huntm856
01-26-2007, 09:44 PM
This is my first BT headset and also my first review. I am only reviewing this headset because it's been in the news a lot for its noise cancelling technology and no one on SU has gotten around to it yet.
First of all, in terms of styling I'd give it pretty high marks. Small, not too obtrusive, and light, but still pretty stunning with its gunmetal gray 'cheese grater' outer surface. (One of the things that drew me to its looks was how well the color matches that of the Q.) Looks pretty futuristic and frankly a lot less dorky than most BT headsets I've seen. Part of the reason I've resisted going BT is because I always thought they looked pretty lame. This one I am not uncomfortable wearing in terms of its style.
In terms of comfort, again pretty high marks. Cannot compare it to any other BT headsets, but it has a metal and rubber band ear cuff that snugs to the ear without being too tight. It is a very light earpiece and so doesn't weigh on the ear. It has a pretty standard set of ear plugs, not as good as the Jabras but not bad, I didn't have trouble getting one to fit snugly and comfortably. This is important because the noise cancellation apparently relies on bone sound conduction to work properly so the unit has to fit snugly to the jaw.
BT pairing: also good marks. It paired to my Moto Q with no problems whatsoever. When I left it turned off for a few days and turned it back on again it still connected according to my phone's BT manager but wasn't transceiving, so I deleted it and re-paired it, and it's worked fine since.
Range. I don't know what the range of BT headsets is typically, but I've used this unit maybe 20-30 ft away from my phone with no loss of function. I haven't tested to see what its max. range is.
Receiving sound quality: very good, among the better of all the wired headsets I've used up to now, though it does have a slight 'waviness' to its sound that I suspect is due to its being BT instead of wired. Can't say the good sound is entirely attributable to the Jawbone because the Moto Q is a better than average sounding phone, even my old cheap wired headsets sound better on it, but the sound from the Jawbone is very good in my subjective opinion. The most impressive thing about it to me though is that I am a bit hard of hearing and have a hard time getting any headset to sound loud enough, especially in situations where there's a lot of high freq. sound like in a car with the windows cracked. The Jawbone is the first headset I've found to be capable of being too loud for me. Even at very high volumes the sound is crisp and undistorted.
Transmitting sound quality: Not bad. The noise cancellation works -- I experimented with it by rolling down and up my car's windows, turning the radio in my car up loud, flushing the toilet, etc., and with the exception of really loud car wind noise, the person listening could barely hear any of the loud background noises that were readily audible when I turned off the noise cancelling, and even in the case of the car wind noise the noise cancellation clearly helped a lot.
The downside is that the noise counseling apparently makes one sound a bit 'underwater' though still quite audible and intelligible (my phone's voice dial app seems fine with it). Still, the noise cancellation is easy to turn on/off, so it's nice to have in situations where it's needed.
Battery life: I've been using it for almost a week now, having it on for perhaps 3-5 hours per day and talking for perhaps an hour a day on it, and it's still going on its initial charge. It's hard to tell how much life is left in the battery but I'm surprised it's lasted as long as it has.
In summation, I'm not sure how much my opinion is worth given my lack of experience with BT headsets, but I've been pleased by the Aliph Jawbone. It's worked pretty much as it's supposed to in terms of the functionality it shares with any BT headset, and the noise cancellation seems to really work and actually add some value. I am not sure everyone would thing it worth the significant premium it costs over other good-quality headsets, ($120, only available through Cingular retailers, so good luck finding a deal), but to me the combination of style and functionality was worth the extra.
First of all, in terms of styling I'd give it pretty high marks. Small, not too obtrusive, and light, but still pretty stunning with its gunmetal gray 'cheese grater' outer surface. (One of the things that drew me to its looks was how well the color matches that of the Q.) Looks pretty futuristic and frankly a lot less dorky than most BT headsets I've seen. Part of the reason I've resisted going BT is because I always thought they looked pretty lame. This one I am not uncomfortable wearing in terms of its style.
In terms of comfort, again pretty high marks. Cannot compare it to any other BT headsets, but it has a metal and rubber band ear cuff that snugs to the ear without being too tight. It is a very light earpiece and so doesn't weigh on the ear. It has a pretty standard set of ear plugs, not as good as the Jabras but not bad, I didn't have trouble getting one to fit snugly and comfortably. This is important because the noise cancellation apparently relies on bone sound conduction to work properly so the unit has to fit snugly to the jaw.
BT pairing: also good marks. It paired to my Moto Q with no problems whatsoever. When I left it turned off for a few days and turned it back on again it still connected according to my phone's BT manager but wasn't transceiving, so I deleted it and re-paired it, and it's worked fine since.
Range. I don't know what the range of BT headsets is typically, but I've used this unit maybe 20-30 ft away from my phone with no loss of function. I haven't tested to see what its max. range is.
Receiving sound quality: very good, among the better of all the wired headsets I've used up to now, though it does have a slight 'waviness' to its sound that I suspect is due to its being BT instead of wired. Can't say the good sound is entirely attributable to the Jawbone because the Moto Q is a better than average sounding phone, even my old cheap wired headsets sound better on it, but the sound from the Jawbone is very good in my subjective opinion. The most impressive thing about it to me though is that I am a bit hard of hearing and have a hard time getting any headset to sound loud enough, especially in situations where there's a lot of high freq. sound like in a car with the windows cracked. The Jawbone is the first headset I've found to be capable of being too loud for me. Even at very high volumes the sound is crisp and undistorted.
Transmitting sound quality: Not bad. The noise cancellation works -- I experimented with it by rolling down and up my car's windows, turning the radio in my car up loud, flushing the toilet, etc., and with the exception of really loud car wind noise, the person listening could barely hear any of the loud background noises that were readily audible when I turned off the noise cancelling, and even in the case of the car wind noise the noise cancellation clearly helped a lot.
The downside is that the noise counseling apparently makes one sound a bit 'underwater' though still quite audible and intelligible (my phone's voice dial app seems fine with it). Still, the noise cancellation is easy to turn on/off, so it's nice to have in situations where it's needed.
Battery life: I've been using it for almost a week now, having it on for perhaps 3-5 hours per day and talking for perhaps an hour a day on it, and it's still going on its initial charge. It's hard to tell how much life is left in the battery but I'm surprised it's lasted as long as it has.
In summation, I'm not sure how much my opinion is worth given my lack of experience with BT headsets, but I've been pleased by the Aliph Jawbone. It's worked pretty much as it's supposed to in terms of the functionality it shares with any BT headset, and the noise cancellation seems to really work and actually add some value. I am not sure everyone would thing it worth the significant premium it costs over other good-quality headsets, ($120, only available through Cingular retailers, so good luck finding a deal), but to me the combination of style and functionality was worth the extra.