Aliph Jawbone Bluetooth Headset

Reviews: Electronics

Digital Cameras | PDAs | Communications

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Max Slowik
Beth
Aliph
Jan. 31, 2008

Specifications

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In Use

Jumping straight to performance, the Jawbone does as well as advertised, taken with a rational amount of salt. I could hear just fine (notching up the volume on my cell phone the first time was enough, although there's an annoying method of adjusting the volume on the headset as well), and could be heard over most noise. But the Jawbone still uses Bluetooth, radio-wise, and was as susceptible to interference as any other device, although the range was a couple of feet longer than the 665.

There were two things that brought the thing to a screeching, both-parties-yelling-into-their-phones halt. The first, most banally, was wind. Any gusts at the precise angle across the mics (it uses two) shut down my side of the conversation. The other, irritatingly, was my beard. The whiskers of my scruffy maw jabbing at the vibration sensor played havoc with the Jawbone's ability to listen to me. After a trim and rotating the headset upwards, the issue dissolved, but never before has an inanimate gadget preferred that I shave.

Loud noises, ambient or ejaculatory, never cut in. Other people talking over me weren't picked up, and the only sign of any interference was a slight tunneling of my voice, when the interference was of a similar tone and frequency as me. Of course, this is with the noise filter on. It hurts a lot to leave it off, and, since it didn't seem to affect the battery life, I have no idea why you'd ever not have it on.

With an advertised six hours of talk time, the actual performance came in at just over five. This doesn't include the rest time between conversations, with the headset in sleep mode between calls. Actually carrying the thing in my ear for more than an hour got old. It's nowhere near as comfortable as the Plantronics headset, and it blocks a little more while not in use . Part of it's the weight, but a lot more is just the hardened ear buds (necessary to support the weight). The ear loops didn't bother me at all.

I didn't have to re-synchronize it ever (even if something disrupted or jammed the signal) and voice-activated dialing worked fine, although that's more phone-centric than it is headset-related. The two-buttons-only thing is a little annoying, and I would rather have more granular control than press-and-hold schemes provide. But I rarely had to use the buttons, automatic as the thing is, so it worked out.

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Page 1: Introduction, Looks and Features
Page 2: In Use
Page 3: Conclusion

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1 User Comment

1 - Posted by stone95 on May 24, 2008 - 6:26 pm

sounds good, but ear lobe pieces break at base of jawbone. Broken 3 now. Horrible reliability flaw that this fatigues so soon (3 in 2mos)

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