Review: Aliph Jawbone Bluetooth Headset — Bringing The Sounds of Silence to Your Phone

Posted by: dgoldring on May 11 2007

In olden days, telephones used to be connected to the wall by a cord.   Worse, the handset was also connected to the cradle.  This meant that you were pretty much locked into your position when making a phone call.  The good news, however, was that it allowed you to control the location of the phone, keeping it in a quiet corner of the house where you would not be interrupted by environmental noises during your important calls.

That worked well until telephone manufacturers began cutting the cords.  First it was cordless phones, then cell phones, and ultimately Bluetooth headsets.  Today, we can make and receive telephone calls from anywhere at anytime.  While this does add a significant degree of convenience to our communications, it also means that we have no control over our environment during a call.  Frequently, an important call might be made from the side of the road, the middle of an arena, or any other noise filled locations.  It can make a simple telephone call quite difficult:

"Hello"

"What?  I’m at the construction site…I can’t hear you."

"Hello?"

"What?"

You can’t control your environment, but with the Jawbone noise shielding technology, you can outsmart it.

                 – Aliph Jawbone

Outsmarting your environment means finding a way to cancel out background noises without affecting the spoken voices.   This is exactly what is offered by the noise shield technology in the Aliph Jawbone headset, which  allows you to return to the days of controlling the environmental noise around your calls, regardless of the noise around you.  

What’s In The Box: Before I get to what is in the box, let me take a moment to discuss the box itself.  The Aliph Jawbone comes in a display case fit for any museum.  Made of clear plastic, the Jawbone sits on a pedestal in the top portion of the box.  The instructions, cables, and other miscellaneous items are in the bottom portion, safely hidden by the wrapping. 

 It almost seemed a shame to disturb the display, however, I did not waste a lot of time considering that before tearing into the packaging.  As I mentioned, the top section of the box contains the headset itself.  In the bottom portion, you will find:

• four various shaped earbuds
• four various sized and shaped ear loops
• wall charger unit (with USB socket)
• USB charger cable
• instruction manual

 

Look and Style: I mentioned that the Jawbone is packaged more like a museum display than a Bluetooth headset, and there is a good reason for it.  As soon as you lay eyes on it, you can tell that it is no ordinary  headset.   In fact, it looks more like art — or jewelry — than a headset; something to be displayed, not used. 

The main silver section (it also comes in red and black) bears a testured pattern, giving it a sleek, slightly industrial look.  Not only is this stylish, but it also serves to significantly reduce wind noise.  Additionally, the buttons are hidden within this design, so that they can be easily accessed without becoming a visual distraction.  Most importantly, however, there is no blinking blue light.  Instead, the Jawbone features a muted white light which slowly builds and fades.  Bluetooth users everywhere who have wondered about the infamous blinking blue light should rejoice at this news.

Fit and Comfort: All ears are not made alike and one size certainly does not fit all.  Unfortunately, these are two truths that many headset manufacturers do not consider, making Bluetooth and wired headsets which are not customizable or adjustable.  This leads to fatigue, difficulty hearing and considerable soreness in your ears.

Fortunately, Aliph recognized this problem when they made the Jawbone headset.  As such, they included four different earbuds, which can easily be snapped onto the headset, allowing the Jawbone to conform to your ear, not vice versa.

One of the largest factors in the comfort of a headset, however, is the earloop.  If the earloop is not sized properly, then the headset will not fit properly or even fall off of your ear.  This is of particular importance to users who want to wear the headset from their left ear as the loop must be reversed.  Jawbone includes four ear loops: a standard and an extra large curved for both the right ear and the left.  This means, regardless of which ear you wish to use, or how large your ears are, the Jawbone will always be a perfect fit.

I tested several different earloops and earbuds to get a feel for the various options.  One thing I did notice was the ease with which the buds and loops could be removed and replaced, yet they remained securely attached when in use.  This ability to easily customize the fit of the headset, without affecting its durability is one of the most important features of any headset, and the Aliph Jawbone is one of the best in this area.

Pairing: Pairing the Jawbone with my phone was a snap.  The first time you connect the headset to your phone, simply press and hold the noise shield button for 3-5 seconds until the light alternates flashing white and red.  This means the headset is ready to pair.  Then, follow your phone’s instructions to pair the headset. 

Each time you want to connect after that, simply turn on the headset by holding the talk button until the white light begins to blink.  Then, follow your phone’s instructions to connect to the headset.  To turn off the headset (and conserve battery power), just push and hold the talk button until the white light turns red.  This means the headset has been successfully disconnected.

Controls: It always amazes me how much you can do on a headset with only one or two buttons.  On the Jawbone, there are two: the Talk Button and the Noise Shield Button.

The Talk Button is used to answer and end calls by pushing it once.  You can also place a call by redialing the last number dialed.  Simply press the Talk Button twice quickly to redial.  If your phone supports voice dialing, push the Talk Button while the headset is in standby mode.  When you hear a beep, speak the dialing voice tag to place the call.

The Noise Shield Button primarily controls the volume and noise shield.  By default, the noise shield will be activated when you turn on the headset.  To turn off or reactivate the noise shield, simply hold the button until you hear three tones (ascending tones means it is activated, descending means deactivated). 

The Noise Shield Button can also be used to control the volume of the headset.  Push it once and the headset volume will increase to the next of six steps.  Once the highest volume step is reached, pressing the noise shield button will return the volume to the lowest step. 

The most important function of the Noise Shield Button, however, may be rejecting calls.  This is extremely important when your phone begins to ring in the middle of a meeting, revealing to everyone that your wife’s ringtone is Bon Jovi’s "You Give Love A Bad Name".   Just tap the Noise Shield Button once to reject the call and send it through to your voicemail. 

Noise Shield: Let’s face it, there are a million different designs for Bluetooth headsets, all of which claim to be unique and more comfortable than the others.  I have not reviewed a lot of them, so I cannot tell you which one is the most comfortable or the best looking.  I can tell you, however, that the noise shield technology in the Aliph Jawbone headset sets it apart from any other headset I have used.

Noise shield is a network of microphones within the headset which removes most of the distracting noise from your background and dynamically adjusts the headset speaker to fit your environment.  So, what does this all mean?  Simple.  It means that your caller can hear you with significantly minimized background noise and you can hear your caller without straining.

I have read reviews where the noise shield was tested by placing a call from a NASCAR race.  I do not tend to go to NASCAR races, so I decided to test the noise shield in my everyday environment.  In order to be useful, it would have to meet the challenges of my daily routine. 

So, I took it for a walk through Washington, DC during the beginning of rush hour.  I walked along the busy streets to the train station, through the commotion of the tourist filled station to the platform and, ultimately to my seat on the train (while passing several noisy locomotives).

During the entire course of this walk, I was on the phone talking with the Jawbone.  My caller and I were both amazed by how well the noise shield technology worked.  My caller indicated that (with the exception of a loud bus which passed me on the same side as the headset) she could hear almost none of the traffic noise, despite the fact that I was walking along a relatively busy street.   

I also noticed that when cars would pass, or the wind would pick up, the volume adapted to meet the competing noises, ensuring that I was able to hear everything the entire conversation. 

Most impressive, however, was the train locomotive.  If you have never been on a train platform, the engine in the locomotive is exceptionally loud.  Typically, if I am listening to music on my headphones, I just accept the fact that it will be drowned out for a minute as I pass the locomotive.  Likewise, if I am talking on the phone, neither I, nor my caller will be able to hear anything until I pass the engine.  Not so with the Jawbone.  As I passed the engine, my caller could hear the engine noise in the background, but could also clearly hear me speaking in a normal tone…even though I could barely hear myself.  Likewise, I was able to hear my caller over the train noise while she spoke in a normal tone. 

The adaptive noise shield technology is simply amazing, and should be considered a necessity for anyone who regularly talks on the phone in a noisy environment. 

Battery and Charging: Aliph advertises six hours of talk time and 120 hours of standby time.  I have to admit this battery outlasted me.  I left the Jawbone on in various combinations of standby and talking for two straight days without charging it.  If you are like me and automatically plug everything in at night, you will almost never have to worry about the battery.

I did, however, find the charging system to be somewhat odd.  The back of the headset contains several small slots.  The charging unit slides over the back of the headset like a cap.  Several prongs within the charger will connect with the battery behind the slots, and provide a charge. Additionally, there was a small rubber cover which covered the connections on the headset when it was not charging.  This cover constantly fell off, leaving the connectioned exposed. 

The other end of the charging plug contains a standard USB plug.  This means the Jawbone can be charged in any laptop or desktop computer via the USB port.  The USB can be plugged into the included USB-AC charger and charged via any standard wall socket.

While I appreciated the fact that the wall charger was detachable, meaning I could plug the USB end into any portable charging device, I did not appreciate the proprietary nature of the cable.  By choosing not to use a standard connection, such as a mini USB with the headset, Aliph has ensured that none of the universal sync and charge cables will work with this headset.  Instead, I will be forced to carry one more cable when I travel, and keep one more cable on my desk.  I found this proprietary charging system to be unnecessary, and wish it had been replaced with a standard mini USB connection.

Conclusion: I admit that I was skeptical when I first heard of the Aliph Jawbone headset.  Sure, I read the same initial reviews as everyone else about using it at a NASCAR race, but I figured there had to be some hyperbole or exaggeration in there.  After using it for several weeks, however, I found no hyperbole.  I have never used a headset like the Aliph Jawbone before.  Not only does it adjust the volume dynamically to match the noise around you, it also shields much of the background noise from your caller.  Now, the next time your wife calls to ask you to pick up eggs and milk on the way home, you will have no excuse for not listening. If you work in a noisy environment, or just want to be able to hear your calls with more clarity, then you absolutely must try the Aliph Jawbone.  Once you use it, you will never be able to use a standard headset again.

Vital Statistics:

Name: Aliph Jawbone Bluetooth Headset

Manufacturer: Aliph

Where to Buy: JAMM Store  or Jawbone website

Price: $99.99 at JAMM Store, $119.99 at Jawbone website

Technorati Tags: aliph - jawbone - bluetooth - headset - just another mobile monday

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