I think the BlueAnt Z9 Bluetooth headset is a stylish headset with great performance. It is a worthy competitor to the better-known Plantronics and Motorola models.

People in the United States are not as familiar with the BlueAnt brand. The products have been available in the United States only since 2006. In its home country of Australia, the company is the largest supplier of Bluetooth peripheral devices.

The BlueAntZ9 was released in the United States in 2007. Along with the cool appearance, the headset is wonderfully small and very light on your ear. Almost all of the competition is larger and heavier.

It has a Digital Signal Processor (DSP) that filters out background noise and also enhances your voice quality when you are speaking in a challenging environment.

It is powered by a 3.7v lithium polymer battery. That battery gives you up to 5.5 hours of talk time. You get 200 hours of stand-by time.

The base unit weight is only 10 grams and the total weight, including the ear hook, is only 11 grams. I told you it is light. The headset comes with 3 ear hooks, so you get 2 spares in case you lose the first.

The package also includes a USB cable, an AC adaptor, a quick start guide, a user manual and a two-year warranty card. Everything you would expect with a wireless headset. I would point out, however, that in order to use your warranty you are going to need to have your proof of purchase and the package your headset came in.

The headset has three control buttons. They are volume up, volume down and a multi function button. An LED indicator surrounds the multi function button. That indicator displays three colors. Those colors are red, blue and purple. The colors tell you the ready status of your headset. How strong is your power? How weak is your battery?

You can set different ringtones for known and unknown callers.

Once you buy a BlueAnt Z9 Bluetooth headset, it is easy to start using it. First you need to charge the battery. That will take you about 2 hours. That’s plenty of time to read the quick start guide. Your headset should work with your phone with no problem. You can expect satisfactory reception at a range of at least 15 feet.

This headset provides excellent voice transmission by using a dual microphone. It eliminates background noise, echo and static. You get two noise cancellation modes. One is called voice isolation standard and the other is voice isolation max. You should need max only in a very noisy setting.

If you want to take the headset out of your ear for a while, it has a handy clip. You can use that to fasten it to your shirt or elsewhere. That helps prevent losing it or crushing it.

You can find real bargains on the BlueAnt Z9 Bluetooth headset now that a newer model has come out.