ARCTIC SOUND P311 Bluetooth headset – Fist look:
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Among various ARCTIC’s sound products portfolio this P311 Bluetooth headset caught my attention. If you just take a look at RBmods last Bluetooth Headset review, Technocel T360 is a way different design. It’s much smaller, mounts around one ear, it has only three buttons etc.
The P311 headset comes packed in a greyscale coloured box with a plastic window, ARCTIC have listed the headsets compatible type of devices on the front as well on the side. On the back they have printed the main features and specs with a few photos of the product.
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Inside the box you will find the headset, USB charging cable, protective case, and a user manual.
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Supra-Aural, Neckband wearing style headset has it’s pros and cons. The headset feels fragile and the quality of mechanics is questionable since it is all made of plastic. However flimsy it appears to be though, it turns out to be far more robust than I expected! Padded earpads make the headphones very comfortable to be used for long period of time. Wearing it sitting around the neck though does get uncomfortable after few hours because of the imperfectly finished headphone elbows irritate the neck skin when used this way. The earpads can be rotated by 90 degrees as you can see from the images.
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The great feature are foldable earpads arms which makes the headphones ready to be saved in to a protective case.
The microphone is integrated into one of the earpads and all what you could find is a tiny opening where it sits. It works perfectly even when headphones are used sitting on the neck.
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Mini USB charging port is hidden behind a protective rubbery cover and it’s used with the cable supplied to charge the battery.
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Headphones provides the standard controls, sound volume, rewind, and multifunction button.
Testing:
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Pairing and connecting the headset to mobile phone using its own password which one must confirm was flawless. For this to happen the multifunction button needs to be held for 7 seconds until the red and blue LED flash alternately.
P311 was tested on Samsung Galaxy S, Android 2.3.4, BT 3.0. You can see optimal EQ settings which I would recommend to be used.
The sound quality was good to excellent, with highs being excellent and good kick-bass and not so good response to low bass, however the low bass was much better with earpads pressed to the ears.
Volume is not visible on the display, skip works fine, play button is also a pause function. Skip buttons do not have rewind function, you can only jump on beginnings of songs. Plays beep sound on keypress.
When the incoming call comes, the music turns off and the conversation can start. You could set the mobile phone software to continue the music after call ends.
The battery is amazing providing more than 20 hours of active using.
Conclusion:
If you care about the sound, want the lightweight, comfortable and reliable set of Bluetooth headphones, you’ve finally found the right product. Just look at the pros. P311 has it all, the style, the quality, the features, the reliable battery, simply that’s it – I recommend to buy it. It’s a bargain if you are wondering!
Pros:
+Very light
+ Compact
+ Foldable
+ Amazing battery, 20 hrs+
+ Comfortable to wear for hours
+ Excellent high notes
+ Good response to kick bass
+ Controls system default media player
Cons:
- Weak response to low bass (except when headphone is pressed to the ears) i.e. distortion
- Neckband not extensible
- Skip doesn’t search
- Lower ergonomics when used sitting on neck (for more than a few hours)
