Cellphones are everywhere, we’ve all got them, and we all use them to talk all the time, but depending where you are it can be illegal to talk and drive, so with the introduction of these laws the sale of Bluetooth headsets have skyrocketed.  Not all Bluetooth headsets are created equal, you can find them ranging from a few dollars  to over one hundred, are these high priced headsets worth your money?

The Jawbone Bluetooth headset is one of the most popular on the market today, and they’ve recently released a version 2 which has been redesigned with a sleeker, more stylish look, and smaller profile, but yet retaining the same excellent noise elimination qualities of the original Jawbone.

Is the Jawbone2 worth the money? Is it really all that? Or is it just hype?

First up we’ve got the Jawbone2 720p resolution unboxing video for you, check it out and continue on for the rest of the review:

Specifications:

The New Jawbone – Jawbone2

Color: Blah Blah Black

THE SCIENCE

Jawbone eliminates real world noise better than any other headset because it is the only headset that can accurately separate speech from ambient noise.

The mobile phone is the prevailing communication tool for business and personal productivity, and people expect to be able to use their phones in all environments without sacrificing audio quality. Jawbone’s patented NoiseAssassin™ technology is unique in its ability to separate speech from ambient noise with remarkable precision. Jawbone’s NoiseAssassin is able to achieve this while other headsets cannot due to:

Patented VAS:
Jawbone’s Voice Activity Sensor (VAS) is able to detect very accurately when the person is talking and capture the frequencies of his or her speech even in the presence of noise.

Advanced DSP Algorithms:
The NoiseAssassin algorithms were developed over a number of years for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).

THE DESIGN

The New Jawbone is the next step in the integration of best in class noise elimination technology with personal design that is both humanistic and minimal.

In the tradition of bringing together beauty and science, the new Jawbone is a miracle of miniaturization and 50% smaller than the original award-winning Jawbone. Every effort has been made to contain best in class noise elimination technology in the most unassuming, yet richly detailed product.

No Visible Buttons
The “invisible button” policy at Jawbone accomplishes a clutter-free look. Touch-surface technology allows the user to operate switches by lightly pressing the outside shield.

Premium Materials
Constructed with ultra-smooth medical-grade plastic, the new Jawbone also comes with optional fine leather earloops.

The Experience
Comprised of an outer shield and inner surface, the new Jawbone experience is two-fold. The outer shield, curved and rectilinear to follow the face, is lightly textured in a sound-reflective progressive relief, a three-dimensional texture visually representative of noise abatement surfaces. This unique surface becomes animated as light creates highlights and shadows when worn. The inner surface, the one touching the face and creating contact with the Voice Activity Sensor, is gently curved to be ergonomic and comfortable on the skin.

Price: $129.99 (approximately)

So I’ve got two other BT Headsets on hand, the Jabra BT530 that I recently reviewed here, and the Tritton axMicro that I’ve been using for comparison to each other, they all have their pros and cons of course. The Jawbone2 is the larger of the three I have on hand, which personally is something that I didn’t care for at first, I like small, especially when it comes to something like this.

It took a few tries to figure out which earbud and earloop worked for me, normally I don’t like the earloops at all, but the leather wrapped ones with the Jawbone2 are very comfortable, and you really don’t even notice it’s on, as with the entire headset really. After a few minutes of having the Jawbone2 on your ear you don’t even notice it, of course that’s after you figure out which earbud fits your ear. Originally I had the wrong earbud on the Jawbone, and it was very uncomfortable, I just couldn’t figure out what all the fuss was about this headset when I was wearing it, it was just very uncomfortable, but then I decided to try another earbud and loop and all was well.

Pairing it with my phone worked perfectly the first time and each consecutive time, I just activate the Bluetooth on my phone then turn the Jawbone2 on, in a couple seconds they’re paired, no problems there at all.

Battery life is excellent, I personally don’t like talking on the phone so I try and avoid it if possible, but I went almost three weeks before I had to charge the Jawbone2, so that’s not bad at all for battery life.

Using it for calls is easy, just hit the button, though the two buttons that are on the headset can be confusing at first, while trying to adjust the volume I turned it off in the middle of a call. Since the buttons are hidden, it takes a bit to get accustomed to them and figuring out exactly where they are on the headset.

Sound is crystal clear while using the Jawbone2, and I can drive with the windows down and talk, wind doesn’t effect the Jawbone2 at all. People I’ve talked to could not tell I was using a headset at all, they said I sounded perfectly clear to them.

Range of the Jawbone2 is good as well, I can easily leave my phone on my desk and walk around, or to the next room without losing the connection.

I’ve yet to actually find the perfect BT headset, but the Jawbone2 is very close to being perfect, the only complaint I could have about the Jawbone is the lack of sound from the phone, and what I mean by that is I can’t listen to music through it and I can’t hear the phone ‘beeping’ either. I use an AT&T Tilt, and depending what you’re doing the phone will beep to let you know, with the Jabra I heard it through the earpiece, I sort of got accustomed to this while using the Jabra and miss it really…

Comparing the Jabra of the Jawbone to the Tritton is not comparison, they win hands down against the axMicro. Now comparing the Jawbone2 and the Jabra BT530, that’s a different story and there is no real clear winner, for comfort I’d have to go with the Jawbone2, for noise elimination both are equally excellent choices, but for a feature like the sounds and music I’d have to go with the Jabra BT530. So it’s a hard choice, if the Jawbone2 could play music and the sounds from my phone it would be the perfect headset

Images

Conclusion:

The Jawbone2 BT Headset is truly the epitome of class and style when it comes to BT headsets, it not only looks great, but it’s comfortable and works well.

The NoiseAssassin feature really does work at blocking out all external sounds, you can easily drive with the windows down and talk with no interference at all.

It’s extremely comfortable to wear, after a while you don’t even notice that it’s on your ear, and this is of course due to the fact that Aliph included choices of sizes of earbuds and loops to insure a perfect fit for every type of person.

The Jawbone2 is not perfect for me, but I’m picky, though it’s very close to perfection, about as close as it can get really, now only if it played music and sounds I’d be set!

To answer the question posed at the intro of this review, yes it’s worth the money, and yes it is all that and then some. There’s no hype when it comes to the Jawbone2.

Pros:

Very comfortable

Well made

Easy to use

Crystal clear sound

Excellent battery life

Lightweight

Wind doesn’t effect it

Cons:

Doesn’t play sounds or music from phone

Expensive

Grades: Overall:

Design:

Performance: