Product Description

Designed by the renowned Yves Behar, Jawbone takes mobile style to new heights. Jawbone's perforated shield curves to match the outline of your face while the inside surface is made from medical grade plastic to provide a soft and smooth feel on the skin. Jawbone can be worn on either ear, and you can customize your fit by choosing an earloop and earbud from the several shapes and sizes provided. Jawbone's ergonomic design enhances the acoustic performance and keeps the device lightweight, stable and comfortable. How it works- Jawbone measures the ambient noise around you and automatically enhances the incoming audio and adjusts the volume to make every incoming call sound crystal clear. Using adaptive sound technology, the Jawbone uses two microphones and a voice activity sensor. When placed against the cheek, the sensor detects voice vibrations rather than picking up the sound from your mouth. Excellent sound quality, adaptive noise cancellation, catchy design and comfortable fit.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4810 in Cell Phone Accessories
• Color: Grey
• Brand: Aliph
• Model: CT725LAU3212
• Dimensions: 2.40" h x .40" w x .90" l, 1.00 pounds

Features

• Advanced, military-grade noise-canceling system continuously adapts adapts to your environment
• Award-winning modern industrial design by Yves Behar
• Can be worn on either ear; includes four earloops and five earbuds for custom fit
• Charges via proprietary USB cable
• Jawbone's ergonomic design enhances the acoustic performance and keeps the device lightweight, stable and comfortable

Amazon.com Review
These days, it seems that wireless Bluetooth headsets are a dime a dozen, but Aliph's Jawbone stands apart from the pack not only due to its unique looks but also thanks to some seriously amazing noise canceling technology. Originally developed for DARPA (The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) to create a communication headset that would pick up voice in hostile environments, the Jawbone offers some of the best clarity from a Bluetooth headset we've experienced. This version comes in gray, but it's also available in red and black.

Sophisticated modern industrial style meets the next step in audio technology with the Jawbone Bluetooth headset.

It can be worn on either ear, and you can customize your fit by choosing from one of the included earloops and earbuds.

The first thing you notice about this headset is its rather chunky size and cheese grater-like texturing on the exterior. Designed by Yves Behar, an award-winning industrial designer who also contributed to the design of the OLPC (One Laptop Per Child, aka the $100 Laptop), the Jawbone certainly has that iconic modern look that will be copied for years to come. It's also a bit large on the face (due to the embedded technology and speech sensor), which reminded us of Lando Calrissian's assistant, Lobot. But then there's no easy way to disguise a Bluetooth headset, and it's probably an advantage as passersby won't think you're just muttering crazily to yourself.

The Jawbone can be worn on either ear, and it comes with four earloops of varying sizes to fit your lobe. Made of solid metal with a rubber cover, they're fairly comfortable around the ear. The trick, however, is getting it on over the ear, and this is the Jawbone's biggest disappointment. Because it's so stiff, you literally have to use both hands to try to slip it on over your ear. And since we don't wear our headset constantly, we missed a few calls while performing this dance. Also, the metal frame does bend (as we found after carrying it in our pocket), which can be viewed as an annoyance or as a feature--enabling you to form-fit the frame to your ear. It also comes with five ear pads of varying shapes and sizes, and we tried one of the teardrop shaped pads to secure the Jawbone inside our ear sans metal frame--it was comfortable and worked for awhile, but isn't a solution if you're moving around a lot.

As with Steve Jobs, Behar is not a fan of protruding buttons. Thus, the Jawbone's two controls are hidden within the headset, requiring you to press either the front or back of the unit to answer calls, adjust volume, or turn on/off the noise cancellation function. While we've read some reviews that complained about these hidden controls, we had no problem in accessing them and appreciated their tactile response. The Jawbone also comes with a custom-fit recharging cable that can either plug into a PC's USB port or into the included wall jack. We enjoyed the flexibility of the USB charging, but wished the cable could have been a more standard USB mini-jack (for those times when you forget to bring the cable along).

But the true test of the Jawbone is how its "noise shield" performed. First, a little about this technology. The Jawbone has a small piece of rubbery plastic that protrudes from the bulbous microphone and sits flush against your face, and this sensor tells the Jawbone whether or not you're speaking and can remove background noise from your ongoing speech signal. It can also dynamically adjust the volume of the incoming audio from your call.

We tried the Jawbone in a number of different situations, and for the most part it worked flawlessly. Sitting at our desk with the stereo volume cranked up while playing The Chemical Brothers, our call partner was none the wiser. She didn't hear any of the music coming through, and our voice came through strong on her end. While standing on a street corner, the undulations of traffic noise never made it through to our caller, while we noticed an uptick in volume with an increase in traffic noise.

However, the Jawbone wasn't perfect, as it doesn't do a great job in windy situations. Still, for the good majority of situations you'll find yourself in--from busy airports to talk-heavy coffeehouses to traffic-laden city streets--the Jawbone should perform very well, masking the surroundings to improve fidelity for you call partner as well adapting your ear volume to the surrounding environment. We just wish the ear frame was a bit more flexible.

Pros:

• Amazing background noise masking capabilities--even when faced with loud, thumping music
• Outstanding adaptive volume as the environment around you changes
• Options for customizing the fit

• Metal earloop frames are hard to quickly put on
• Non-standard USB connection is a bummer if you forget the cable at home

Customer Reviews

One of the Best I have used/own.
I just purchased the Jawbone this week. I did quite a bit of research before buying. I tend to be pretty skeptical of Bluetooth headsets. I currently own about 6 of them. Two different models of Plantronics, 2 models of Jabra, and 2 models of Motorola. This particular headset was of interest to me because I have a loud car (corvette) and none of my other headsets do an adequate job of cutting out the road and engine noise.

I have only had the headset for a day however, I am impressed. I tried the Jawbone today in the Corvette and it works great. My wife didn't hear anything but me while I was driving, which is pretty amazing considering how loud the car is. I currently have the Blackberry 8830 and it works great with this headset. The voice dialing pops right up on queue, unlike some of the other headsets I have.

So far the only negative is the fit which has been mentioned before. I prefer the in ear variation on the set versus over the ear. (The Jawbone can be used without the ear hook) The fit is not exactly tight but it does seem to work without falling out. I think it will just take some getting used to and playing with the other interchangeable ear adapters.

From a sound level standpoint the unit is great. It is down right loud and I can hear the person on the other end with no problem even with my stereo partly on.

Overall, I am impressed and happy with my purchase.

Update 6/9/07
Fit - After playing around with the different ear ear pieces and hooks, I finally have found a combination that works. I have to use a ear hook, which isn't my favorite but after you get used to it, it isn't too bad. Also, it fits much more securely with the hook and is more comfortable.

Additionally I have spoken with a number of others via the headset and towards the end of the conversation I ask them how I sound and they all have said great.

Update 6/14/07
Well this one is a keeper. Now that it has been a few days I have gotten used to using the headset with the ear hook and it works great. Takes some getting used to and practice to put in on one handed but once you do, it's pretty easy. Call quality continues to be excellent. If I could rate it higher than a 5 I would. By far the best headset I have used.

Update 1/24/08
Well still have the Jawbone and it continues to work great. Use it all the time and continues to operate flawlessly.

Okay, definitely not great
Like others, I think the best thing this headset has going for it is its noise cancellation technology. Unfortunately, it seems that Aliph spent so much effort on this part of it that they forgot quite a bit of other qualities that are important in a good Bluetooth headset.

Examples of what's missing:

There's no way to mute a call from the headset. You have to use your phone's mute feature.

There's no audio alert when the headset connects with anything. There is one when it loses its connection, though, which is good.

If you go out of range of your phone and it loses the connection, it makes no attempt to re-connect. You have to turn it off and turn it back on when you get back within range.

The volume control is primitive, and it's obvious this is because Aliph was overly concerned with the aesthetic design of the thing (I happen to think it's ugly, but they seem quite pleased with it). Because the visual design doesn't leave open the possibility of having volume up/down buttons, instead you can only cycle through the six volume levels in order. To go from 5 to 4, you must first go through 6, 1, 2, and 3.

The charger is . . . weird. Lots of people complain about it, and with good reason. It's non-standard, and it doesn't even fit the Jawbone that well. You have to position it *just* right, and then when you set the thing down it loses its connection, so you have to set it again. It's really kind of inexcusable.

It's enormous. This is the biggest Bluetooth headset I've ever owned. That said, it's not uncomfortable to wear - but I do find I have to use the earloop, which I tend not to like so much. I also, like others, don't use the earbuds supplied with the Jawbone; I use a Jabra Minigel with mine instead.

The good:

It's noise cancellation really is pretty good, but it's not as good as their demos make it out to be. I think those demos were very carefully set up to favor the Jawbone, because I've left myself voice mails with various sources of noise in the background just to see how it sounds, and I can generally hear them. They're faint, but they're certainly not gone (I can often clearly hear the lyrics in a song playing in the background, for example).

It also seems to have better range than most Bluetooth headsets I have experience with. I can walk surprisingly away from my phone and still have a connection, and I don't lose the connection if the headset is on my left ear and I put my phone in my right pocket, which is a common problem with many other headsets.

Are these good enough to make up for all of its shortcomings? I'm not so sure. To be honest I'm seriously considering sending mine back where it came from and getting another Plantronics (I was mostly happy with my Discovery 665), or I may do research into some other models. I may also elect to keep the Jawbone, but I'm not leaning that way.

My recommendation is that if you're going to buy this one, buy it from somewhere with a good return policy (like Amazon). You may decide you like it (there are certainly those who love the thing), or you may not.

Update: One thing I meant to mention and forgot to is that, aside from its noise cancellation, this particular headset has about the best sound quality of any I've ever used. They definitely got that part right.

And while I'm here, I should say this: This is widely considered to be the best Bluetooth headset in the world right now, so don't be afraid to try it out. Just because I'm not a huge fan (I don't hate it, though) doesn't mean you won't be. I'm really not unhappy with it, I'm just not as impressed as I'd like to be - but I'm also very picky. Try one out and decide for yourself.

Excellent Sound Quality Overshadowed by Extremely Poor Durability/Function
I purchased my JawBone in Feb/Mar 2007 and I am currently on my third device, having had to return my previous two. I am planning on returning this one.

First the positives, the sound quality is tremendous. I was using a Motorola set and it was adequate, but picked up external noise and never fit my ear particularly well.

I use my JawBone with my Blackberry 8700. The first problem I noticed was that (unlike the Motorola), if I happened to not use my phone for, say 2-3 hours, the bluetooth connection would terminate and I would have to manually reconnect it, which was a headache given that the buttons are small and there is a connection delay. After calling Cingular, they said this was not normal and to return the device, which I did.

My next JawBone had to go back within days as the bluetooth connection would drop in mid-conversation and then I'd have to repush the button; after this happens multiple times in one conversation, you finally just give up. I returned the second one and Cingular gave me my third one. As it turns out the bluetooth connection issues are still the same with this third one, but not quite as bad. Unfortunately the recharger plug does not stay firmly on the headset, so I leave the house thinking I'm fully charged, only to lose my headset connection when the power goes out.

Additionally, in pulling out the charger off the headset one day, the entire earpiece falls out as well, connected only by a couple of wires.

For something that I paid $120.00 for, I am pleased with the sound quality (and that's why I endured going through now, my third device)...but the limitations of the connection, very cheaply made construction, and now inability to charge this, make this a purchase I wish I hadn't made. Add this to the hidden buttons, which make it seem like you're pushing your finger through your head, and it certainly seems to me that I can find alternatives.

Personally, my advice would be to find a company with 'noise-cancelling' technology in their headset who has been making these devices longer and with much better construction...that's what I plan to do this weekend.