Real Soccer – has been one of the the #1 soccer games on the App Store and now its back for the most exciting season yet !!
The 2009 edition was acclaimed by both press and also consumers for its fantastic gameplay and realism. With its new graphics, controls, game modes and online features, Real Soccer 2010 looks like is raising the stakes even higher.
With the following features we can safely say that Gameloft have taken Real Soccer very seriously this time around.
MORE CONTENT
– 8 leagues, 245 teams and real players’ names thanks to the FIFPro license
– Voice commentary for a TV-like broadcast of the match
– 14 stadiums entirely modeled in 3D to the slightest detail
THE ONLY SOCCER GAME WITH AN ONLINE MULTIPLAYER MODE
– Go head-to-head with friends online (Wi-Fi) or in local mode (Bluetooth + Wi-Fi).
– Take part in official matches with Gameloft LIVE! to improve your ranking.
NEW GAME MODES
– Enter The Legend: Play as your favorite player on the field during the whole match and manage your career as a pro soccer star
– Club Master: Take part in a whole season with your favorite team and strengthen it through trades
– RS League: Online leaderboard to compare your performance with other Real Soccer players over the world.
EXCLUSIVE YOUTUBE VIDEO UPLOAD
Upload your best replays directly to YouTube, rate the videos of the community on www.realsoccer2010.com and try to be selected for the Top 10 of the month.
SOCCER RSS FEED
Soccer RSS feed to get all the latest soccer scores directly from the game’s main menu.
ONLINE UPDATE OF THE DATABASE
Download the most recent players database to always keep your game up to date with the latest transfer news.
IMPROVED CONTROLS
– New direction pad for a more precise soccer experience.
– Easily select your player by touching him on the screen.
If your a soccer fan then Real Soccer is the game for you. Check it out at now at the Apple iTunes store for only $4.99
You have the chance to win some Bruce Lee action with just a simple answering of a question. If you are selected from our random drawing to receive either a code for Bruce Lee: Dragon Warrior for either the iPhone or the iPad. Your choice!
Now if Bruce Lee was still alive today, would he still be considered the best martial artist in the world today? Or do you think someone else is more deserving of that title now. Also as a side note, how do you think he would do in MMA? Would he be one of the best fighters able to knock out anyone?
I think he would still be considered the best if he were still alive. He is THE martial arts legend. Yes, he would do very well in the MMA.
Congratulations to Marsha and thanks to everyone else that entered. We will have another competition coming up REALLY SOON !! so keep checking back at Capsule Computers regularly !! 🙂
If you thought the Wii Wheel wasn’t a good enough peripheral for your Sonic & SEGA All Stars Racing or your Mario Kart Wii games then you are in luck, as this new racing peripheral is definitely going to blow that out of the water. Because it is a fully blown up inflatable race cart with a position in the wheel for the Wiimote.
This is actually an accessory that I’m sure a lot of people would actually enjoy, at least children for the most part. Because if you could choose between a simple wheel and an inflatable car, any 10 year old would choose the car and even some adults I know. If you were to be interested in this car though it’ll run you $40 which isn’t too steep, but hey at least it is for a good cause.
Turns out that CTA, the company that is making this product, is also promotingKids Are Heroes which encourages children to take an active part in their community and help others. Bit of a switch that they are encouraging this promotion by using a video game peripheral but either way it’s getting the word out.
So what do you guys think? Is this one of the best Wii peripherals out there at the moment? Or have you seen better? There has to be at least a hundred different types of peripherals for the various games that are out now for the Wii.
Title: Splinter Cell Conviction Genre: Action / Stealth Platform:iPhone/iPod Touch Developer/Publisher:Gameloft Price: $9.99 US Buy now
Sam Fisher is back and revenge shall be his once again even on the iPhone / iPod Touch. Gameloft have done a fantastic job with bringing Sam Fisher to the Apple iPhone/iPod. Spanning over 11 different missions you’ll get to visit places like Malta and even take a tour of duty with Sam in the middle east. As always the storyline for conviction is about Sam’s thirst for revenge for the murder of his daughter and with your help he’ll be able to accomplish this task and put an end to that person’s life the same way he put an end to his daughters.
Splinter Cell Conviction is a 3rd person shooter similar in gameplay to Gameloft’s recently released title Zombie Infectionwhich was released only a few weeks ago. The control system works the same way with the left analog stick moving Sam around. Moving your finger around the middle of the screen will change and move the camera angle around which you will need to do quite often so you can see where you are going or line up your enemies to take them down. Which brings us to the action buttons, on the left side there are two buttons which are used for a variety of different things, from running into cover, leaping out of cover, climbing up ladders and poles, aiming and firing your gun to grappling and performing take down and execution maneuvers when in close quarters and also grabbing an enemy and using them as a human shield.
Other such moves you can pull off with those two buttons all depend on the situation you are faced with. If you encounter an enemy that has information the interrogate button appears when Sam is near an enemy. Once you have an enemy at your mercy you can punch the crap out of them till they provide that much need information. Then once they have nothing else to share Sam ends their pittiful existance. Now there are a few other actions Sam can do. One of them is deadly “MARK and EXECUTE” this only happens at certain places in the game / levels. Once you approach an enemy(s) that can be Marked for death a little black circle appears over their heads. Pressing the action buttion will allow you to mark the targets and then with the press of the other action button will allow Sam to pull off the kill with the greatest of ease. It’s a great feeling to pull one of these off and makes you feel real bad ass. Adding to this is the ability to MARK and EXECUTE enemies from behind doors. Sam can use his “Convex Mirror” to look under the door into the next room and if possible “Mark and Execute” enemies. This is super cool and is a complete pleasure to pull off.
Now there are a few little issues with some of these actions, when trying to move into cover not all locations allow you to do so. You can only take cover at locations defined and allocated by the game. This is a little annoying as you might want to take cover just around a corner where there’s two or three enemies but wont be able to do so. Another issue this time with the aim/firing system. When attempting to shoot enemies if they are a little out of range Sam will not be able to take the shot to take them down. Once an enemy is in range the cross hairs will change from white to red. Only then will you be able to execute your enemies.
The AI in the game as mentioned in video review are not the sharpest tools in the shed. As explained if Sam is hiding in the dark he is pretty much undetectable, he could be standing right next to an enemy they will not even see him. Which is a little silly, on the other hand if Sam has been detected enemies do their best in taking him down with a barrage of gunfire. Now I have to say that even on the hardest difficulty level it does take quite a lot of lead to drop Sam. This is possibly a good thing for the player but it’s not very realistic, especially on the harder levels where your meant to be feeling the pain a little more.
As this is review is accompanied by a video review. Lets take a break from all the reading and click on play to watch the remainder of the review.
Splinter Cell Conviction takes you through 11 missions of non stop action, stealth and even on rails shooting (speed-boat) level, it’s a fine mix of action, stealth gameplay that will certainly keep you busy for hours. The story is great and the gameplay is fun. As explained above there are a few little issues but they do not in anyway ruin the experience of the game what so ever. Gameloft has once again his a homerun with Splinter Cell Conviction, fans of series who own a iPhone will find this quite enjoyable with all the little extras that made the Xbox & PC game so great such as the Mark & EXECUTE, and interrogating enemies. New comers new to the series will also be able to quickly and easily pick this game up and run with it with no issues what so ever.
For the price ($9.99) Splinter Cell Conviction is a must have as its certainly one of the best games on the Apple iPhone/iPod Touch at the moment.
When I was asked to do an indie game review, I was quite excited. “I wonder what quirky yet fun little game I will get to try out!” I thought. I have played several indie games, whether as a part of the Humble Indie Bundle (which I payed $15.00 for, thank you very much) or as standalone games downloaded off of XboxLive; I am proud to say that I support indie developers. I am also aware that because these developers do not have massive budgets and teams, they have a certain amount of wiggle-room when compared to the larger developers.
So when I say that Dr. Mazing is to indie games what Pol Pot was to Cambodia, understand that this game was bad, even considering it’s “indie” status.
Honestly, it feels kind of wrong calling this steaming pile an indie game. For that matter, it feels wrong to even call it a “game”. It seems more like an unskilled gamer decided to pleasure himself mentally by cobbling a game together out of a half-remembered high school programming class and Microsoft Paint, just so he can call himself an “indie game developer.” Upon browsing BitCore Studios’ website, I found that this game was not some sort of ill-conceived joke, but that the creator took this game quite seriously.
This does not surprise me.
When I first started the game up, I was greeted by this:
This is what greeted me. I should have known to turn back then.
Upon viewing this mess, I thought to myself, “Gee, what awful, child-like art. This can only mean that the humor or content will be more mature in nature, and they chose this art style ironically.” This view made sense, based on the fact that no game would dare use art this bad if it wasn’t going to be able to make up for it in gameplay and story. Honestly, it looked like a 4-year-old with epilepsy finger-painted it in a drunken stupor. Not that I’m saying I could do any better, but then again, I’m not a game developer. Moving on…
I hit the start button, and what could be described only in the loosest sense as “the plot” began. This being a little arcade game, I wasn’t expecting much of a plot. Considering that the game is a 2d sidescrolling beat’em up only means that it requires even less of a plot than most games. Other great 2d sidescrolling beat’em up’s are the quarter arcade classics Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and (my personal favorite) Cadillacs and Dinosaurs, and their plots essentially were “Bad people did things. Stop them. Beat up their dudes.” So the fact that I was still disappointed by the plot of Dr. Mazing is astounding. It would have been better with no plot, because at least then I wouldn’t have been subjected to long, poorly drawn, and painful “cut-scenes”. The worst part of the whole thing? It took itself seriously.
That’s right. The only way this game could get away with existing is by being funny, and it doesn’t even try. It tries to be cool and have sexual tension and a grand reveal at the end, and it fails so hard, it almost brings tears to my eyes.
The really great part? All 9 levels are the same. 9 levels of hell.
“But even the worst beat’em ups have some intrinsic value, right? It couldn’t be THAT bad.”
Yes. Yes it can.
Because while pretty much all beat’em ups are fun in a way, you have to actually be able to play them. This is not one of those games you can actually play. If you can hold down on the X button and move right, you have won the game. You have just successfully beaten every enemy in the game. That is not playing. That is interactive watching. If you have 2 thumbs, you cannot lose. Except for when you do.
Nearly every enemy in the game is easily beatable with just 2 fingers, but there is one boss who cannot be beaten this way. And this is because this game takes the command “If imagescollide…” very seriously. If an image of a bullet or swinging fist touches your image, even if your character is supposedly nowhere near that bullet or fist, you will take damage. The game forgets that you are viewing the action at an angle, and that it is a 2d game. so things that should go behind or in front of you still act as if they had hit you. Now combine that with an enemy who’s swinging fists take up more than half the screen.
Now you understand this boss.
All of this comes together to make the single worst gaming experience I have ever encountered. I expect better gameplay from internet flash games or McDonalds Happy Meal “video games”. When a gamer looks at a game, and says, “I have the capability to make this game, but the logic and good reason not to.” you know that something is terribly, terribly wrong. This fecal heap could have been made with MS paint and a half-remembered high school programming class, and probably was.
I checked out the site at http://bitcorestudios.com/ , and discovered that I was right. This game was made by a single person. And I have this to say to him: I respect what you have done. You have made a game, and I have not. Congratulations, you are further on the road to being a real game designer than most people who want to be one. That said, you should not have released it upon the earth. Show it to some friends, say “I made a game”, and delete it immediately. That is what you should have done, not CHARGED PEOPLE MONEY for it.
If you do happen to accidentally buy this horrid mess, there is a way to at least get some benefit out of it. Play the game with some alcohol, and every time you want to quit, take a shot. You’ll be drunk by the end of the first level, and dead by the end of the third.
And so, Mr. Game Designer man, I leave you with the immortal words of that guy from Billy Madison, “I award you no [capsules], and may God have mercy on your soul.
Spoon feed yourself these songs by Spoon next week on Rock Band 2. Ever wonder which spoon there spoon actually meant? Did they intend the spoon spoon or the other spoon? I eat cereal with spoons. Yes, I eat a bowl of cereal with multiple spoons at the same time. Oh yeah, and one POD track.
Spoon Tracks – 560 Microsoft Points (160 Microsoft points each)
Spoon – “Trouble Comes Running”
Spoon – “Don’t You Evah”
Spoon – “I Turn My Camera On”
Spoon – “Got Nuffin”
P.O.D. Single Track – 160 Microsoft Points
P.O.D. – “Alive”
Look out for them from June 1st on the Xbox Live Marketplace.
Did you know I don’t have a firm grasp on how to even play Boggle? I have the game in 4 different formats and still don’t know what I’m doing. I shake the container, I see letters, and I makeup words that don’t actually exist. But I have the degree and you don’t, and for all you know the word I just said is a real word. Don’t believe me? well, then you are stupid and I would suggest not to argue with my awesome boggle powers! Obenobif my awesome funuts rufibo! Those are totally real words! Look them up if you don’t believe me. Waste your time looking up words in that dictionary, or you could just give me the points and we move on.
Game for Windows Live is perfect for those that love PC games but also love their Xbox Live account. Why not continue PC gaming and gain achievements to show off to all your friends that easily jumps between the xbox 360 and your PC. Good news for everyone that thought that last bit sounded good. Dark void is currently only $10 through June 1st. That’s almost cheaper than renting it. Haven’t playing the game yet? Why not just buy it now on Games for Windows Live.
Bruce Lee: Dragon Warrior Genre: Fighting Platform: iPhone (Reviewed), iPad Publishers:Digital Legends, India Games Price: $4.99 Buy Now!
Story:
You are Bruce Lee in the prime of his youth and just as arrogant about his skills than any other teenager. By fighting on the streets of Hong Kong he gains a name for himself in the street as one of the toughest fighters. This quickly grabs the attention of a martial arts school who chooses to fight Bruce Lee himself. When the student is defeated he introduces Bruce to his master and so begins the long and enjoyable story of Bruce Lee’s rise to greatness.
Surprisingly the story mode for Bruce Lee is one of the best you will see in a fighting game, especially one for the iPhone. The story is cohesively told through text and comic book art in between fights. You will be able to navigate between fights using a world map to travel to tournaments, training sessions, and street fights. The story mode is quite long and is very engaging, reaching more than four hours in length if you rush and even more if you take part in the extra fights.
Graphics:
The 3D graphics you will see in Bruce Lee: Dragon Warrior are top notch for the iPhone. The game has been toted as using motion capture technology to make the character motions as lifelike as possible. Thankfully this developmental technique has transferred well into the gameplay and each technique used is fluid and is never over the top.
There are a total of ten different fighters available within the game and each one is unique to themselves and designed well. Each model may have a few fuzzy elements but they are colorful if nothing else. Considering each character has their own unique fighting style and moving style with no palette change between characters.
Considering the amount of fighting you will be doing during the story mode there are only five different venues that you shall do battle in. Though for these five levels there was definitely a great amount of attention paid towards them. Each level has small details that will leave you wondering what system you are actually playing on. Beyond the small details and occurrences happening around the fighters, there is even a day and night option for a bit more variety. Though essentially the same levels, with the addition of a night mode it practically doubles the amount of fighting stages available.
Gameplay:
There are a variety of gameplay modes to choose from; such as Story, Arcade, Survival, Time Attack and Training. Surprisingly though there is no actual Versus mode. There is the computer to fight against with no option for human vs human combat. This is unfortunate because the actual fighting is top notch and it would be interesting to test your skills against other fighters.
As I said before Story Mode is Bruce Lee: Dragon Warrior’s bread and butter. The majority of gameplay will be take place in Story mode and in the end it is essential. When you first begin there is a large amount of characters and stages that are still locked. You will have to advance through the story mode and beat different fighters to unlock them and their stages.
Within the story mode you will be fighting amongst the other nine characters in the gameplay. As you do battle with them through the various fighting stages you will gain XP. As your Bruce Lee gains levels more bits of the game will be unlocked. One of these unlockable bits of gameplay is that you will occasionally learn your opponents moves. These can then be used in the Style Editor which is essentially a customization option for Bruce. It isn’t anything extravagant but the ability to modify your fighting style to mix together some of the best techniques from the best fighters is a nice touch.
Speaking of the fighting; the fighting system would do these master fighters proud. There are high and low kicks, high and low punches to go over the simple basics. However there are also the special moves which will do significant damage towards your opponent. These special moves are used by gathered energy in the Chi bar, you can use a special move either through the specific direction combination or punch kick combo. There is also a counter system which will reduce your Chi by doing said counterattack successfully.
The control scheme for these attacks are quite simple. Directions are controlled through the d-pad/joystick in the left bottom corner, while punches and kicks are handled between a punch button and kick button on the right side with a small picture of the attack inside of the button. However the game has a small issue with the recognition of presses. Occasionally if you were to press the attacks to quickly, then your character will continue to attack in a queue of moves that will sometimes leave you wide open to counterattacks. In one such instance after being knocked down, my fighter stood up and performed a variety of kicks and punches into thin air even though I was only pushing the directional pad.
Overall:
In the end Bruce Lee: Dragon Warrior is an excellent fighting game and one of the top ones available for the iPhone. Though bear in mind it is a bit simple as there are only the standard attacks and special attacks. There are zero inhuman abilities or special attacks. You won’t be seeing any hadokens in this one. Besides the lack of player vs player combat Bruce Lee lives up to his legend here.
Today, I am reviewing the Nokia BH-905 Bluetooth stereo headset. Big thanks to Nokia for providing the headset for review. Nokia BH-905 is a flagship headphone accessory from Nokia with bluetooth wireless connectivity, 10 microphones and active noise cancellation being some of its key features. But to make it even more special, it can even be used wired by using the provided cable to hook it up to a non-bluetooth device. Now I’m very much into good music listening on the go and never really took bluetooth wireless headsets nor active noice cancelling heaphones that seriously. But after trying out the BH-905, I now can see that a good bluetooth headset can sound as good as wired ones!
To get you into the right mood about this headphone, I recommend you to watch this excellent Nokia promo video for the BH-905 before reading this review.
– She looks much prettier than me so I had to use this photo. (Photo Source: Nokia)
GOOD + Light weight and comfortable to wear
+ Superb sound quality
+ Great looking design
+ Non-intrusive noise cancellation that works
+ Wireless and wired connectivity options
+ Built-in mic for handsfree phone calls
+ Plenty of bundled adapters and cables
BAD
– Price is a bit steep
– Open-style allows others to hear your music in quiet environments
– Looks a bit awkward when worn due to protruding side headband
– Does not block out all types of noise
– The box that it came in.
The BH-905 comes in a nice big black box. Once opened, you will find the following contents:
Nokia Bluetooth Stereo Headset BH-905
Nokia Carrying Case CP-298
Nokia Audio Cable CA-143U with 3,5mm Nokia AV connector (~1.2m)
Nokia Extension Audio Cable CA-144U (~1.7m)
Nokia AV Adapter AD-52 for 2.5 mm Nokia AV
Nokia Audio Adapter AD-63 for standard 3.5 mm jack
Nokia Adapter AD-71 for airplane
Nokia Adapter AD-70 for 6.3 mm home stereo
Nokia Travel Charger AC-5 (same as most other Nokia phones)
User guide
– Forgot to take the pic of the user guide. But here are all the important bits.
The carrying case has a leather-like feel to the exterior and a full round zipper to open and close. It has a wrist strap attached as well which can easily be taken off if desired. Inside, you get to see what you paid for, the BH-905 headset. There are also little elastic loop holders for the plug adapters, AC charger and cables. The headphone has a snug fit with moulded sections and side walls for the headset. No rattling in here when closed which is what you want. However, the case is quite hefty in size. So you’ll need a decent sized bag to fit it in if you want to have it with you all the time. But this is same for most other headphones of this size.
Design & Build
First thing which popped up in my mind when I opened the case and saw the BH-905 headset was “wow, looks very classy!”. It definitely looks the money. All my friends who saw it said it looks really nice with its chrome accents and the simple lines. The headset does not feel flimsy or weak when held. The headband has enough cushioning in the top middle portion and the side part of the headband bends outwards to minimize the damage to your hairstyle. The headband is also nice and thick so it’s not going to snap or break anytime soon either. Overall, it’s very well built and has the looks as well. It would have been great if there were more various color options such as a full white version or army/camo version. That would have appealed to the fashion conscious.
The earpad is very well cushioned and quite soft. So your ears do not feel any hard object or pressure whatsoever. One concern was the material used. It is a faux-leather like outer area with a meshed material for center. There may be a chance that the material will get worn down or get ripped over time although in my experience with similar headphones, this still takes a couple of years at least.
– Other than the switch for ANC, rest of the buttons are all on the right side. (Photo Source: Nokia)
Usability There really isn’t much to the headset in terms of buttons / functions. This is a good thing. Hold the power button on the right ear piece to turn the bluetooth on. Then search for the headset from your mobile phone via bluetooth. Select BH-905 and pair. Done. Now whenever you switch on the headset, it will auto-pair with the last device it paired with which would most likely be your mobile phone. Works flawlessly and without hassle. In terms of wireless distance, I was able to hear the music cleanly up to about 10 meters before it started to disconnect. Even through quite a few concrete walls in-between myself and the phone.
Most of the headset’s buttons are on the right ear piece. Power/Multi-Function, previous, next, play/pause, volume up and down. On the left ear piece, there is only one switch to activate the Active Noise Cancellation (ANC). The buttons are intelligently places and sized so that you can easily figure out which button is where while it is still placed on your head. They have a nice solid click feel to them and also give an audible “blip” sound feeback through the headphones when depressed.
– Headband can be extended on both sides. It holds its position firmly but looks like it can get a bit loose over time.
One great feature of this headset is the fact that it can be used with a cable to be able to listen to virtually any audio device. So you are not stuck to just bluetooth capable devices. I’ve noticed that even when the BH-905 is paired wirelessly to my Nokia N900, if I plug in the cable to the headset, BH-905 immediately turns off its bluetooth signal and goes into a standard headphone mode. However, the active noise cancellation can still be enabled which means you still get to enjoy the music noise free.
In terms of battery life, the headset is able to pull off some great runtime. According to the specs, it will last 24 hours over bluetooth wireless when listening to music or making a phone call. With noice cancellation turned on, it’ll last around 15 hours. That is impressive. However, this headset has the benefit of being able to use it wired. This means that it can be used as both a stereo music headset as well as a wired handsfree for phone calls even when it has no juice left. Just plug the cable in and voila! In the plane where you may use it wired, you can still enable the Active noise cancellation for up to 40 hours. So you never have to worry about it running out of battery even in the longest flights around the globe. It takes less than 2 hours to fully charge using a common 2mm Nokia charger and has said to be able to standby in bluetooth mode for up to 600 hours. That’s an amazing 25 days of standby with bluetooth left on. Over the past 2 weeks I’ve had the headset, I’ve never been in a situation where it ran out of battery. I doubt I ever will. My phone/mp3 player/laptop will run out of battery much before this headset will that’s for sure.
– Very soft and plushy cushioning on the ear cups. No, they are not leather.
Comfort The BH-905 headset is very comfortable to wear. The ear cups have a thick but very soft padding that just lightly sits on your ear and does not exhibit any acute pressure points. The top part of the head band also has a plushy padding which ensures that you don’t feel the headband wrapping around your head. It should accomodate for most head sizes as the headband length can be extended on both sides. The left and right side of the headband also protrudes outwards which actually creates quite a gap between your head and the headband. This gives you a feeling that it’s not really sitting on top of your head. In saying that, it does look slightly awkward when worn. But my friends told me it looks fine so I guess it’s not that bad. The pressure of the headset pushing in on the ear is about just right although I personally prefer something slightly tighter.
It is very comfortable even when worn for extended periods and everyone else who i got to try the BH-905 out all agreed that it is extremely comfortable. For light jogging, it has no problems staying put and not falling off. But if you shake your head a lot for whatever reason, the headset does move about and become insecure. Overall, this is one super comfortable headset that is sure to please most.
– Thick and soft head band support. It’s definitely one of the most comfortable headsets out there.
Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) This is a big feature of the BH-905 and it sure doesn’t disappoint. The technology behind it is called the Wolfson AudioPlus Ambient Noise Cancellation and it offsets the ambient frequencies heard through its 8 microphones and in turn reduces the level of noise heard by your ear. As with most active noise cancelling headphones, it works best with a consistent low to mid frequencies such as airplane noise, fan/air-conditioning noise, road noise while in freeways etc. In such environments, when you switch it on, you will be amazed at the difference it makes. The best way to experience this immediately is to turn the ANC feature on while playing no music through the headset.
Just flick the switch on the left ear cup and enable the noise cancellation. It takes about 1 second for it to activate but when it does, you’ll suddenly feel like you have disconnected yourself from the world as it eliminates nearly all constant ambient noise. However, you will still be able to hear the people talking next to you and any accute sounds. The specs say it will reduce 99% of the noise. I think their definitition of noise is a bit different to mine as it definitely doesn’t seem that much in real life environments. But still, it was good enough to impress all my work teammates. So it does not lock you out silent but at least it removes most of the head-ache inducing constant frequency noise in the background. This also allows you to listen to the music at a lower volume than what you would normally do as you don’t have to fight with the ambient noise.
One other great thing about the active noise cancellation of the BH-905 is that it does not affect the sound quality of the input source that is being played whatsoever. So the music does not get processed by the DSP and is totally untouched even when enabled. This ensures that the music sound quality is always the same. However, it does generate some hiss when the ANC is enabled. It’s very little so it does not actually affect you while listening to music at any significant volume. But if you have no music playing, then you can hear the hiss. In saying that, the hiss is much quieter than the ambient noise that you hear when ANC is disabled. It just shows how well the ANC actually is performing in terms of eliminating the ambient noise around you for you to be able to hear such low volume hiss.
– I really like how the switch for ANC is not just a button but a proper switch. (Photo Source: Nokia)
Sound Quality When pairing it up to my N900 via Bluetooth and playing some music for the first time, I was a bit disappointed with its sound quality. A bit hollow and not dynamic enough in all the frequencies. Felt a bit like it was holding back the sound. But after I ran it in for a couple of hours of various music, it started to show what it really is capable of. As with most headphones, it just needed to be loosened up a little. Now it is well balanced, slightly warm sounding and much more dynamic. There is no audible distortion at the loudest volume, no ear piercing treble and no over blown bass. I didn’t hear much noise/hiss over bluetooth either. I got various people to try it out at my work and most were very impressed at its performance and sound quality. Simply brilliant considering it’s over bluetooth wireless.
Volume also was aplenty and the built-in amplifier seems to be able to pump out some serious sound level while over bluetooth. Defiintely loud enough to annoy everyone around you in the train/bus/plane considering that it is an open-style headphone that leaks out some sound. This to me is a problem. I would have much preferred a closed-type headphone design for this as it cups your ear and isolates the music more for yourself and not affect others around you. But that’s me. I commute via public transport often. For those who don’t, open style headphones gives you a more airy sounding experience and overall, better quality sound.
– Those grills are not where the microphones are. Not sure what they are actually.
Listening to some up beat hip hop music, it showed that it can handle the beats with no problem as the bass was tight and loud, mids were not lost and highs remained clear and distinct. Tried some pop opera and the clarity was superb. It’s about accurate rendition of music here. If you are used to bass heavy closed headphones, BH-905 may sound a bit weak in the very low frequencies. But all in all, I don’t think you will find any better bluetooth wireless headset that sounds this good. Yes, it’s that good.
Using the provided cable instead of bluetooth wireless, it will not sound as loud in volume when coupled with most mobile phones. This is due to the fact that the input sound is amplified by the portable device (ie. mobile phone) instead of the built-in amplifier in the headset. However, attaching the BH-905 with my Nokia N900 via the cable, it was still plenty loud. So it seems the BH-905 is quite easy to drive and has decent sensitivity. (I couldn’t find the exact sensitivity value in the official specs) The sound quality doesn’t deviate greatly from when used over bluetooth although theoretically, it should sound a little better due to it being wired. It’s also great that you can still turn on the noise cancellation while using cable. Perfect for plane trips where you can plug the BH-905 into the plane seat with the provided adapter and enjoy the extra silence that it can offer.
Finally, I need to comment about the voice call quality. It’s a bluetooth headset for a mobile phone afterall. I expected great things and it didn’t fail. While I have the headset on, if the phone call comes in, I just press the power/multifunction button on the right earpiece to pick up.
– Ear pieces supports a wide range of movements to cater for everyone. It tilts an swivels. (not 180 degrees)
Conclusion
This is one heck of a bluetooth headset. The sound quality when listening to music rivals that of a good open-style pair of headphones even over bluetooth wireless! Active Noise Cancellation works and isn’t just a gimmick. Fact that it doesn’t degrade the audio quality one bit is a huge plus. As a handsfree headset for phone calls, it works as expected and people don’t have any problems hearing my voice nor myself hearing them. It’s light, comfortable and well built. It does what it is designed to do and it does it better than expected. Only downside is the AUD$399 RRP price tag.
