INTRODUCTION

   Because of the large amount of PC hardware and peripherals to make it at our lab these past months we "neglected" some of our other categories so we will do our best to get those up to date as well before the summer is over. One such category is the wireless headsets and although the market is filled with low-cost models aimed towards the majority of consumers there are some well-respected and established companies which follow a different path all together and seek to satisfy even the more demanding users with their products. There are however some new players in the market like MIPOW who are looking to win consumers with their high quality and innovative products and so today we're going to take a look at their VoxTube 500 Bluetooth Headset.

   MIPOW, (pronounced as MY-POW, the letters “MI” stands for “myself”, and “POW” represents “vitality & power”) was founded in 2010 in Hong Kong by Mr. Yeung, Wei Yung, Stanley, as a young, innovative brand with the key value of “Make it Different”. MIPOW is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Baojia Investment Group which has major business interests in property development, new energy, electronics and venture capital. MIPOW has offices in the United Kingdom, United States and Hong Kong with sales channels covering Asia, Europe, America, Australia, Africa and the Middle East. Our functional and fashionable designs have won broad market acceptance as well as many prestigious awards including: European Red-Dot Design Awards, International Forum iF Design Awards, GOOD DESIGN Awards and Macworld Asia The Best Awards. MIPOW takes pride in its innovation and holds 48 patents with more to come. These and many other accomplishments have positioned MIPOW amongst the leaders in product excellence.

   MIPOW has given the VoxTube 500 Bluetooth headset a small (just 6g heavy) tubular-design anodized aluminum body (award winning iF design) and packed it with Bluetooth v4.0 connectivity (HFP1.6, A2DP1.2 and AVRCP1.4 support), dual noise-cancelling microphones (featuring cVc audio enhancement by CSR) and a 70mAh lithium-polymer rechargeable battery which can power the headset for up to 6 hours (8/10 days in standby). Also as with most modern Bluetooth headsets the VoxTube 500 allows for simultaneous connection with up to 2 different compatible devices and offers both voice feedback (status prompts) and dialing.

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

The VoxTube 500 gets shipped inside a clear plastic box which allows potential buyers to check the unit out.

From the rear you can see the rear of the headset and its main features on a sticker placed right beneath.

MIPOW offers a very rich bundle so along with the VoxTube 500 Bluetooth headset you're also getting a very long lanyard, carrying pouch, 2 behind the ear clips, long USB charging cable, short USB charging cable, two ear-buds, metal clip and the user manual.

THE VOXTUBE 500

The 6g heavy anodized aluminum body of the VoxTube 500 measures 54.5mm in length, 22.5mm in width and is just 9mm thick.

As expected we placed the VoxTube 500 right next to the slightly larger Voyager EDGE by Plantronics.

Of course the Voyager Legend is larger because of the larger battery pack in the behind the ear section.

The company logo is placed right next to the dual microphones.

There's only one button on the VoxTube 500 and it's placed right next to the activity LED.

MIPOW has engraved the model name on the section between the two sections (tubular and ear-bud).

Unfortunately MIPOW has chosen a small DC jack for recharging the lithium-polymer battery so if you misplace the ones in the bundle you may have a hard time finding another.

CONCLUSION

   I use Bluetooth HandsFree headsets all the time, not only when I’m driving or going places on foot but also in the lab so using the VoxTube 500 and comparing it to the other two headsets i still use as primary ones (EDGE/Legend UC) was very easy and took less than a week. Initial impressions were very good, audio quality is good and very clear on both ends, volume levels are adequate and i have to admit that do like the tubular design and material used (although if i had to choose I’d still pick the EDGE and Legend UC models). Also the single button makes using the VoxTube 500 very easy so i expect many people to like that feature as well. On the other hand however there are no volume control buttons on the VoxTube 500 (so you need to rely on the controls of the compatible device used with) and the DC jack cuts many versatility points since you simply can't charge the headset without the two provided cables (other headsets require just the usual microUSB jack so finding a compatible cable to recharge them is a lot easier). The somewhat good news however are that the lithium-polymer battery provides well over 4 hours of talk time (at least with the volume turned almost to max) and for its size that's not bad at all.

   As we speak you can get the VoxTube 500 Bluetooth Headset by MIPOW directly from their online store for a price of USD69/59Euros and although the price is not bad still it might seem as a bit high to some people especially since we're talking about a very new player in the market. Personally i think that the VoxTube 500 could had been a lot better had MIPOW equipped it with a microUSB charging port and volume controls (even a slide sensor would be nice) but since they didn't it falls short and thus i can't really "justify" its price tag. On the other hand the design is nice, materials used are also very good and in terms of audio quality and battery life the VoxTube 500 does extremely well and that's why we highly recommend taking a look if you're out in the market for a new Bluetooth wireless headset.

PROS

- Build Quality
- Design (Overall)
- Size/Weight (6g)
- Good Audio Quality (Both Ends)
- Dual-Mics With Noise Canceling Technology
- Status Prompts/Voice Dialing
- Bluetooth v4.0 (A2DP/AVRCHP/HFP/HSP/EDR)
- Bundle
- Available In 5 Colors

CONS

- Price (For Some)
- No Volume Controls
- DC Charging Jack (For Some)