Aliph Jawbone Noise Shield Bluetooth Headset- Black

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 black, but it's also available in red and gray.

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

Cons:

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:

Great Idea, Poor Construction.......2007-12-31

The product arrived as advertised and after reading many reviews I was all set for a great experience.

Initially the product worked out well, good fit, easy to use, decent sound quality.

It only took me two weeks to break the first ear loop. I called Aliph and although the girl was nice about sending me a free ear loop, she was adamant that I caused the problem. And mentioned that they sell ear loops on the web site and next time I would have to purchase a replacement. I figured at two weeks per loop life I was going to be spending some dollars on replacements.

I was not wrong, the ear loops cannot handle any pressure and snap like a French fried potato. Although they look very sturdy, they break easily where the metal is halved to fit into the Jawbone. My guess is it is a casting issue, but Jawbone does not want to hear about that. I ordered four more loops from the web site and I am already down to having two left. One of the new ones broke after only two hours of use.

The second problem I have faced is the charger pulls the back off the Jawbone when removing it after a charge. I have had the Jawbone now for about two months and use it everyday and have used the charger a few times, but certainly not excessively (is that possible for a charger?) so this was an unexpected event. Crazy glued it and now will see how it handles the next after charge separation.

Bottom line, if the hardware cannot support the device, it really does not matter how good the electronics might be.

As to the electronics/sound quality, reception, pairing.....

Sound quality seems good. Pairing is easy although it will not pair with a Treo and another phone. It will pair with two phones if one is not a Treo. Sometimes it will not switch to the second phone after it has been used to answer a call on the other, but most times is switches over ok.

I would not recommend this product and will keep searching for a product that delivers good construction, sound quality and reception.

Alas, the search goes on, doesn't any body make a decent product?

Jawbone Headset.......2007-12-29

Well, it works fine except for earplug fit. Read somewhere where they suggested getting Jafra ear pieces, so will try those and a few others until I get the right fit.
Noise shield seems to do the job sometimes but not always.

Very good headset for loud situations.......2007-12-29

Purchased for my father, it was simple to pair with his LG phone. Good noise reduction in a loud engine situations. Had used two other headsets before this which were not satisfactory for the truck driving environment, he has even said that it is lighter on the ear than the other two. Comes with customizable ear buds and ear hooks to provide a better fit. No real negatives about this product so far. Purchased during Amazon's after Thanksgiving sale so the price was quite good.

Good But a little over hyped.......2007-12-28

gI got one for 40$ at AT&T and its not worth all the hype. The noise sheild is Okay but if your not a construction worker or a gun range helper you dont really need to pay 100$. It is very light however at times i can forget that it is in my ear. It is huge its not the smalest headset but again it is very lgith. The noise shild is a nifty little thing but like i said earlier if you dont need it for loud jobs its not worth the time. One last thing is the battery it does last longer that alot of my other headsets but not that much longer i usually get about a good 3-4 hrs of talk time out of it

Amazing sound quality.......2007-12-27

The sound quality on this thing is just as good, if not better than advertised. I use a Blackberry 8830 and it is known for high amounts of background noise. When using this headset, virtually all background noise is eliminated. Best noise reduction headset on the market.

Only complaint is that my headset disconnects from my phone about 5 times per day with no explanation. Doesn't appear to be the phone causing the problem so I may be looking swap this out as defective and get a new one.

Product Description

You will receive 1 high quality Rechargeable Battery. This Rechargeable Battery 100% fits and is properly matching !

Ni-MH Rechargeable Battery (originally packaged factory-new merchandise)

This high capacity rechargeable battery definitely disposes of more power than the original rechargeable battery included in delivery of the unit. This rechargeable battery can be used instead of the original rechargeable battery without any problems and can be recharged with the available standard power supply.

Features of this rechargeable battery:

safety due to heat and overcharge protection
more power than the original
excellent fitting accuracy, certified quality merchandise, not an original accessory
the standard battery charger can still be used

Product Description

2004 Mercedes CLK320, CLK500, 00-03 G500 Coupe/Cabrio Cell Phone Car Mounting Bracket by Panavise Mounting location is on the lower side of the radio. InDash custom mount eliminates exposed holes in vehicle. For clean, easy, nearly invisible phone mount installation. Complete instructions included.

Cheap Consumer Electronics:

Cheap Consumer Electronics List

Cheap Consumer Electronics