Nokia BH-905, BH-214 and MD-9 Review

During my recent #NokiaNav challenges, which featured a Maserati (in case I’d not mentioned that before!) I was able to try out some cool Nokia accessories. The main piece of kit was the CK-200 Car Kit, but I also had some other Nokia audio accessories to try out. This started off on the first day with the Nokia BH-214 Bluetooth headset, which I had to use to find the keys to the car! My second challenge involved driving to a mystery location, collect a key to unlock a black box in the boot of the car, where I found a pair of Nokia BH-905 Noise Cancelling Headphones. The last item was found in the hamper in the boot of the Maserati – a Nokia MD-9 Mini Speaker.

So I’ve had a good play with all 3 of the Nokia Accessories, and I have now compiled my thoughts on each of the devices below:

Nokia BH-905 Noise Cancelling Headphones

These are a serious pair of headphones. Weighty, yet light the Nokia BH-905 headphones come in a nice zip-ip case that contains the headphones, cable for charging, and cable and adapters should you like to be wired  to your audio system.

If you like your music, and you like to get fully immersed into your listening experience, then these are the headphones for you. The Nokia BH-905 headphones are wireless using Bluetooth. Not only do they deliver great sound quality, but they are also noise cancelling. What does this mean? Well, there are some small mics on the headphones that pick up any background noise around you, and then using clever technology will the cancel this noise out so as not to interfere with your listening experience.

On one of the headphones you will find some music controls that allow you to skip tracks, play/pause and adjust the volume. These work great with Nokia devices, but don’t function completely with other Bluetooth devices such as an iPhone (iOS 4.1 will fix this).  You can play/pause and adjust the volume, but not skip tracks.

I compared the sound quality of the headphones against some BOSE noise cancelling headphones, and while the BH-905 sound great, they obviously don’t match the quality. You certainly don’t get the depth of stereo, or bass that the BOSE noise-cancelling headphones deliver, but then the BH-905′s are somewhat cheaper.

The headphones themselves rest on your ears, whereas the BOSE are slightly larger and cup your ears totally enclosing them with the headphone. Because of this I didn’t think that Nokia’s were as comfortable or that the overall sound quality and noise-cancelling experience was quite as good.

Saying that – comparing them to some expensive BOSE headphones was probably a little unfair, as they would generally be out of most peoples price bracket – for what you get the Nokia BH-905 headphones deliver a great sound experience at a reasonable price.

Personally I’m not really a big fan of large headphones, I’d never wear them while out-and-about, and although I sometimes like to ‘zone-out’ at home with music via headphones, I’d opt for the smaller in-your-ear style.

The Nokia BH-905 Bluetooth Headphones retails for around £140.

Nokia MD-9 Mini Speaker

The Nokia MD-9 Mini Speaker was the biggest surprise for me out of all of the accessories. The small black square speaker with a simple red stripe around it doesn’t look much, it’s also very light and compact. Like most media speakers of this kind of size I wasn’t expecting much in the quality of the sound. On plugging it into the Nokia N97 Mini, I was surprised by how loud and bassy the sound that came out of it. Even in an outdoor environment, with background noises, the music was very clear with a nice rich sound to it. And all powered by 2 AAA batteries!

The wire to connect to your music device winds nicely around the base of the MD-9 with the jack snapping firmly into the bottom of the unit.

There isn’t much more to say about the Nokia MD-9‘s – you just plug it in and enjoy your music.

I can see myself using the Nokia MD-9 Portable Mini Speaker while on holiday, as it’s so light that it can easily be packed in a bag.

The Nokia MD-9 Mini Speaker retails for around £16.

Nokia BH-214 Bluetooth Headset

This little device was given to me at the start of the #NokiaNav experience when I had to go and locate the keys for the Maserati that had just been delivered (Did I mention that I had a Maserati for a week?).

Photo by BennyCrime

The device is easily clipped onto a shirt/jacket and the headphones pop into your ear canal. No more long wires to get tangled up with and the sound quality on these were great.

I found that these were great for use at the gym, and used them every day on my walk to and from work.

The BH-214 can be paired with most Bluetooth devices that support A2DP profile, which includes the iPhone. Unfortunately music navigation using the keys isn’t supported, although the volume can be adjusted.

The device is quick to charge, which gives music playback of around 7 hours.

Overall the BH-214 Bluetooth Headphones are a fantastic addition for music on the move.  I loved them so much that I actually bought myself a pair – which are used daily. Wireless music is definitely the way to go – I dont think that I could go back to proper wired headphones again now.

Nokia BH-214 retail for around £39.99 – but I managed to pick up a pair from KingofGadgets.co.uk for £22.99 with free delivery.