August 18th, 2010 
admin 
- Wireless headphones for your stereo Bluetooth mobile phone feature
- Separate your voice from the noise using dual-mic AudioIQ technology
- Hear your outside world with a quick press of the OpenMic button
- Enjoy the full dynamic range of your music using bass-boost feature
- Personalize your fit with telescoping and swivel adjustments
Product Description
903/R BACK BEAT HEADPHONEAmazon.com Product Description
Enjoy full-spectrum stereo music and take your calls wirelessly with the Plantronics BackBeat 903 Bluetooth Headphones. These ultra-comfortable wireless headphones deliver rich stereo sound from your stereo Bluetooth-enabled mobile phone or MP3 player, while smart dual-mic AudioIQ voice technology offers exceptional clarity for your cell calls. And with a quick tap of the headphone’s OpenMic button, y… More >>
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Altec’s BackBeat stereo headphones offers near-invisible stereo wireless headphones that can be paired with Bluetooth enabled devices, including A2DP-capable music players capable to streaming high-quality stereo output to Altec’s Bluetooth-enabled headphones. This model does not include a Bluetooth transceiver to deliver A2DP (Advanced Audio Distribution Profile) capabilities when connected to any player that has a standard 3.5 mm audio output jack. If such a device is needed to, for example, listen to Internet radio off a computer, then the Altec Lansing 906/R US BackBeat Headphone with Dongle is recommended.
You get the following in the box:
- Stereo headphones
- with one pair of silicone ear buds (still trying to find a source for replacements)
- Charger working through a USB Micro connection
- English/Spanish manual, pretty good, actually
My review will first discuss features that I deem important then, I will close with a brief evaluation.
Headphones:
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While not ‘high end’, they deliver a reasonably good quality sound. Some may have issues with headphones that go ‘in’ the ear rather than covering the ear. I know that I do but I seem to tolerate these quite well for as long as the volume is kept low.
On the positive side, the 2 headphones are connected with a stereo cable that goes on the back of the head. This makes the entire assembly nearly invisible when worn, especially if the person who wears them has hair
. The microphone seems to be integrated in the headphones body and it seems to work well because no one asked me to speak louder while on the phone, using the BackBeat.
The main concern is ‘anatomy’. I have a big head and big ears and setting the earphones was not easy in the beginning even though the telescoping and swiveling adjustments do allow for some flexibility in wearing. I find that the more I get used to them, the easier it is to wear them. Again, a positive, once set, their extremely light weight makes for a very comfortable wear, so comfortable they almost ‘disappear’, unless they fall off.
Pairing and maintaining connections:
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- I had no problem pairing the headphones with a Blackberry and a Motorola Razor. It all works as the manual advises. When pairing the the phone, the headphones’ password is always ‘0000′ and it can’t be changed.
Controls:
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It may take some getting used to but, here are the simple conventions:
- Phone controls are mostly on the left-ear headphone
- Music device controls are mostly on the right-year headphone
- Rising tones usually mean that the feature is enabled/set/increased while falling tones mean the opposite
When connected to a phone you can answer the call, hang up, reject the call while listening to music, mute, raise/lower the volume, check the battery charge.
For music features you can pause play, advance or go back one track (not tested by me yet), increase/decrease volume, enable/disable bass boost, pick up the phone or reject a call while listening. Play resumes after a call ends.
It took very little time for the controls to become second nature.
Performance and other characteristics:
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A full charge completes in about 3 hours and little blue lights indicate the charge is full. Partial charging is possible in less than one hour. Claimed battery life on both devices is about 7 hours and my usage so far tends to confirm this.
A carrying pouch is missing and it’s missed. I would have felt much better if one was included because the headphones are small enough to be easily lost. I understand that the design was meant to allow carrying the headphones in a shirt pocket but I would have felt much more comfortable if I could store them somewhere other than a small pocket.
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I hesitate between 4 and 5 stars. The more I use the BackBeat the more I enjoy using it. However, the missing carrying case – not easy to explain on a device within this price range and the lack of information on where or how to obtain spare ear buds call for a small deduction. With only a few small improvements, Altec could have a big winner in this product.
The lack of a Bluetooth transceiver was not a factor when rating this product even though I WOULD recommend the higher end model which adds a lot more versatility for only a few dollars more.
Rating: 4 / 5
I’m in the phone industry (but I don’t work for any bluetooth headset maker). I got a pair of these free from Altec before the product release. I like these better than competing models from Motorola, Jabra, Samsung and other brands. I have owned all of them. Reasons:
1) The non-rigid wire connecting the two allows for compact folding, and pocket stuffing. Most other brands don’t offer that.
2) Sound quality is great, music sounds good.
3) Phone calls are great. With two ears to hear the call, I can hear people even when I am in a very noisy environment. The microphone isn’t as good, so they may have problems hearing me if it is VERY noisy. Beware, many other brands of bluetooth stereo headsets only use one ear for phone calls – that’s stupid and makes it relatively hard to hear.
4) Buttons do not get pushed by mistake. Jabra was terrible on this issue.
5) No stupid blue light show to make you look like a geek idiot. Jabra also was bad on this issue.
5.5) Overall, these are relatively discrete. You don’t look like you have two big cans on your ears.
6) The charging plug type is Micro B USB, which may be new to you, but all new cell phones will standardize on this plug type in the 2010-2012 time frame.
Negatives include:
a) The earbuds fall off in your pocket, on the street, etc. I used a drop of superglue so as to prevent losing these. I recommend you do the same.
b) As others have stated, don’t sweat into them. I don’t use for exercising, so not a problem for me.
c) Caveat: Bluetooth inserts a small lag, which doesn’t matter at all with phone calls or music, but with video can cause the audio and video to be slightly out of sync. Doesn’t bother me, but be aware.
If you want these for sport, consider the Motorola S9s, which are better with sweating. If you want to see a competing product that I also like a lot, which lets you use any headphones you like, but converts them into Bluetooth, check out the Sonorix C3.
Rating: 4 / 5
I purchased two of these units from Amazon. The recent iPhone firmware update allows for bluetooth headsets; these appeared perfect. Both units have now failed. The first set lasted for 2 workouts. The second set for 4 workouts.
Altec is sending replacements, but I have to send in the failed set. So, the turnaround time is a hindrance.
Both sets suffer the same problem. It appears the on/off switch stops working. It has a full charge, but if you can’t turn on the headsets, they are worthless. My guess is that sweat gets into the device via the button and shorts it out.
Let’s hope they fix the problem. Sound is great. The concept is brilliant. The execution, however, is flawed.
Rating: 1 / 5
Altec Lansing 903/R US BackBeat Headphone is a very good wireless headset, both for phone/talk and music. It is comfortable to wear and provide very decent sound quality (stereo).
Pros:
1. Very comfortable to wear (and light)
2. Great overall sound quality (stereo)
3. Bass is strong (with bass boost feature)
4. Great battery life (6+ hours talk/music time)
5. New OpenMic technology is very useful (so you don’t have to take off the headset if you want to hear the surrounding)
6. Quick switch from listening to music to picking up the phone
7. Headset have dedicated button for remote control phone/music operation (like volume, bass, play, pause, switch to phone, mute, open mic control)
Cons:
1. Sound not as crisp as wired headphone (when listening to music), but very close, and for wireless, I think it’s good enough
2. Volume control is one level change per click (can’t just hold the volume up or down to change the volume multiple level)
3. Buttons are very small and it’s not very easy/comfortable to press when you are wearing the headphone
4. Have to press and hold the small button for 2 seconds to turn on or off (both headset and bluetooth adapter)
5. It takes 3 hours to fully charge (1 hour charge will be nice)
All in all, while this is not a perfect product, it is very good wireless product. And listening to music in wireless with a decent sound quality, priceless!
If your music/mp3 players doesn’t have bluetooth capability and you want to listen to it in wireless, you can check the Altec lansing 906/R BackBeat Headphones where a bluetooth adapter is included.
Sidarta Tanu
Rating: 5 / 5
I really like these things; so much so I’m on my third pair – more about that in a minute. I’m an avid runner and these things are perfect. Light, easy to use and they sound really good. The pleasant surprise was how well the phone works. On an incoming call the music fades and the phone starts to ring. You just tap the ear piece to pick up the call and not only does it sound great but the microphone picks up my voice equally well.
Only odd thing is I returned my first two pairs to the store as they both quit working after about two weeks. While the AT&T store I bought them at was happy to replace them it was sort of a pain. And certainly a bigger one if I would have to return them to Amazon.
Rating: 4 / 5