After the classical general walk through, it's time to put the BH-905i under the microscope and see what Nokia has to offer for us this time with its premium quality headset ! And what you'll find in this part of review is in fact what i didn't say about the BH-905 (lack of time to fully write about it) and a small words about some special features.

Anyway, this headset can be connected to a wide range of products dedicated to the music either wired or bluetooth at home or traveling, including on board an aircraft...The sales pitch to sell Nokia's new stereo headset is very attractive !

It is very easy to connect the BH-905i via Bluetooth to your mobile phone. You just need to press and hold the multifunction key for around 5 seconds until the blue indicator light start to flash quickly. Then you have to search the BH-905i with your mobile phone as a paired device. If you have found it just enter the passcode ”0000” and the headset is paired with your phone. After done this you will not need to do it again. You just need to switch on Bluetooth on your mobile-phone and press the multifunction key of the headset for 3 seconds and both devices are connected. As you can see it is very easy to set up the BH-905i with your device and after the first time you get connected with the headset within a few seconds.

ANC : Ambient Noise Cancelling

Mind you, my normal Bluetooth earpiece is now a Nokia BH-503, so when making simple phone calls, people could still hear some road noise or if I were in the office, they could hear the server fans, With the Nokia BH-905i (and BH-905), I was constantly asked if I were being still, if I were still there or if I had turned off everything in my background; which wasn’t the case !

Ambient Noise Canceling (By Wolfson AudioPlus) technology uses a patented signal processing and uses
an advanced "know-how" in design to ensure sound an active noise cancellation headphones for high quality and stereo headphones. The original compensation technology cancels more noise's decibels across a wide frequency range than regular technologies, offering a peaceful and tranquil environment to users, wherever they are. Advanced Wolfson technology does not treat the audio playback, your music is reproduced in Stereo Hi-Fi quality intact.

While downtown, I sat down on a bench across from the street from some construction, decided to listen to some music. Instead of the normal reaction by some of the more inexpensive noise cancellation headphones where they just make the music louder and call that “noise cancellation”, the BH-905i pushed out the noise and allowed me to listen to my music from the phone without incident. Just flick the switch on the bottom left headphone and active noise cancellation kicks in noticeably. Since I decided to use a phone the entire time, I received a few phone calls while downtown and while they could hear some things in the background – it does not mute your surroundings to a point of where it’s unnatural, they could easily hear me over everything.

As you can see, right away I wanted to test this mode called "noise reduction" that can be enabled or disabled using a physical button. When it is running, it has a green light on. And surprise - because I'm always skeptical about this kind of technology - it works! I said goodbye to conversations that I heard often distant, the sound of the ringing telephone or a neighbor to the sound of cars or motorbikes that pass in the street.

At first, it is very strange because it seems to become deaf. Actually, I found it very uncomfortable because I could hear the noise even though the phone located a few feet from me. But after a few minutes, you get used to it very quickly and re-learn to hear "essential" sounds

Of course, I speak here of the anti-noise technology associated with listening to music. Because if we only put the headphones on without launching music - not even strong - means is a difference between the before and after reduction of ambient noise but not so blatant as that. At the technical level, the headset uses sensors to listen to the sounds around and send "sounds cons" to eliminate them. The less clear sound, technology less ad'intérêt.

As already expected the sound quality is really good and clear. Treble seems good, Music’s nice and clear with ANC on, and volume seems to go up enough to make you deaf in a couple listens if you use it with a Nokia N91 ! With other phones (iPhone, N8, N900, X6 etc.) you'll be just fine... if thats your sort of thing. That being said though, there isnt THAT much bass in the BH-905i which is something I’m really looking for a ‘flagship’ headphone at this point. It’s better than most other Nokia Bluetooth Headsets i’ve tried though (except the BH-503).

Wireless Mode : Bass boost and stereo widening :

You can turn the bass boost effect and extended stereo while listening to music from an audio player
compatible with Bluetooth wireless technology.

These effects are available if your music player uses the SBC encoding, but if the player uses the direct streaming MP3 or AAC rather than SBC encoding, these effects are not available. Don't worry, it works with the iPhone (and most Nokia phones i tried) ;)

To select the desired effect while you listen Music :

• To activate the bass boost effect, you have to press Multifunction key, the headset beeps.

• To activate the stereo widening effect, wait a second, then press a second time on the multifunction key, the helmet beeps twice.
• To enable the bass boost and stereo widening effects, a third press the multifunction key is needed and the helmet emits three beeps.
• To disable the effects, press the fourth button Multifunction. The headset emits a long beep.

And what's more interesting is that the headset registers the selected parameter for a later use !

And yes, it improves the overall quality slightly and the lack of bass rendering as i said earlier is no more an issue !

What next? Stay tuned !