Lightspeed listens to their customers, and the Zulu 4 is a product of all the customer feedback they received on the Zulu 3. One of the first things you’ll notice is the color. Going from silver to black might not seem like a big deal, but this helps reduce the amount of reflected glare you get in the windshield. We also think the black color looks a little more modern.
The Zulu 4 features the same great Kevlar cable found on the Zulu 3, but they made it a little longer. This allows you to more easily tuck the ANR box away in a side pocket or in one of these convenient ANR control box holders.
Lightspeed has improved their ear seal technology in the Zulu 4 to what they call FrameFit ear seals. These seals were specifically designed with a different density of foam towards the top of the seal. This provides a more flexible seal to work around sunglasses as well as less pinch on longer flights.
The microphone on the Zulu 4 features some significant improvements. A small but important one was adding some length to the mic boom. This puts the microphone directly in front of your mouth, making it easier to pick up your voice. The mic also features an AI-enhanced mode that helps remove background noise when using the Zulu 4 to make phone calls. This is a big deal when trying to get an IFR clearance at a non-towered field.
The Zulu 4 also features a first in aviation: dual Bluetooth capability. This allows you to connect to an iPad and an iPhone at the same time, with no inconvenient pairing and repairing. You can have an iPad connected to your headset for ForeFlight alerts and easily switch over to your phone to call for that IFR clearance. When you’re done with the phone call, the Zulu 4 automatically switches back to the iPad.
This enhanced Bluetooth capability also improves the integration that the Zulu 4 has with the Lightspeed Aviation app. You can wirelessly record all intercom activity and press the timeline for a replay. Even better, you can offload your audio recording so you can add it to your video later on. This is easy to do on most of today’s video editing software, and it’s how we added this audio to this video—no additional cables or adapters needed. Note that the Zulu 3 cannot do this wirelessly; you’ll need to find some cables and adapters if you want to attempt this with that headset.
The Zulu 4 is the latest addition to an impressive line of headsets from Lightspeed. It’s your customer feedback that made this headset possible. You can find the Zulu 4 online at sportys.com.
Watch our video PIREP for the new Lightspeed Zulu 4 below for more:
