Last month I wrote a 5-in-1 Bluetooth headset review. One of the products in that lineup was the Lubix UBHS-NC1 stereo headset. In that product description, I mentioned a matching iPod Bluetooth stereo adapter, which I’m going to review for you today.
The Lubix L’Bubb (yeah, that really is the name!) is a small dongle that plugs into the bottom of your iPod or iPhone, and streams the audio output of your player to any Bluetooth stereo device. What this means, is that you can keep your iPod in your pocket or bag, and listen to (and control) your music wirelessly.
The dongle is quite small, and receives its power from the dock connector on your iPod. For this review, I tested it with several Bluetooth devices, including the UBHS-NC1.
Sound quality is very easy to describe – I could not notice a single difference between wired headphones or wireless. The adapter features the SRS Wow HD sound enhancing technology, which can be turned on or off.
To get a little technical – the L’Bubb works using the Bluetooth “A2DP” protocol, which refers to the standard for Bluetooth stereo transmissions. In addition to this, it supports the “AVRCP” service, used to control the music (play, pause and track skips).
There are several really big advantages to using Bluetooth stereo – the main one is of course to get rid of those stupid white iPod cords hanging out of your ears. The second one is in my opinion more important – it keeps your iPod out of harms way, and does not let everyone know you are carrying a $300 music player.
Finally, one great additional feature is the multipoint system built into most Bluetooth headsets – this allows you to connect to your iPod and mobile phone (if it supports Bluetooth) at the same time. You listen to music, and when a call comes in, you can pick it up on the same headset. When you are done with your call, you hang up, and continue listening to music.
There are one or two disadvantages as well – your player will not last as long when you are streaming music using the dongle. On my iPod Nano I noticed a drop in battery life of a couple of hours, which still leaves almost a day of non stop playtime. Then there is of course the issue of battery life of the headphones themselves – the batteries in the UBHS-NC1 will last about 5 hours, so you will need to recharge them every day if you plan to use them on your daily commute.
My only minor complaint with the L’Bubb iPod stereo Bluetooth adapter (besides the silly name) is that the dongle does not allow you to charge the iPod while it is plugged in.
The Lubix L’Bubb costs $50 and the UBHS-NC1 is $54. But, if you purchase the headset and Bluetooth adapter at the same time, you only pay $84!