When I saw two Lubix headsets – LC1 and NC1 – I understood, these are my favorite toys for a long time. My first impression was: they look so cute! But I wasn't able to decide, which one headset to test first. I took NC1, as, according to user comments, they are really popular. And, maybe because I've read many enthusiastic user opinions, I was geared up positively.

The NC1 and LC1 come in black and in white. I own a black NC-1 set and a white LC1 – the best variant, as for me..

Design. Here comes a unique Lubix design! When not in use, the headset can be worn on the neck as a pendant. Two halves of the headphones are connected by a magnet, hiding between them two control wheels. Thus, no unnecessary cords will bother you (as I remember, it was a popular complaint about Sony Ericsson HBH-DS970). And when you need to talk or listen to music, just separate the halves and insert them into the ears, leaving cord behind the neck. The length of the neckband is easy to adjust using the chocker.

Such a marvelous easiness in carrying and usage won my heart – I have lots of devices in my bag, that's why I'm always glad to get a chance to alleviate this burden.

Many people say the earpieces have a tendency to fall out. As for me, I'm not very active, sitting and staring at monitor all day long, so I haven't suffered. I use soft foam coverings and don't complain. But more sporty people found a solution – they use eargels and say it helps a lot.

Controls. There are just two control buttons, to be more exact – wheels, both placed on the  left earpiece. The upper one manages phone calls (making, answering, transferring a call from phone to the headset and vice versa) and volume. The lower one helps to Play/Pause music, select tracks, perform such functions as Rewind/Forward, ending and rejecting a call. I'm glad that there is no beeping while I increase or decrease volume. I hear beeps only when I'm doing something wrong.

The Power Switch is placed separately, so you won't confuse buttons and leave the headset On by mistake. I've always appreciated headsets with such On/Off slider. The hardware switch fastens the On/Off process and guarantees no power drain when the headset is out-of-operation. Moreover, this one slider is tight enough and won't switch on casually if you catch it on something in your bag.

But I like not only controls itself. A good thing is that all the controls are marked, and you see which functions they perform. After a while you'll use buttons intuitively, but in the beginning it is quite important. As I remember, in Moto review I (and my friends as well) complained on the absence of such marking, and my colleague marked Jabra 620 buttons by himself with mark pen. Since then I've tested many headsets and became firmly convinced that marking is a necessity.

3D Sound. Lubix can boast a brand new thing in headsets – both LC1 and NC1 have 4 types of 3D sound effect plus Normal mode.

XOME – takes distractible sound away from ears and thus provides comfortable listening.

LIVE – simulates live performance with use of reverberation, delivering natural and soft 3D sound.

WIDE – provides a panoramic 3D sound (spatial dispersion effect).

MEX – delivers wide stereo sound image, enhances low-frequency sound to provide rich and deep bass tones.

The switching between these settings is performed by pressing Call button.

I can't decide, which one I like most – XOME or MEX, with MEX they sound even louder. I will alternate them :)

Sound. I've used Pocket Tunes on Palm TX and Life Drive, and Softick Audio Gateway 1.15 version. Life Drive, being a retard, is not good for headsets; TX & Audio Gateway sound perfectly – even if previous AG versions had glitches, this one is considerably better.

Volume is great, even more than enough. But, especially in my favorite XOME mode, everything sounds so to say brighter, thus revealing some hoarseness and distortion in high frequency. There is every likelihood that it's a codec fault.

But in total the sound is great – rich and clear. To tell the truth, even having read user comments I had been rather skeptical about the sound of such a small headphones until I've got them. Now I'm fully content with Lubix. Of course, basses are not such profound as of big Plantronics, but still... Well, maybe I'm too critical? A lot of users are more than satisfied with basses. For such a small headset basses are indeed good. As for middles, they are flawless.

Though, one unpleasant thing annoyed me. I've noticed some skipping due to other Bluetooth-enabled devices interference, very-very seldom, but unexpected and that's why even more bothering.

As for the phone call, the sound is mediocre, despite the fact that the sound goes to both ears.

Pairing. Some users complained about problems while pairing, but I had absolutely no hassle with it nor with further connecting. Pairing was extremely fast. Turn on the headset, holding the Call button, and it is in pairing mode.

Connection can be performed not only from a phone, but also from the headset: turn it on and press the Call button. This will connect the headset to most recent Bluetooth device you had connected it. NC1's memory is more than 2 devices.

Charging. A charging port is unnoticeable – it is hidden by little plastic cover. Connect the headset to a computer or A/C outlet using USB cable, and disconnect it from the USB as soon as the charging is complete. They say you can't use it while charging, but we somehow managed to do it! :) Both NC1 and LC1 operate while charging. The battery is non-replaceable, and of course operation time will diminish as the time goes by. The playback time, according to our tests, is 4,9h (roughly 5h).

In the package you will find the headset itself, small and large eartips, soft foam coverings, USB cable for charging, USB adapter and Manual.

My review of LC1 you can read here.

So, LC1 vs. NC1. Firstly, I like NC1's size most, because they look more naturally when in ears; LC1 sit in ears more firmly, but remind about some strange earrings and seem a bit less comfortable after a while. The big advantage of LC1 I consider to be the LCD screen that not only shows caller ID and current function, but also helps while pairing. Moreover, its operating time is considerably greater. NC1 played 5h, and LC1 managed to play 9h (the same time as stated in specifications). The range of LC1 is 8 m, and of NC1 is 9m (according to our tests).

NC-1 have better BT connection, other devices in range create less interference, and the NC1's sound in total is much better; there is more distortion of highs on LC1.

What can I say more? I just love NC1, regardless of its little disadvantages. I adore the design and I'm content with sound, easy connecting and fantastic controls. This is where it's at!

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