While some people like me will undoubtedly always be looking for the smallest possible Bluetooth headset with the most features and functionalities (such as the two bestselling New Jawbone and terrific new Jabra BT530) others are finding that these ultrasmall solutions are just not fitting for their particular needs.
For example, people who for one reason or another “have” to wear a BT headset literally throughout the day for work can experience “ear fatigue” from continuously having an ear gel pressed inside their ear and/or are finding that neither the overall volume nor their noise cancellation requirements can be met by even these best ultrasmall headsets.
This is exactly the type of specialized customer needs that the MotorTrend Max 4x Bluetooth Headset has been specifically designed to address and I have to admit that to my pleasant surprise it succeeds at doing this extremely, extremely well.
MotorTrend-Max-4x-Headset2
For starters, although it’s certainly not small this headset still manages to weigh only 44 grams which makes it more than light enough to sit comfortably over your head for extended periods of time without giving you either a head or ear ache (even if I have to admit that I’m not a huge fan of over-the-head designs and would have much preferred a behind-the-neck option).
Next is the fact that the MotorTrend Max 4x provides you with 250 hours of standby time and an excellent 8 hours of talk time while delivering very high volume thanks to its large speaker (huge compared to a standard BT headset) and a noise cancellation that matches or even exceeds the best that I have tested to date thanks to its MAX 4x Technology which includes digital enhancements to reduce wind noise and Blocks 4 Times The External Noise.
You can experience this loud outbound call volume, clear voice reproduction and superior noise cancellation via the short audio sample that I made recording a call from my new Treo Pro smartphone (now available to pre-order for $549).
From a design perspective though the MotorTrend Max 4x will unfortunately not win any awards as neither the materials used nor overall build quality are particularly exciting – for example the padded leather speaker cover has a habit of coming loose but I guess that one could permanently glue it in place. Having said this, both the boom mic and extending over-the-head mechanism work perfectly well.
There is also the fact that the MotorTrend Max 4x intelligently and conveniently offers a mini USB charging port on the headset and that the box includes both a USB wall charger and USB car charger pictured below (but unfortunately no USB cable with which you could charge the headset from a spare port on your PC).
Overall, I have been extremely impressed by the audio performance of this MotorTrend Max 4x Bluetooth Headset – particularly its stunning and superior noise cancellation which is a match for the very best competitors as well as its talk time and loud volume. It is unfortunate that while the manufacturer has clearly focused and delivered on the performance aspect that the design and build quality are not quite at the same level but if you’re willing to overlook that you’ll find that this Bluetooth headset strongly delivers on pretty much every other area.
If however your particular needs still call for the smallest possible headset with the most features and functionality then my top two recommendations remain the bestselling New Jawbone (now even better value as it’s been reduced to only $99.95!) as well as the terrific new Jabra BT530.
