The LTB Q-Bean is, hands down, one of the most ill conceived wireless audio solutions we've ever seen. The egg shaped 2.4GHz receiver is engineered to plug into a set of headphones and wirelessly sync with a PC or Mac, letting you traipse as far as 100 feet away from your computer while listening to tunes. Trouble is, the unit is basically a design nightmare. Nevermind the flimsy, plastic, dung beetle-shell of a cover; it's the decroded earbuds, terrible interface, and half-assed instruction manual (example text: "Receive voice input which is always on while the power is turned on.") that made the Q-Bean borderline traumatic to use. After an excruciating set-up, we enjoyed surprisingly clear wireless audio at ranges that could put Bluetooth headphones to shame. But we kept asking the question, "Why?" Why would anyone shell out over a hundred smackers for such a garish portable music device just to be anchored to a computer? We'd rather spend the extra pocket change and get a Nano. You're actually mobile with one of those.
Review: LTB Audio Q-Bean Wireless Audio Link
The LTB Q-Bean is, hands down, one of the most ill conceived wireless audio solutions we’ve ever seen. The egg shaped 2.4GHz receiver is engineered to plug into a set of headphones and wirelessly sync with a PC or Mac, letting you traipse as far as 100 feet away from your computer while listening to […]
All products featured on WIRED are independently selected by our editors. However, when you buy something through our retail links, we may earn an affiliate commission.
WIRED
100ft range. Signal penetrates semi-solid barriers. Lithium polymer battery lasts for hours upon hours. Plug n' Play works in Vista.
TIRED
Looks more tore up than a piece of Kleenex at a snot party. Ludicrously priced. Cannot use receiver to change tracks in iTunes. Poorly placed microphone. OSX recognized receiver as a keyboard. Gah!