I purchased the iBall Groovy (Bluetooth Neckphone With Mic) from Flipkart yesterday. I am pretty impressed by the service of Flipkart. Ordered it on Monday and got it on Tuesday! Used the "Cash on Delivery" option to pay.
Details and the review are after the jump..
Features:
• Behind-the-head style.
• In-Ear design with comfortable and stable wearing.
• Innovative music and call controls.
• Stereo Bluetooth headset with built-in Mic.
• Built-in rechargeable battery (through USB)
• Ideal for use at home, office and outdoor.
• Call transfer between the headset and Bluetooth Cell phone.
• Hands-free conversation from Bluetooth-enabled Cell phones or PC.
• Pause the music & Play back automatically when receives an incoming call.
• Support play/pause, previous/next track, volume up and volume down.
• Automatically connect to the last connected Bluetooth device.
Technical specifications:
• Bluetooth Version: v2.1+EDR
• Frequency Range: 2.402GHz~2.480GHz
• Bluetooth Profile: HSP, HFP, A2DP and AVRCP
• Effective Range: Up to 10 meters
• Power Source: Built-in rechargeable battery
• Built-in Mic: Built-in high sensitive Mic
• Working Time: Music - Up to 6 hrs, Talk - Up to 7 hrs.
• Standby Time: Up to 120 hrs.
• Charging Time: Approx. 2 hrs
• Dimensions: 63.5 x 135 × 136.5 mm (HxWxD)
• Weight: ~35 g
The M.R.P of the device is Rs. 2,250/-. I got it from Flipkart for a reduced price of Rs. 1,700/-
Advantages:
• Lowest priced in its category.
• As its an in-ear headset, no loss of sound.
• Connects to bluetooth devices easily.
Disadvantages:
• The back of the Neckphone is fixed. Can't adjust to you liking.
• Only USB charging is available.
The package i got from Flipkart is this:
Inside i found the Neckphone with its original packing.. :-)
The package includes:
• The Bluetooth Neckphone.
• USB Charger.
• 2 sets of extra ear buds. One big and one small. The medium type is fitted in the Neckphone itself.
• User Manual.
• iBall Service Centre List.
Design and build quality:
Design is good. It sits on the ear quite nicely. Weight of the headset will not bother you. But i experienced a slight pain behind the ear where it touches. It maybe because i'm not used to a headset like this. :-)
Build quality is not that good. Looks cheap! Some of the markings on the controls have already got erased! Maybe we have to compromise something because the headset is a low cost one.
All the controls, indicators, charging port, mic are situated in the right side. Controls available are two switches. First one allows us to control the play back. Pushing down will jump to next track and up to the previous track. Pressing the button will Play/Pause the present track.
The second button helps in various functions such as switch on/off, answer/end/reject call, voice dial/ redial last number. Pushing the button up/down will increase/decrease the volume.
An LED indicator is also there.
The charging port and the mic are situated at the bottom. Charging port is covered by rubber flap. Mic is on the right of the charging port as shown.
Working
The Neckphone got fully charged in less than 2 hours and got connected to all the devices i tested easily (includes 2 laptops, 4 mobile phones of Nokia & Samsung). All the keys responded without any problem when paired with each device. There is a slight delay in every action though.
Performance
The performance and voice clarity are at par. No surrounding noise got in when played at high volume. The performance while playing song is not as good as a Sony headset but much better than Nokia's original one.. :)
The Mic also performed well in quiet conditions. Again the performance is at par in noisy conditions.
Battery backup is very good. Got around 6 to 7 hours working time.
Final Words
It is the lowest priced gadget in its class. For Rs. 1,700/- you get Bluetooth stereo headset with mic. Performs well though not the best.
If you are willing to pay around Rs. 1,500/- more then there is a very good alternative. Nokia BH-505.
Motorola Rokr S9-HD is also there for around Rs. 4,000/-
So its up to you whether to go for the Groovy or go for an alternative which are priced higher!
45 comments:
Dude, Good review! :)
Take care while walking on the roads/rails :)
Dnt want to Miss U :)
haha.. ok dude! :))
man u got dat... n dat is
PRESENTATION...
NICE WORK...
thanks.. :)
Hi,
Could you please post the User Guide and the Service Center sheet cos i lost those docs.
hi.. can u mail me the user manual.. i seem to have lost them
@both the above: i don't have it now. i've given it to somebody else. sorry that i couldn't help.
Have you tried connecting to a laptop,are the vista driver available?
i connected it to laptops with Windows 7 installed. this headset does not need any driver. if the laptop has bt and the driver is properly installed, then this headset will get connected easily.
just purchased it for my macbook from a local store for 1750. my 13" macbook pro has comobo jack and I was using my iphone headfones for this but ppl complained that they could not hear me properly and there was a lot of disturbance. Hope this new headphoen fixes teh problem. Thansk fr d review :)
bro ur price for the nokia bh 505 is absolutely wrong....i went to nokia care there the price of this nokia bh 505 headphones is 3220 rupees...so i bought new i ball groovy headphones
@piyush yadav: what are you saying? my price of bh 505 is exactly what you said!!!! you said 3220. what did i said in my post? i said "if you are willing to pay 1500/- MORE (ie, the price of Groovy 1700/- + 1500/-)" that is the price i said is 3200/-. !!
@Taz: you're most welcome!
i want to know dat this hesdset is compatible with nokia5233,other nokia mobiles & samsung star 2............pls. reply me on my email: wlcom2ank.ankit@gmail.com
Dear Prasad,
Can groovy be charged with a ps3 usb cable? I have lost groovy charging cable and can't find a replacement. However, I can buy a PS3 cable.
Thanks
Amit
@Ankit: Groovy is compatible with every BT enabled BT-headset supported mobiles..
@Amit: if PS3 cable is a micro usb cable, it can be charged..
can you please tell me what charger to use with it,i lost mine and i can't find it anywhere
u can charge it with any micro usb cable..
can not connect my i ball groovy with my lappy.it's hp 540 series laptop...do you have any solution??...not able to find drivers also......plz mail me at srivastavshashank0202@gmail.com....thanks
try installing external bluetooth softwares like IVT Bluesoleil.. Its easy to connect any BT devices through Bluesoleil than the default windows software.
im not able to connect in my HP laptop with Windows 7 Os. Its shows driver not found. Can any help me to get the driver to connect iball groovy head set to my laptop. Thanks in advance
if you want the driver for bluetooth in your HP laptop, please go to their website and download the corresponding driver. Or else as i said in the previous comment, please use IVT Bluesoleil (a third party bt app). iBall Groovy does not have a particular driver. It connects to the lap/PC as a bt audio device.
Hi
I have a samsung galaxy S3. What i'm curious is about the sound quality. Is it as good as the stock earphones provided by Samsung (which is pretty damn good-yeah i'm an audiophile) or better or worse. Pls let me know asap!
Regards
@Sagnik: the answer is simple. NO! :) it will not give you a good quality output. if u need the best out of you s3 with BT stereo, go for sennheiser or boss headsets.
does not works with my desktop message shown--- no drivers found..contact manufacturer...i have windows 7 installed
how do i connect i ball groovy bluetooth neck phone with mic aith my pc (windows 7 installed) I have a blue tooth device connected to my pc and file transfer thru BT is OK....with i ball neck phone i get message....contact manufacturer for drivers....windows update cannot find drivers
it works fine with any BT enabled mobile i tried it on HTC, NOKIA, IPHONE4S and samsung windows phone
arrey doston iball groovy pc pe bluetooth se connect nahi hota re
if any one did this please post asap...plz
thnx... :)
hiii i am confuse between groovy and bh505 can you suggest me that which is the better one. I can spend money for both pls suggest me with specification thanx....
@Sanjiv Sharma: i connected mine without any problem. Try it using BlueSoleil software installed.
@Thushar: maine connect kiya hai mere pc ke sath aur laptop ke sath bhi. use it with BlueSoleil if built-in drivers are not working..
@Karan: BH505 have better sound quality. No question about that! Groovy is light weight than bh505. if you are ready to spend money, i'll advice you to buy BH505 itself.
Brother I want to ask you a question... If i want to play counter strike using this, will the internal mic be used as a microphone device to transmit voice to the laptop???
@Himanshu: yeah. the mic can be used to transmit voice to the lap. you can record your voice and also chat using it. so it should work with counter strike too.
hi Prasad,
thanks for your detailed review,
how is the bass and treble performance? is there any cracking or distortion in sound? does the headphone sound as a quality prod ?
you're welcome.. :-)
groovy is strictly a no for music lovers. its just for the people who want just a bluetooth stereo to hear songs or play games. bass and treble is nowhere near good. its just ok. i haven't experienced any cracking or distortion.
One of the best reviews i gone through !!! Keep up the good work bro !!
Used it with my ipad 2, works great!!!!
i am not able to connect it to my nokia phones...plzzz any one help me
Hi I'm not able to get connect iball lappie with my laptop ( DELL INSPIRON 640m) with windows 7 ultimate installed. can anybody suggest me to connect ??
I wish if prasad can help me ... ?? please help me prasad .
@Brijesh: thank you.. appreciate it.. :)
@Soham: thats great.. :)
@Abinas & Hari: have you made the headset discoverable before trying to connect it your devices? (ie, long press the on button)
is this bt headset compatible with samsung galaxy y s5360???? its bt version is 3.0 and android version is 2.3.6 gingerbread....!!!!
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