I don't recommend this product as I found the installation to be extremely tedious. I don't have an optical drive so the CD is useless. So following their instructions I went to the website to download the driver.
Unfortunately, the manual isn't specific to this model. It just says "download one of these four drivers". And the driver download page is not searchable, so I just had to click through to the 4th or 5th page, visually scanning the pictures of the dongles to see which one looked like mine, and then check that its SKU matched one of the ones from the manual. Thankfully, in this case there were only two, and one was black and the other white, so I felt confident I had found the right one.
The driver comes as a .RAR archive file, which is fine, you can get free software (I used 7Zip) to extract it. However, there's another RAR inside of the first one (two layers deep), which was a bit perplexing to me, but sure, whatever.
BUT THE BIGGEST ISSUE, and the reason I'm writing this review, was that the bluetooth driver also enables CAPS LOCK NOTIFICATIONS. I don't know why, as I am not using a wireless keyboard. The only thing I paired with my PC was a pair of wireless headphones. As another reviewer mentioned, it seems to install a lot more than it needs to, which is not only bad practice but frankly unethical. At the very least, it should present these as transparent options to the user.
The reason I bring up the caps lock notifications is that they also steal your application context. This takes only a few minutes before you realize it's something you definitely can't live with. Every time you hit the caps lock key, your application will be minimized and you will be sent back to the desktop to see the utterly unhelpful "CAPS LOCK: ON/OFF" notification above your system tray.
I spent about two hours trying to disable this, following several guides and turning off every notification and focus assist option in Windows. After reading about other people having similar issues after installing other bluetooth drivers, I knew the new driver was to blame. Unfortunately, their solutions didn't work for me. I was literally about to start a return on this dongle when I finally figured out how to disable this annoying "feature".
(For context, I'm a software developer with a master's degree in computer science. If it's this much trouble for someone like me, it is well past the point of a reasonable user experience.)
So, if you're considering buying this product, please don't. I suspect this won't be the last issue you face.
BUT, if like me you've already purchased it and came here looking for help, here it is (I'm on Windows 10):
- In the search bar, next to the Windows icon on the left side of your task bar, type "regedit" and open up the registry editor
- Click on HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > SOFTWARE > Cambridge Silicon Radio > Harmony > Default
- You should see at the bottom an option called "OSD"
- Double click on OSD and change "Value Data" from 1 to 0
Two stars because the headphones sound fine.
| Brand | UGREEN |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | UGREEN GROUP LIMITED |
| Place of Business | Shenzhen, Guangdong 518109, CN |
| Model | 30722 |
| Part Number | 30722 |
| Memory Type | DDR2 SDRAM |
| OS | Linux, Windows XP, Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows 10 |
| Hardware interface | USB, Headphone |
| Compatible Devices | Laptop, Mouse, Desktop, Keyboard |
| Web Browser Included | No |
| Color Screen | No |
| Voltage | 5 Volts |
| Batteries included | No |
| Batteries Required | No |
| Data Transfer Rate | 3 Megabits Per Second |
| Data link protocol | Bluetooth, USB |
| Connector Type | bluetooth, usb, wireless |
| Has auto-focus | No |
| Includes Rechargable Battery | No |
| Has Programmable Buttons | No |
| Manufacturer | UGREEN GROUP LIMITED |
| Item model number | 30722 |
| Parcel Dimensions | 10.2 x 10 x 1.8 cm; 49.9 Grams |
| ASIN | B01LX6HISL |
