quality was reasonable and was described as ‘normal, clear’ on the receiving end. Using the USB cable to connect to the PC, the microphone was fairly poor and tinny but was adequate to communicate.
Conclusion
Judging this product was fairly difficult because it is a well designed, well presented, fully featured wireless headset at an incredible price. From the quality packaging and accessories, the attractive minimalistic aesthetic and choice of colour, there really is a lot to like and this is before we even get to the point that it can be used wirelessly or via 3.5mm jack. Moving deeper, we can then talk about the quality of the construction with numerous metal components as well as being foldable.
The primary downside is that it is heavily bass centric while lacking definition in the mids and highs. This doesn’t mean to say that the sound quality is bad, considering that the target audience of the T1 are those who happily spend 2-3x the asking price of £50 on something that is audibly similar, the T1 is very much something that can provide a much improved feature list to a very wide market. There may also be those who prefer this deeper bass orientated tone for various reason, be it their musical preference, or simply a tonal preference. So this places the audio profile of the T1 in subjectivity, though it isn’t going to be something an audio enthusiast would consider. For causal listeners however the Microlab T1 does offer a great deal, long life wireless playback, pleasing aesthetics, quality construction and excellent presentation at an affordable price. There are just too many good things to ignore, this is why we proudly present our Vortez Silver and Amazing Value.
Pros.
+ Wireless/Bluetooth aptX/A2DP
+ Attractive aesthetic/ foldable
+ Metal parts/ robust
+ Very well presented
+ Comfortable/ lightweight
+ Long battery life
+ Versatile connectivity and integrated microphone
+ Price
Cons.
– Significant dips in mid and high tones
– Bass lacks definition
+ Wireless/Bluetooth aptX/A2DP
+ Attractive aesthetic/ foldable
+ Metal parts/ robust
+ Very well presented
+ Comfortable/ lightweight
+ Long battery life
+ Versatile connectivity and integrated microphone
+ Price
Cons.
– Significant dips in mid and high tones
– Bass lacks definition
Click here for an explanation of our awards at Vortez.net. Thanks to Microlab for providing today’s review sample.
