Gennum nXZEN Plus Bluetooth Headset Review

Setting up the nXZEN Plus Bluetooth Headset

This is one of the smallest and lightest units we have tested at only 1 inch x 3.3 inches and less than 17 grams. Gennum claims 7 hours of talk time and 100 hours of stand-by which places it very competitive to other leaders of Bluetooth wireless headsets.

The nXZEN (pronounced “nex-zen”) uses a Digital Signal Processor (DSP) and a two microphone array setup to help improve noise reduction. Gennum ships the headset with two flavors: the nXZEN and the nXZEN Plus, which allows users to plug the headset into an MP3 or CD player for stereo sound and have the ability to answer incoming calls with the push of a single button. We didn?t do too much testing with the MP3 function, but for those that are looking for a headset with multiple uses; you might want to consider this amenity.

An interesting design is that this headset comes with a variety of earbuds to help block out external sound effectively amplifying the conversation that you are listening to. This addition should make this set very clear to hear and should reduce the “hand-over-ear” time that Bluetooth headset users typically have when trying to hear a conversation.

Setting up the device

Set up of the nXZEN could hardly be easier. After entering “pairing” mode on both the headset and phone, both Treo and RAZR were able to find the headset in a timely manner.

We selected one of the smaller “earbuds” to use with the device. It was initially a strange sensation having this bud in my ear canal, but whatever discomfort I felt was made up by the sound quality and volume of incoming phone calls. For those of you with “non-standard” size ears (you know who you are!), you may want to look at this headset fairly close because of the multitudes of fittings it has for your ear. Other headset companies should take heed in what Gennum has done in providing a wide variety of ear fittings out of the box. With that said, we found the comfort level of the nXZEN to be very good.