Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)I purchased 2 CallPod Dragon headsets from another online vendor that sells them here through Amazon. The product has an excellent feature set, nice form factor, and the attraction of being able to operate headset-to-headset (intercom mode) without any cellphone in between. The latter was the primary reason for purchase.
Unfortunately in testing the 2 units over multiple weeks, the audio quality in all settings was very poor. In intercom mode (device-to-device), there was a significant humming noise that was loud enough to be distracting. I intended to use the intercom feature in a quiet clinical setting where voice quality needs to be clear and intelligible at all times. Unfortunately the Dragon headsets didn't live up to expectations, and since this was the primary intended use mode this was a great disappointment.
When used as a regular handsfree headset with a cellphone while driving on the freeway, the audio quality on the call-receiver's end was so muffled and occasionally garbled as to be nearly unintelligible they told me. I tried both Dragon headsets with the same cellphone in the same location back-to-back with similar results. The person on the other end actually insisted I hang up and switch to my regular bluetooth headset -- a Plantronics Voyager 510 -- which was crystal clear in comparison.
I called the Callpod folks to find out what the issue might be. They suggested making sure both units were fully charged in order to reduce noise issues. Repeated charging cycles didn't improve things. I also upgraded the firmware in both devices (using their website download) without significant effect.
Since the reviews I've seen across the internet range from "excellent audio" to describing similar general audio clarity problems, I wonder if Callpod just has a high defect rate with these units. While this wasn't a scientific, controlled test by any means, I certainly expected these to perform better out of the box and the fact that 2 units exhibited similar issues sealed it. I returned both units.
I hope Callpod resolves the issues with the Dragon. It's great on features, design & upgradability and the intercom is a killer addition, but this product unfortunately performed poorly.
[UPDATE June 20, 2008....]
I confirmed directly with the manufacturer that my initial 2 units were defective, resulting in the very poor audio quality. The manufacturer apparently had a number of bad units early on -- supposedly the manufacturing problem is fixed.
On contacting the company directly, Callpod graciously offered to ship out a couple newer headsets to demo, and with these I was able to confirm the worst of the audio issues appear to be fixed. I haven't tested extensively with cell phone use, since my application is exclusively using the headset-to-headset calling feature. In this mode, the sound quality is now quite good with very little of the annoying noise experienced with the original units.
In the interim, had a chance to test the SoundID headset which also offers a headset-to-headset call mode. The Callpod Dragon headset with fixed audio wins hands down. The build quality on the Callpod headset is significantly better than the SoundID, the audio quality of the SoundID headsets was extremely tinny headset-to-headset, and the Callpod Dragon headsets provide a much more secure fit to the ear.
So (if Amazon let you) I'd bump the Dragon headset up a star [from 2 to 3 stars] based on these new units. I'd give it 4 stars for my particular application -- headset-to-headset use. Importantly, kudos to the company for being very responsive upon receiving direct customer feedback and going out of their way to provide a good customer service experience.
Click Here to see more reviews about: Callpod Dragon Bluetooth Headset
Get 88% OFF
Click here for more information about Callpod Dragon Bluetooth Headset
0 comments:
Post a Comment