Logitech Zone Vibe 125: Weightless comfort on the ears that won't break the bank
- Reference: 1657009808
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2022/07/05/logitech_zone_vibe_125/
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The Vibe 125 is a curious beast, mostly hidden away on Logitech's own site but available from the likes of Amazon and Dell for around £120 ($146), which pits it against some serious competitors.
First the good – we've been using this headset for a few weeks now and it is absurdly comfortable, certainly when compared to earbud-based devices. It's perhaps subjective, but the soft, over-ear speakers fit very well and do a fine job at cutting out background noise.
Noise-cancelling technology apparently also plays its part, but we're not too sure how effective that really was. We didn't detect much change in background noise when the headphones were fired up.
There are 18 hours of talk-time or 20 hours of listening time, according to Logitech, and the headphones are wireless, connecting either via Bluetooth or the included USB receiver. The charging cable has a USB-A connector, although Logitech thoughtfully includes a USB-A to USB-C adapter in the box.
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We used Bluetooth with both a Windows 11 PC and a M1 Mac Mini, and had no difficulty connecting to both. A toggle switch on the side dealt with power and pairing while other buttons handled volume, calls, and pausing music. Pretty standard stuff.
[2]
[3]
The mic can be flipped down from the left speaker or popped back up for muting purposes, complete with a soothing voice akin to Mother from the Alien franchise telling you if you're muted or not. A button on the mic boom is also available for silencing one's voice if flipping the mic up and down is too much effort.
[4]Logitech's MX Mechanical keyboard, Master 3S mouse
[5]Logitech Pop: Stylish, portable, but far from the best typing experience
[6]Logitech Lift: Vertical mouse for those with small hands
[7]Logitech Signature M650: A mouse that will barely emit a squeak or a clickety-click
Voice capture was clear and background noises were apparently absent, although we needed to find the "sweet spot" for microphone positioning.
Now the bad – all is not roses in Logitech's garden. We've looked at Logitech's keyboard and mouse products recently, and the plastics from which this headset is constructed did not have the same hewn-from-granite quality of some of the company's other products. The choice of fabric for the earphones and headband cover is also a concern. While the unit is very comfortable, we're not sure how long the material will retain its luster. The same goes for the sizing mechanism. Other headsets we've used have a reassuring ratchet and we can't help but wonder about the longevity of the Vibe's smooth sliding sizing system.
Overall, the headset would make for a good workhorse. It's a shame that wireless is the only option and the battery cannot be easily swapped out. One can certainly get better sound quality elsewhere, for a price, but for a working day the soft fabric of the earphones gives a comfortable fit and the lightness means it's easy to forget you're wearing the device.
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This writer still prefers his Bose QuietComfort headphones, but with this Logitech unit hovering at around a third of the price, we'd suggest buyers looking for remote working headgear take a closer look. ®
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That sounds a profile/setup issue rather something inherent in Bluetooth itself. I suspect you might be able work around it with a mute function.
That's what I thought at first. But it turns out that the Bluetooth SIG haven't created a profile for headphones to receive high quality, buffered stereo whilst transmitting low latency audio from the mic. A 3rd party created a workaround, but I don't know how many headphones (or even OSs and software) support it.
Bluetooth in windows is terrible
Bluetooth in windows doesn't support proper stereo, it's a god awful implementation. I tried Bluetooth headphones for connectivity in video conferencing and they are the pits. Have to use a decent wireless set with it's own dongle or you get hideous sound, no matter what you spend on the headphones.
Re: Bluetooth in windows is terrible
I disable the Bluetooth headset device, so it uses the headphone device. For calls, I just use the inbuilt laptop mic, and then I can have background music playing that doesn't get fed back into the video conf.
Hiya Filippo!
It appears that by design voice comms over Bluetooth transmit and receive at same bandwidth and with no packet resending to minimise latency. Audio quality takes a bit hit. Not useful for you.
So, it turns out that a company hacked a workaround on a different codec and called it FastStream. You might have some joy seeking (and then reading reviews of, naturally) headphones that have FastStream.
Lots of geeky details about Bluetooth codecs, snarky tone, background, tests and testing tools here:
https://habr.com/en/post/456182/
Comfort?
it's perhaps subjective, but the soft, over-ear speakers
are bloody uncomfortable if you wear glasses!
The computer running the Nostromo is called a MU/TH/UR 6000.
My Sony WH XM1000 headphones connect via Bluetooth and provide excellent sound and stereo.
Less
From my experience Logitech products have been steadily going downhill. They look cheap and certainly not worth £120.
Now if you managed to save £120, you could save £120 again and buy proper headphones like WH-1000XM4 or get earlier models for little less.
The mic can be flipped down from the left speaker
Headphones should be designed to be 'reversible', so the user can choose the hand, right or left, to use to flip the mic.
> The charging cable has a USB-A connector, although Logitech thoughtfully includes a USB-A to USB-C adapter in the box.
Is the first cable USB A Male to USB A Female (just a USB A extension cable), and the second cable a short USB A Male to USB C Female?
Or, is the first cable USB A Male to USB C Male, and the adaptor is USB A Female to USB C Male - for the purposes of charging from a USB C port?
According to Logitech's blurb on Amazon, the noise cancelling feature is applied to the headset's microphones (as is common practice on mobile phone microphones), not its earphones.
This concurs with the reviewer's observation that *he* couldn't hear the difference. The person on the other end of his call likely could, though.
Question. Suppose I'm using this to play online games. This means I'm listening to high-quality audio, and I'm also using the mic.
With most Bluetooth devices, this appears to be impossible: as soon as you switch on the mic, the device switches to the Bluetooth "hands-free" profile, designed for phone calls. Which means that the audio quality drops a lot and you no longer get stereo. I'm not an audiophile, not even close, but even I can tell the difference - suddenly, the game sounds like, well, like a good phone call.
This can be easily tested by starting some good quality music with no application using the mic, and then starting any application that uses the mic. The music quality will drop massively.
If the Zone Vibe 125 is used via Bluetooth, does it exhibit this problem?
If it does, does the problem go away if used via USB?