REVIEW: i-PHONO BT450Px Bluetooth Stereo Transmitter for the SONY PSP

Bluetake was very kind to send us in a unit of their brand new i-PHONO BT450Px Bluetooth Stereo transmitter for the SONY PSP devices, and we gave it whirl.

The BT450Px is in reality an audio gateway via Bluetooth which you can use it with your wireless Bluetooth headphones. It could theoretically work with any device that has an output of 3.5mm audio jack, but its size and shape are specifically fit for the PSP. The gateway is using Bluetooth 1.2 Class 2 (up to 10 meters) and supports the A2DP profile. There is no AVRCP support (as it is on Ever-E's A377 competitive product).

The gateway comes with its own internal battery, which is good for up to 6 hours (on par with PSP's usual battery life on a single charge). You can charge its internal battery via its mini-usb socket on its side. The product comes with a DC-USB adapter while allows you to charge both the PSP and the Bluetooth gateway at the same time, via the same AC adapter (by using PSP's own power adapter). I find this a very elegant and convenient solution.

To pair the BT450Px with your wireless headphones, you press-and-hold their power buttons until their little lights are flashing red and blue. Then, they automatically discover themselves and they are ready for usage. We found the sound quality and compatibility with the Bluetake headphones we tried it with, to be very good.

One thing we didn't like though, is the industrial design of the product:

You are supposed to plug the gateway to the PSP via the headset connector and really "lock" the gateway on the PSP by pressing-in its two notches that supposedly work as a holder. Well, it didn't hold on our PSP. UPDATE: Bluetake was very kind to send us a second sample and this time the transmitter was a perfect fit for the PSP. It seems that they simply had a bad batch from the factory, but they have resolved these issues and all new units are perfect fits.

The second problem is the power button which is located at the bottom of the gateway instead of on the side. I don't understand why they placed the power button below, which is so easy to push by mistake when keeping the PSP close to your belly, or when you hold the PSP horizontally and transport it. The power button should have been on the side of the BT450Px, facing the user, just like all other PSP buttons are located as.

Other than these two points (plus the fact that it doesn't support AVRCP while there is a connector available for this on the PSP), we have no major complaints. The device works, it's minimally small and offers a good solution. But it would have also been nice to couple the BT450Px as a "stand" too, adding to the product's usefulness which would make it very convenient when watching movies. It's the "little things" that make a product great and Bluetake didn't took care of. The basics work, but with some very little extra thought and work, they could have make this product rock.

Overall: 7/10