Initially, our intention was to compare all types of Bluetooth headphones and earphones available. As we used headphones in our daily lives, we realized that certain headphones were better designed for particular functions. Optimizing a product’s design for one use often meant downgrading important features of another function. This is analogous to building a car. If you want something fast that can go from 0 to 60, that’s 4 seconds flat; probably won’t get the best gas mileage, or won’t be much use for hauling 3 kids around town. The bottom line is that those who want the best headphones for listening to music or watching videos have a different product profile than mobile warriors looking to make VOIP calls (more on this at the end).
In this product comparison we look for the best Bluetooth headphones to listen to music and watch movies on your iPad. While we emphasize sound quality for music and video playback, virtually all Bluetooth headsets have built-in microphones and VOIP capability. Next week we’ll have a product comparison for Bluetooth headsets designed primarily for voice conversations that are compatible with iPad and reproduce stereo sound.
The criteria for our product recommendations are sound quality, fit/comfort, battery life, features, and build quality. The greatest weight in our score was given to sound quality (approximately 40% weighting); with the other 4 categories awarding weights divided equally with the remaining allocation. All recommended Bluetooth headsets were tested with iPad 1 and iPad 2 running iOS versions as early as 4.2. Going back to our car analogy, you can’t expect a budget car like a Ford Focus to compare to the performance of a high-end car like a Ferrari. With that in mind, we’ve also broken down our recommendations into the best Bluetooth headphones for iPad within a given price range.
One last piece of advice before we begin is that there are no Bluetooth headphones designed just for the iPad. So if you’re browsing online or walking the aisles of Best Buy looking for products with the words “Bluetooth Headphones for iPad” scrawled on the packaging, you’ll be severely limiting your selection. When shopping for a Bluetooth headset or headphones for your iPad, just look and make sure it’s a stereo or A2DP compatible headset. The Bluetooth headset you buy for your iPad should also work with your Bluetooth-enabled cell phone and computer.
The best Bluetooth headphones for your iPad under $40: Arctic Sound P311
Arctic Sound P311 (MSRP $39.99)
Overview:
Our winner for the best Bluetooth headset under $40 is the Arctic Sound P311. If you’re a techie, the name will sound familiar, as Arctic Sound is a division of Arctic Cooling, a Swiss-owned company that makes CPU coolers and computer accessories. While the MSRP of the P311 is $39.95, you’ll find this headset online for around $30. It does everything you want from a headset at a fair price. We loved these headphones over the more expensive models from Motorola and Sony. The sound quality was indistinguishable from the Motorola and Sony models, but the features that won us over were the incredible battery life and the foldable design. In addition to testing it with the iPad, we were able to pair this headset with a PlayStation 3, laptops (MAC and PC), Android phone, iPhone, and Nokia phone without issue.
Sound quality
We paired the Arctic Sound P311 with an Android phone, iPhone and Nokia to test the sound quality when making phone calls. Our friends on the other side could hear us perfectly. The sound quality was crystal clear and there were no delays or dropouts in conversation. For VOIP and cellular pairing, the P311 includes a hidden integrated microphone, built-in sound processor, and Advanced Clear Voice Capture (CVC) technology. The latter is just a fancy way of saying noise-canceling tech. While the microphone picks up your voice during calls exquisitely, the noise-canceling feature isn’t up to par with high-end headsets like the newer model of Jawbone or Plantronic headsets. If you plan to talk to a person in a noisy place like Starbucks during the morning hustle and bustle, background noise will filter into the conversation more than high-end headphones.
For music and video playback, sound was excellent for a device in this class. The music was crisp and vibrant in a higher range. The built-in hi-fi drivers were able to process the sound in the low range without cracking or squeaking. Bass sounds flat compared to high-end headphones and surround speakers. These aren’t the headphones for editing sound on your MacBook Pro, but if you’re watching Netflix on your iPad or listening to your iPod app, the sound quality is excellent.
Fit/Comfort
Weighing just 2.5 ounces, the P311 is very light. The closed acoustic earmuffs provide good comfort as we could go all day without any fatigue or irritation. Some of our readers may not like the behind-the-ear design, but we found it to be ideal if you plan on wearing these headphones at work, as they won’t mess up your hair like over-the-head headphones.
Characteristic
One of the most useful features is that the right earcup has 5 buttons that control certain settings. They allow you to answer a call, adjust the volume and fast forward/rewind the music. The device you pair the headphones with must allow these features, but we found that most do. If it is paired with a cell phone and there is an incoming call, Inter-Call-Manager will play a ringtone on the headset. The music will pause and resume after the call ends. Pairing with my iPad was no problem and the controls worked for volume, skip, back, and pause. The Antic Sound P311 does not support multipoint Bluetooth.
Battery duration
The Arctic Sound P311 has a built-in 400 mAh rechargeable lithium-polymer battery, similar to the lithium-polymer technology Apple uses for iPad and MacBooks. The manufacturer claims up to 20 hours of listening/talk time for the Arctic Silver, but can only achieve that long under very unrealistic circumstances. When we talk into the headphones for over an hour and spend the rest of the time listening to music at medium volume, we average 12-14 hours per charge. While not the 20 hours the manufacturer claims, this was enough for a full day of work and doubled the battery life of other headsets. Mobile warriors will love that the Arctic Sound P311 headphones charge via mini USB instead of a proprietary design. If you have a Blackberry, you can use that AC adapter or USB cable to charge the headphones and leave one less item to charge. Charging time from a depleted battery is approximately 4 hours. A USB cable is provided for you to connect to the AC adapter of your computer or iPad.
Build Quality:
The Arctic Sound P311 comes with a nylon hard case so you can easily store it in your briefcase, bag or backpack. The earphones themselves are made of hardened plastic. Due to its folding design, it can be damaged if you apply too much force against the hinges. In no way does it make the earphones fragile as the earphone was accidentally dropped several times without damage.
Bluetooth compatibility: Bluetooth v2.1+EDR, A2DP, AVRCP, HSP, HFP 1.5
Honorable Mention:
Jabra CLIPPER Bluetooth Stereo Headset (earphone style)
The best Bluetooth headphones for your iPad under $100: Plantronics Backbeat 903+
Plantronics Backbeat 903+ (RRP $99.99)
Overview:
Plantronics Backbeat 903+ is Plantronics’ best-selling 903/906 series upgrade. The Backbeat 903+ was released last year and incorporated the new Bluetooth standards. The most important feature that this headset has over the Arctic Sound P311 is the multipoint Bluetooth technology. What multipoint allows you to do is pair two Bluetooth devices with one headset. As long as your devices support multipoint, you can pair your cell phone with the Backbeat 903+ while streaming audio from your iPad. Most new phones support multipoint, including Android and Blackberry platforms. Both the iPhone and iPad support multipoint as long as you’re running iOS version 4.1 and higher.
Why is multipoint so important? If you have multipoint, you won’t miss a call if you’re listening to music on your iPad or iPod! If your iPhone rings while you’re listening to Metallica on your iPad, Backbeat 903+ compatible multipoint will pause the music and notify you of an incoming call. One-touch features on the Backbeat 903+ will allow you to answer the phone without having to physically answer it.
We recommend not paying MSRP by searching online for the best deal. We bought our Backbeat 903+ on Amazon for $69.99.
Sound quality
In terms of sound quality when making phone calls, the Plantronics Backbeat 903+ is superior to the Arctic Sound P311. This is the result of the superior noise canceling feature and the windshield. The headset has two microphones instead of just one. Both microphones are positioned to be shielded from direct wind. Plantronics calls its noise cancellation technology AudioIQ2. Basically what happens is that the microphones pick up your voice and digitally erase background noise to provide a superior phone conversation.
The Backbeat 903+ has rich, vibrant sound and can stream music, videos, and app sounds from your iPad. The headphones have enhanced bass that provides a deeper and more moving feeling than the P311. While the Backbeat 903+ does have noise-canceling technology, it should be noted that it’s for voice calls and not music streaming.
Fit/Comfort
Like the Arctic Sound headset, the Plantronics 903+ has a behind-the-ear design with fitted earcups. Each earbud adjusts three ways for a personalized fit.
Characteristic
The Backbeat 903+ has a unique technology called OpenMic that allows you to hear what’s going on around you at the touch of a button. The Backbeat also supports one-touch controls that let you start/end calls and control music functions like volume and pause/play. Voice alerts let you know when the battery is low, when there’s an incoming call, and when you’ve lost your phone connection. You can also monitor the headphone battery level on your iPhone with the built-in software. And as mentioned above, the Backbeat 903+ is multi-point compatible, allowing you to connect to your cell phone and iPad simultaneously.
Battery duration
Battery life provides 7 hours of talk time. Standby time is 7 hours. The charging time is 3 hours and the charging interface is micro USB. An AC adapter is provided.
build quality
The Backbeat is made of high-impact plastic designed to withstand more abuse than a typical earphone. If you’re a runner or plan to use the Backbeat in the gym, you’ll love its sturdiness and flexibility. The headphones can be folded and a soft protective bag is provided.
Honorable Mention:
Sony DR-BT100CX Earbud-Style Stereo Bluetooth Headset
