Goodcall iG1

The iPhone is a powerful smartphone, but its shape (like that of most slab phones) isn't designed to be held up to your head for hours at a time. Larger headsets like the Goodcall iG1?($79.99 direct)? aim to turn your iPhone into an all-day home office phone. At its heart, the iG1 is a giant Bluetooth headset with an associated iPhone dock.?But while the iG1 is handsome, its high price and mediocre ergonomics don't quite seal the deal.?

Design and Setup
The sleek and modern look of the iG1 would be at home on any design-conscious desk. The dock has a sturdy 30-pin Apple dock connector and a space that holds the slick handset upright. The dock, which measures 1.9 by 5.7 by 3.2 inches (HWD) and weighs 11.6 ounces, isn't quite heavy enough to allow you to detach an iPhone with one hand, and it isn't compatible with the iPhone 5's?new Lightning connector (though you can still use the handset via Bluetooth). There's always the 30-pin-to-Lightning adapter, but we haven't had a chance to test it and I'd be concerned with stability. On the back of the dock is a micro USB port, which you can use to connect the dock to wall power (through an included AC adapter) or to your PC for syncing.

The handset measures 7.4 by 1.9 by 1.3 inches (HWD) and looks like a boomerang, with a curved and tapered profile. There are Call, End, and Volume buttons on the handset, as well as a Power switch towards the bottom. A dual-color LED on the handset flashes during incoming calls, but it also glows a bit too bright, even when not in use.

The iG1 is light and thin enough for long conversations, and its shape is easier on your ear and cheek than the hard glass slab of an iPhone 4S.?Unfortunately, it's a bit too thin to make cradling between your face and shoulder truly comfortable. The handset is more ergonomic than the iPhone itself, but I'd hardly call that a major strength or selling point here.?

The iG1 connects with iPhones via Bluetooth, and pairing was fast and easy, requiring no additional apps or connections. Answering and ending calls is as simple as picking up and putting down the handset, much like any normal landline phone. The speaker on the handset also plays your phone's ringtone during calls, even if your phone itself is on silent. The handset and your iPhone do not have to be docked to work, and Goodcall claims the handset should last for 4 hours of talk time.?

Much like any other Bluetooth device, the iG1 is limited to around 30 feet, at which point static creeps in and voices begin to drop out. That means you can't put the iG1 in a strong-signal area and use the handset on the other side of your house, unlike other systems which use traditional cordless phone frequencies.

Performance and Conclusions
Unlike cell-to-landline solutions like the VTech Connect-to-Cell Cordless Phone System, the iG1 doesn't have the option to connect to real landlines in addition to cell phones. Instead, you get a single handset, tethered to the iPhone by Bluetooth, with no option to add satellite handsets. The VTech also has a display on its handsets for things like caller ID and synced address books.

Call quality using the iG1 was respectable, if not spectacular. In my tests, voices through the handset sounded louder and clearer than on the iPhone alone, but they also had a more robotic quality to them. Noise cancelling was on par with the iPhone's, but not as good as noise cancelling on a Bluetooth headset like the Aliph Jawbone Era.

Because the iG1 uses the Bluetooth headset profile, it can wirelessly activate Siri on iPhone 4S and 5 models or use the simple voice controls on older iPhones. Holding down the Call button activates the virtual assistant or brings up the voice prompt, and everything works through the iG1 just like it does on the phone itself. It's a useful trick, especially since there is no number pad or display on the iG1's handset.

Think of the Goodcall iG1 as more of a dock with a Bluetooth handset than a full cell-to-landline solution like VTech's system. Its good looks would make it a welcome addition to most desks, but it really doesn't bring too much to the table in terms of added functionality. While it's more comfortable to use than holding your phone to your head for hours at a time, you're paying a real premium for the stylish design here.?

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kevin smith