Sony SBH50 Bluetooth

Riding on the previous SBH20's success, Sony has decided to innovate and release a new bluetooth headset for consumers. The new SBH50 is not your usual type of device as it boasts features that could possibly change the way you use your mobile device. Sony SBH50 is supersized with a fresh OLED display and even a built in radio receiver. What possibilities does the new SBH50 brings with a OLED display? Does it really make sense to have a little display on a bluetooth headset? Read on to find out more.

Introduction

It is an understatement to call the new Sony SBH50 just a bluetooth receiver. It is probably the first of Sony's steps into future innovation on smart wearable technology with the release of SBH50. Think of this new device as a Pebble smart watch but in a different form factor. The Bluetooth device connects to your smartphone, instantly becoming a smartphone companion. You can wirelessly receive audio directly from the smartphone via bluetooth and thanks to the small OLED display, you can even see your latest phone notifications and read SMS directly from the device. We will take a look at each individual technology incorporated in the SBH50.

Features and Technologies

NFC Technology

Just like the SBH20, the newer Sony SBH50 has incorporated NFC technology within. This means that the SBH50 bluetooth headset can be easily paired with your NFC enabled smartphone just by simply putting both devices together. Forget about keying in passcodes to pair bluetooth devices as NFC authentication replaces that step, allowing seamless pairing to get you started with your new gadget quickly.

OLED Display allowing Notifications and SMS Reading with Smartphone App

The main difference between the SBH20 and SBH50 is that the latter has a built in OLED Display. We found it to be extremely useful as this clip on accessory also enables quick SMS notification and Caller information display.

SMS Notification from Android phone

SMS/Text Message can be read directly from SBH50

Caller Info/ Calltime details shown on SBH50

Easy playlist navigation

Navigational and playback keys

Upon pairing the SBH50 with the smartphone, details of the current playlist and songs will be instantly streamed on the SBH50. I've tested the device on an Android, iOS and BlackBerry 10 smartphone and all these smartphone platforms will support this feature. This also means that I can now browse through all the different songs on my smartphone by using the navigational buttons found on the SBH50 even before without taking the smartphone out from my pocket. It also works with non-standard characters like Japanese, Korean and Chinese.

 

 

Chinese song title when playback

Japanese song titles supported as well



Built-in FM Radio

Radio frequency for FM radio function on SBH50

SBH50 has also got built in FM Radio functionality which could be what many people are looking for. The independent FM Receiver within SBH50 essentially makes the device a portable radio player as well.

Multipoint voice/audio

Unlike many other bluetooth headsets out in the market which only allows a single bluetooth device to be connected at a time, SBH50 can connect to two smartphones or other devices at the same time. The device intelligently switches between audio sources and devices. It is extremely useful in some user scenarios. For example:

• If you have to carry around a work phone and a personal phone but don’t want the hassle of having two separate headsets.
• If you use Skype at home, but don’t want to be tied down to sitting in front of your PC.
• If you like listening to music, but don’t want to miss incoming calls because you’ve got a headset on.

What we felt about the device

Sony SBH50 bluetooth headset is indeed an innovative product that tries to change the way we interact with our smart devices. It tries to do more than what usual bluetooth headset does by having a nice OLED display, cool smartphone partner. However, I personally felt that this device has a huge usability flaw.

 

Usually, we will clip the device onto our shirt or jacket. At this point, the OLED screen will be facing in a direction where the user cannot directly see. It will require us to take the whole device out from where it was clipped from and look at the screen. In my opinion, I would have preferred to take my whole smartphone out instead. Wearable gadgets are cool to have, but it's sad to say that Sony has probably done it wrongly this time. It made sense for their smartwatches as we can take a glimpse at the watch quickly, but as for SBH50 it did not allow us to have quick access to the notifications and information which we need quickly and it was a hassle to unclip the device just to take a look at limited information on the small screen.

 

On the other hand, I felt that the screen will be useful the choosing of songs remotely from the smartphone. I also loved that SBH50 has got built in FM Radio feature. Sony has not neglected the huge number radio junkies in the local consumer space. SBH50 can also transform any speakers into a radio player easily, bringing itself great value as a entertainment device.

 

Conclusion

SBH50 is probably the best bluetooth headset out there in the market right now in terms of features. Putting its user experience issues aside, features which were not seen on any other bluetooth headsets has come to life with this new device from Sony. The addition of a small OLED screen gave users a clearer sense of what they were doing with the bluetooth device and it was a nifty little "notification hub" for a smartphone. Its independent FM Radio feature also sets itself apart from competitors and opens itself to a wider target userbase. We feel that for a smartphone companion which comes with so many added functionalities and features, it will be worth the price as it retails at only $109SGD.

Sony Bluetooth headset SBH50 comes in White and Black colours and retails in Singapore at RRP S$108 in selected Sony stores, Tech@Vogue, Challenger, Gadget World, Newstead Technologies and other authorised resellers.