I had the chance to try out the Blueant Z9i during my trip to the U.S. This was the headset that I really wanted to try because it looked good and had received some good reviews on the forums. Art also had a Z9 which he liked and said it was a good headset. I asked my bro to buy it so that I could have it in hand as soon as I got to his place and it arrived the day before I did. Great timing!First impressions were very good. The unit looks very slick and is very light. It literally weighs nothing which is a good thing because you barely feel it when you have it on. It is extremely comfortable, another benefit of the light weight. I was particularly impressed at how easy it was to put on for a headset with a ear hook. My 8010 is pretty much a pain to put on, so this was a welcomed benefit. The ear hook is very flexible and wraps around the ear really well. I had no problem with the way the ear piece was sitting in my ear. It did not sit so far in that I could take the ear hook off. The buttons for volume up and down were a little hard to press but that might be a good thing since it would make accidental pushes of those keys impossible. The multi-function button (MFB) lights up in blue and will blink every once in a while to let you know that it is still on. I found that pretty annoying and was thankfully able to turn it off by pressing the volume up and down keys for 3 seconds. The MFB will light up in red when battery is low and when charging as well.
Functions
Using the Z9i was pretty straightforward. A single push of the MFB will answer and hang up a call (a nice upgrade from the Z9 where you had to push the MFB for 3 seconds to hang up), pushing the MFB for 1 second while on a call will change the Voice Isolation level (normal vs. max), pusshing the volume up button for 3 seconds will redial the last number. Those are pretty much the most commonly used functions and they were easy to find. The only one I had to look up was the redial function. A nice touch was the fact that when Voice Isolation level was changed, a voice would tell you what level you have it set at. It can be annoying when in the middle of a conversation since it makes it hard to hear what the other person said but it is a good way to make sure you're on the right level. An added function of the headset that I loved was the fact that it could be clipped to my shirt when not in use. I have always found it hard to keep a headset in my pocket because that would basically be like having my phone with me. Some people like to keep their headset on their ear all the time but that just looks stupid. Being able to just clip my headset to my shirt made it much easier to take out when needed.
Incoming Sound
The sound from the headset was good. I would say it was a little louder than the 8010 but that might be due to the fact that the ear piece is further in my ear. I didn't have a problem hearing people talk to me on the busy streets of NYC. When using the headset indoors, the sound was more than adequate but not so loud that I needed to turn the volume down (volume was on max the whole time.
Outgoing Sound
This is the area where I was most curious about. The Z9i uses Voice Isolation Technology to reduce background noises as well as 2 separate microphones to better differentiate between a person's voice and the background noise. When using the headset indoors, there was no issue. I sounded very clear but the person on the other line could still hear things like the TV or other people talking in the background. On the busy streets of NYC, however, things were different. With Voice Isolation on normal, it was hard for people to hear me clearly. The background noise was still very present and while my voice did come through, it could have been better. I had to switch the headset to max Voice Isolation in order to be heard better. This made it much easier for people to not only hear me but drown out background noise. It was a good improvement over the normal Voice Isolation although not perfect. I was told that my voice was more muffled and there was still noise that could be heard in the background so it was not perfect. Basically, people could hear me much better with less background noise when I was using just my phone.
Overall, I was pretty disappointed with the Z9i. I had expected so much out of it (maybe too much) that it did not come close to my expectations. The only things I really liked about it was the fact that I could clip it to my shirt and that it was comfortable to use. The outgoing sound was just not good enough. I have used my 8010 on the streets in Shanghai before and never had a problem with people not hearing me. Even with the Z9i on max Voice Isolation, people would sometimes have a hard time understanding what I was saying. The fact that I had to go back to using my phone to be heard better was a deal breaker for me. Bye bye Z9i.
Functions
Using the Z9i was pretty straightforward. A single push of the MFB will answer and hang up a call (a nice upgrade from the Z9 where you had to push the MFB for 3 seconds to hang up), pushing the MFB for 1 second while on a call will change the Voice Isolation level (normal vs. max), pusshing the volume up button for 3 seconds will redial the last number. Those are pretty much the most commonly used functions and they were easy to find. The only one I had to look up was the redial function. A nice touch was the fact that when Voice Isolation level was changed, a voice would tell you what level you have it set at. It can be annoying when in the middle of a conversation since it makes it hard to hear what the other person said but it is a good way to make sure you're on the right level. An added function of the headset that I loved was the fact that it could be clipped to my shirt when not in use. I have always found it hard to keep a headset in my pocket because that would basically be like having my phone with me. Some people like to keep their headset on their ear all the time but that just looks stupid. Being able to just clip my headset to my shirt made it much easier to take out when needed.
Incoming Sound
The sound from the headset was good. I would say it was a little louder than the 8010 but that might be due to the fact that the ear piece is further in my ear. I didn't have a problem hearing people talk to me on the busy streets of NYC. When using the headset indoors, the sound was more than adequate but not so loud that I needed to turn the volume down (volume was on max the whole time.
Outgoing Sound
This is the area where I was most curious about. The Z9i uses Voice Isolation Technology to reduce background noises as well as 2 separate microphones to better differentiate between a person's voice and the background noise. When using the headset indoors, there was no issue. I sounded very clear but the person on the other line could still hear things like the TV or other people talking in the background. On the busy streets of NYC, however, things were different. With Voice Isolation on normal, it was hard for people to hear me clearly. The background noise was still very present and while my voice did come through, it could have been better. I had to switch the headset to max Voice Isolation in order to be heard better. This made it much easier for people to not only hear me but drown out background noise. It was a good improvement over the normal Voice Isolation although not perfect. I was told that my voice was more muffled and there was still noise that could be heard in the background so it was not perfect. Basically, people could hear me much better with less background noise when I was using just my phone.
Overall, I was pretty disappointed with the Z9i. I had expected so much out of it (maybe too much) that it did not come close to my expectations. The only things I really liked about it was the fact that I could clip it to my shirt and that it was comfortable to use. The outgoing sound was just not good enough. I have used my 8010 on the streets in Shanghai before and never had a problem with people not hearing me. Even with the Z9i on max Voice Isolation, people would sometimes have a hard time understanding what I was saying. The fact that I had to go back to using my phone to be heard better was a deal breaker for me. Bye bye Z9i.
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