Aliph Jawbone Noise Shield Bluetooth Headset (Red)
See it at Amazon.com for $67.57Average Customer Rating
(3.5 out of 5)
Amazon Customer Reviews
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(5 out of 5)Jawbone
T. Tom obviously doesn't own a Jawbone or he would be giving it a better rating. The cheap plastic is actually military grade composit material, and it is usable in either ear, you simply must read the owners instruction guide if you are not smart enough to realise that those spare ear loops that are included with the Jawbone are to replace dirty or worn out ear loops and all you have to do to switch ears and insert the loop from the opposite side (now you can use it in the other ear). The noise cancelling is the best in the world. I work in the marine industry and always receive calls - no complains about noisy engines with my Jawbone.
(4 out of 5)The best I have used, period
I read the reviews, both the positive and the negatives, and decided to give Jawbone a shot. I enjoyed my Jabra JX10 quite a bit for the 15 months that it worked, but to die 3 months out of warranty . . . So you can consider this a head to head comparison between the Jabra and Jawbone units.
Fit and Comfort: The Jabra is clearly lighter so you can almost forget it is even on. The Jawbone is much larger and takes some work with the supplied earpieces, but in my case simply using the other earpiece that is supplied resulted in a very secure and comfortable fit. Yes, it is bigger, but for me, I can leave it on all day in comfort. Both units are quite good in this regards.
Ease of use: The Jabra is somewhat more intuitive with clearly marked volume buttons vs. Jawbone's one-direction volume loop (press and the volume goes up until it reaches maximum and the next press goes to minimum). Other than this, however, the Jawbone is easy if your primary use is answering calls. Some complain that the button is 'hard' to push and pushes the Jawbone into your ear but I have had no such issues. It was immediately as natural and easy to use as the Jabra for me and I do not feel any pressure like I am impaling it into my ear! No complaints here on either unit.
Sound - incoming: I rarely had any problems with the Jabra and so far the Jawbone is equal or better. If Jabra has any advantage it is with the easier volume control, although I almost always had to have it near maximum to hear when in a car. The Jawbone can get louder and I do not generally have to adjust it, but if I do the Jabra is easier. But a slight overall incoming sound edge to Jawbone.
Sound - Outbound: The best for last! NO COMPARISON! I rarely had people complain with the Jabra, especially if I was in a quiet room. Then they might not know I was on a headset. But kudos to Jawbone on the active noise cancellation! As a test early on I turned up the TV volume to where I almost couldn't hear the party on the other end and they COULDN'T HEAR the TV! We held a comfortable conversation where whatever noise was going on in the background at my home was virtually inaudible on the other end! For those reviews who state that this feature doesn't work, I can only assume that a) the unit was defective, b) the noise cancellation circuit was turned off or, and this can probable be critical, c) the fit is not good and the 'vibration sensor' is not in solid contact with the cheek. In my case, with a comfortable and solid fit, the noise cancellation is almost eerie. And worth the price of a Jawbone.
Overall, four stars only because the fit is indeed something that could be improved to make it easier for everyone to use this successfully. But other than that, Jawbone is the best I have ever used by far. Now, if it will last more than 15 months . . .
(1 out of 5)Poor quality control and customer service from Jawbone
The Jawbone bluetooth headset is not really made very well and is a lot worse than people seem to give it credit for. Parts fall off after a short time and it is very cheaply made. It looks metal but really is cheap bendy plastic material.
Further, once you set it up, you can only use it on one ear. Other headsets (like Plantronics ones for example) allow you to swivel the earloop to switch ears if you get tired of using it on one ear. The Jawbone doesn't do this.
While the Jawbone's noise cancellation does seem good that's about all it has going for it because your voice still sounds muffled, soft and digital-like. Further, the Jawbone is too big and bulky to comfortably put it into a pocket to take with you.
But my main complaint is with the Aliph Jawbone company customer service itself-they are absolutely horrible. They advertise on their website that the Jawbone has a 1 year manufacture warranty to the end consumer. But, my Jawbone broke and when I contacted them about getting warranty service on it, they rudely informed me that they only provide warranties on units bought directly from their own website. If I bought from some other retailer, it has ZERO warranty! I'm not sure whether or not this is even legal, but do believe it reflects very poorly on the company that they don't even stand behind their own products.
I would never recommend buying this headset or any other made by Aliph.
(4 out of 5)It works very well
On a relative scale (comparing to other headsets), I would rate this 5 stars. Its at the top of the heap in actual performance. On an absolute scale, I only gave it 4 stars because there is still room for improvement.
- functional sound quality and hearing ability on both ends - very, very good. My validation tests include talking to my wife and my aging parents on the phone. I carry on conversations with everyone without being asked to repeat myself or being told that my voice is too soft. I have a projecting voice, so any complaints about softness in the past with other headsets had to be due to the headset. I frequently got complaints when using my plantronics 640 - not so with the Jawbone.
- use in noisy environments - very good. Last night I was talking to my wife from a very noisy restaurant - so noisy I could barely hear myself think. But she could hear me clearly over the din and I was able to hear her easily. What a testament!
- fit - fair to good using factory loops and inserts. I followed the advise of several others and purchased a set of Jabra eargels. Jabra earboom is my favorite headset of all time from a comfort and ability to hear point of view. Using the jabra eargel with the jawbone wasn't quite as comfortable because the jawbone is bulky, but I would have to rate it as very good. I am using it without the jawbone earloop. I have large ears and use the largest eargel, so that probably helps my success. Eargels are available at some radio shack stores. They sell a package of three sizes, both left and right (6 total)for $4.95.
- bluetooth pairing and stability - better than any headset I have ever used. Its obvious the electronics on this device follow current bluetooth standards and work well.
- areas for improvement - despite all the hype about the industrial design and slick look, this is the bulkiest headset I have ever used. It has to be to house all the microphone elements used for noise management. But the squarish cover plate seems to be pure appearance choice. I think it would be somewhat nicer if the cover was rounded and trimmed to fit the main electronics housing. Perhaps engineering design requirements dictated the overall bulk of this unit. I can live with it because I certainly would not want to give up the excellent audio and noise management.
I purchased the bright red model - not because I wanted to look ostentatious, but because it was on sale at Amazon for $5 less than the black model. I paid $88.95 with free shipping.
Bob
(1 out of 5)Good sound, bad interface, bad product
Red the reviews and I was attracted to the noise suppression technology. Got the headset, and it has amazing sound and lives up to removing noise. However the buttons on this thing don't provide good tactile feedback and operating the thing is very difficult. Putting it on your ear is difficult. The proprietary power connector is a pain (what about a mini USB jack) as you need to get more (for use in the office) or carry it around with you.
Once you get it working, it works fine; but somebody needs to revisit the industrial design and put some real buttons on this thing that you can tell when they have been punched, and a standard USB jack. Would also be nice to have a mute function (missing). While the technology and specs are good on the Jawbone, the industry design is pleasing but not useable; in-fact I would just conclude that the usability of the product was ignored. Wouldn't buy this product again.