We got to spend a little bit of time with
Aliph's new Jawbone headset, and we'll confess we're a tad smitten. The headset is considerably smaller than its predecessor, and the improved earbud design gave us a comfortable fit right out of the box -- with other options waiting in the wings. That old overly-complicated ear hook is gone in favor of a simple, slightly flexible one, clad in leather with the intention of an eventual worn-in feel, but thanks to the new light design we're actually planning on going hook-less -- we haven't managed to shake it off yet, and have already probably caused considerable brain damage in the attempts. The interface is the same invisible one of its predecessor, but the first time you turn it on it's in pairing mode so we had no trouble there. We'd be hard pressed to notice a sound difference either way, but that was never the original's problem. The smaller design does mean a reduction in battery life, which could be a deal breaker for some, but if you're not going to be yapping away constantly the new Jawbone is a useful bit of "earwear," as Aliph would like to call it.
posted May 15th 2008 12:02AM
The Jawbone store link gives a 404 error. Perfect.
i wish i had :(
interesting.
can you guys comment on how it fares in the wind?
I second that motion. Any chance you can review it on real world usage?
good ole' Walt said this about wind and the new Jawbone
"The biggest flaw in the original Jawbone, in my 2006 tests, was its performance in wind, which was poor. The Jawbone did much better in my latest tests. During a Jawbone call from a car with all the windows down and the sunroof open, my voice was easy to make out, according to the person I was calling. The new Plantronics earpiece did just as well in this wind test."
Jawbone1's ear hook was not just to hold it up and in your ear, it as an integral design element that kept the front of the unit pressed to your jaw. Without the hook, it may stay in your ear but there is nothing providing tension to keep it against your jaw, and it becomes not a jawbone. I suspect the situation would be the same for Jawbone 2.
Kev, I wish that were true. People's head and ear shapes vary greatly. One guy I work with had to dump his Jawbone because he couldn't keep it pressed against his jaw, so it canceled his voice out about half the time.
i wish i could have a review written up before the product is even announced. good work. now give me.
oh come on... at least trim that mess up before taking pictures man!
"Noise Assassin?" thats so bad ass!
alternate nickname; "Silent Assassin"?
just a thought.
Silent Assassin would actually kill the silence, and brings in the noise.
With my current Jawbone, wind noise is a problem.
i said silent assassin, not "silence assassin", and i still think it would make a cool name...
There's only two round earplugs and none of the "teardrop" style? My ears couldn't fit the other ones... they were too big. I had to use the same one as on the red one to find comfort.
What about the lame proprietary power connector? Please tell me the new one uses standard USB mini.
hmm, I actually took the time to look at the picture gallery.
Guess what, there seem to be 2 pictures of what looks like a USB charger.
Amazing that a little self-initiative actually answers questions.
Then again, your lazy ass got your question answered by me... so well played sir.
@rip
"Guess what, there seem to be 2 pictures of what looks like a USB charger."
Actually, he was asking about the OTHER end of the USB cable. It's still a proprietary cable. USB on one side, goofy power cap thingy on the other. We want USB on one side, mini-USB on the other. USB to mini-USB cables are easy to find if you leave yours at home. I'm sick of these proprietary cables. If it doesn't have mini-USB, no sale.
Ok, I stand corrected. I only glanced at the gallery pics posted on this page, not the link to all of them. Instead, I went to jawbone.com to find out for sure, but saw no good pics or description of the connector type. Lesson learned.
sure its great and all that bob over there can hear me whilst im in some very loud situation. but the question is whether i can hear him?
jawbone is a cool concept. but if its gonna cost much money out it really needs a sellpoint FOR the user, not his phonemate
thats what the little metal piece that attaches the ear loop to the unit is for... use it to poke out your eardrum on your other ear
A headset is useless if you can't use it because nobody can hear you.
And using a Jawbone, you can talk, handsfree, in places that you couldn't carry on a phone conversation with any other headset, or on a handset directly.
Can someone comment how feasible it is to go "hook less", how's the fit, etc. I hate BT headset hooks, but if this can go hookless and stay snug, I will buy one.
I have a jawbone1 and found the earloop torture - impossible to get on, every earbud totally unsuited for my ear (the one who commented on the teardrop shaped one - I figured those were for Martians!). BUT I read somewhere about people using the original Jabra ear gels (the ones that fit in your ear not the newer mini ones) and found a set. Cut the martian earbud to fit inside and now I have a jawbone that I can just plug in my ear when the phone rings, stays in, and gives a sound-occluding fit. It would have been wasted money with the ear loop.
Oh and to answer the 'how do you hear them' question, the jawbone is quite loud AND seems to make it higher register leaving off the confusing low tones. I have been able to hear anyone in my mode, driving in the convertible with the music going and top down, etc.
"earloop torture - impossible to get on" sure thing Mickey Mouse. Seriously, not that hard. You just need to use your forefinger to push the rubber piece up against the metal and out of the way. There. That easy.
And I'm guessing most people without one will probably not understand that but whatever.
On another note, I too would like to know how well this one fares in the wind. Maybe I can give it to the wife and upgrade!
I missed calls the first few days I owned one because I couldn't get it on fast enough. Just like anything else, you learn how, and it becomes second nature. Same thing with the discomfort.
If they can't put a standard mini-USB charging interface on the stupid headset then they can't get any money out of me.
Walt Mossberg has a review on the Jawbone 2 in the Video Center. He loves it and notes that the new version handles wind much better.
Any idea if it's improved with CDMA phones?
Any wind protection improvements? Can I use on a convertible yet like The Boom?
I'm wondering if they adopted a more reasonable mini-usb charger connector or if it still uses the ridiculous cradle like the earlier one.
I have the Jawbone 1 and I love it. It is the most comfortable headset that I have owned. I usually forget that it is in place and have to be reminded to remove it. It works perfectly with my Blackberry Curve.
The sound quality is the best ever. I can talk and be heard clearly even when the car's sound system is playing and the a/c is running.
My only complaint with the Jawbone is the lame charging connector. It is USB electrical spec but uses the woest proprietary connector that I have ever seen. The new version looks better but why do they not just use a standard mini USB connector like the other 25 million USB compatible devices on the market.
I now have to have a special cable in my car to charge the thing.
IS THIS BLUETOOTH 2.0????
THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT QUESTION AND NO ONE ADDRESSED IT!!!
God help anyone that tries to say that the old jawbone was 2.0 or that says this one is without any real evidence. I haven't found any real evidence yet. Please provide some!!!!
Dude, read the box. It says 2.0, 1.1 and 1.0 compatible right on it.
Thank you sir!
what? i can't hear your over the noise! you need to use the Engadget Noise Assassin Comment feature.
New urban dictionary
BlueTool: Someone who constantly wears a bluetooth headset 24/7.
USB connectors are for socialists!!! We capitalist prefer proprietary connectors. If you want USB move to Europe!!!
I've always wondered how the Jawbone fared with beards. It's the only thing that prevented me from buying one last-gen. No one seems to know if the damn thing will work with beards.
Works decent with mine... but right where it hits on me, the hair is still in "sideburn" thickness, not the fullest part of my beard which is below my earlobe.
I got one of these today myself... can't lie. I just want to change the damn ringing tone. It's annoyingly worse than the previous version.
Random question: Does anyone know if the jawbone can be used in either ear with the ear loop?
the earloop can be used in either ear... it comes with 3 earloops 2 with leather and sizes M and XL and one without leather and is XL
the same earloop can be pushed into the Jawbone a different waya nd works very evry well holds right to my face without any adjustment
yes but your voice will sound upside-down.
I had a Jawbone 1 and hated it-- hard to put on with the ear loop and so I took it off. It does work without the loop but can fall out. I changed the ear bud to a Jabbra one, but it keeps falling off. You can't adjust the volume easily and there's no car charger.
The Jawbone 2 address some of these problems, but if the BlueAnt V1 works about as well, I'm tempted to go with that. I'd like to see a comparison.
hey guys i have mine yesturday and got to mess around here are a few facts....
there is no usb charger is it magnetic tho to help with the charger cap breakage
the earloop doesnt bend and has leather on it which actually i took mine out of the box and it worked with no problems!!!
the earbud is no longer a hard rubber piece that locks in but rather is a rubber tube that slips ontop it doesnt block the speaker or anything...
i think the noise shield is 100 times better this one eliminated everything...
has 1 full button the way it works is you hold down the top of it and then hole above the led for it to work
the led is so tiny and small and works perfectly...
I believe this Jawbone is the best!!! I had the original and found it to bulky and hurt my ear this one is 100 times better in all aspects and congratulate Aliph for the job well done
I can't believe no one, not one single person has mentioned the lack of MUTE. Is this missing feature simple accepted as the way it must be? I wish I would have been able to find some review somewhere that pointed out that this top of the line headset doesn't have any way to MUTE. That's a deal breaker for me, I'll be sending my back now (after 5 minutes of wishing/checking to see if one of the volume settings was maybe a mute mode). Why doens't anybody talk about that?
...I know, I know, cause they're muted
So, the Jawbone crew apparently decided to fire Yves Behar, and hire Christopher Lowell to design their version 2.0 headset.
This is really a sad change from the original.
i got to test it out. a few things. after charging i played with teh different tips and hooks. none worked well. i have the original jawbone and it stays on my ear perfectly. i use the tip that sits in the ear a little but the new jawbone doesn't include one. also the hook isn't designed as well. the volume is distorted compared with the previous model. the new one may work for some but not myself or my boss that tried it out too.
Drove 18 miles on my lunch break to find an AT&T that had it in stock. Performed a reverent un-boxing and charged it fully (great macbook-like magnetic dock!) Paired up with my Nokia N73 fine. Took it out for a test drive on L.A. freeways. I called two friends on two networks. Both complained they could barely hear me, or it would break off a lot badly. I could hear them loud and clear tho. While trying to adjust it so my JB2 is touching my jawbone, I kept accidentally pressing the talk-button disconnecting the call. Happened four more times. Lesson: grip the sides and avoid the sensitive top. Pressed the "volume" button: only the speaker got louder. I do have sideburns but the JB2 is skin just above my jawbone. Should it be "firmly" pressed into my actual jawbone? Nothing I did could make it better. Maybe if I turned off the "noise assasin", but that's for another day.
Umm, regarding the alternate name...If it were to be called "Silence Assassin" then that would denote that it would kill silence which would be counter-productive. "Noise Assassin" makes much more sense when you think about it...kill the noise. I'm just sayin'...
I got mine on the 22nd from ATT and used it right out of the box. Just like the previous JB, had problems with adjusting it for my ears (can't wear ear buds either). Finally got it adjusted...headed right out of the house to test. Friends said I sounded like I was in a tunnel or couldn't hear me. Did some adjusting and they could hear. Having a beard might be causing to slide off the point where the contact needs to be. I've used it for a week and it's not good with skype, having to adjust the hooks. I've used all three hooks and covers. I'm returning the ear piece today. Bought a voyager 520 for multipoint pairing. Haven't had any problems with skype or being outside talking. $69 or $129.......you decide, just not for me.