I just saw one video on AOL regarding replacing the earloops, and the poster quoted the poor Aliph customer service. My experience in two calls separated by 6 months or so was exactly opposite. They’ve been professional, gracious and helpful to me.

I wasn’t aware that it won’t work on XP, and I’ve heard rumors that it won’t work for multipoint, but I know that it does work for multipoint through my personal use. I wish it came with a carrying case, but other than that I’m just so pleased with my Bluetooth.

jawbone headset

So it won’t work on XP; Jawbone support says “We do not have an XP SP2 Widcomm Bluetooth driver available as we do not support PC/MAC compatibility at this time.”

No good or bad blame, just info that you should know before buying.

Pros: The sound quality is good enough that it fools people into thinking that I am not on a headset. Pretty comfortable. In Washington State it becomes manditory to wear a headset while talking on a cell phone while driving after 7/1/08.

Cons: I’ve had two ear hooks break just swinging them onto my ear. Not forcing them the hooks broke right at the join between the headset and the hook. That part of the hook is not metal (the earhook is) just a tiny slice of plastic. Now down to my last two hooks. Unlike Jabra or Plantronic, you cannot purchase replacement hooks for cheap. Doesn’t come with case of any kind so I use a small camera case and it stores my charger too. Does not cut wind noise, one of the main reasons I bought it.

fil;21814 wrote:

[B]This headset was just BIG, bulky, and ugly.
I looked like a geek wearing this HUGE rectangular device on my face.

I also mentioned above how odd it was to put on and take off this headset. It was unnatural feeling.

As for bulky, it was a combination of the ear gels and how far it protudes or is stuck in your ear that I didn’t like.[/B]

I’ll say it again, I steer quite clear of awkward and un-adjustable earpieces. Thanks to everyone for the reviews and feedback!

The other fault is then I often like to turn on the loundspeaker on my phone when I am in the office or wish to share a conversation and the Jawbone always re-connects after a few seconds meaning you have to power off to work like this.

My last gripe is in the UK they have chosen to resell though Car Phone wharehouse which limits supply and has bad customer satisfaction. Two months and many phone calls later they still have not refunded me.

I am so looking for the a great performing headset – I thought I had found it….. time for the Germans to step in

QUALITY
——–
Very poor.

1. Rubber cover for Charging Hole–Flimsy rubber that I can see coming loose and losing. This thing is a complete waste.
2. Swappable Ear fittings–require a 1/4 turn connection and was flimsy. I can see these things breaking in a short period of time.
3. Over ear hangers–made of rigid metal and a rubber band-like custom fit…I don’t even know where to begin on how weird it was to fit these and then to consistently put on and take off this headset. It’s just weird. I’ve used Cardo Scala and Moto H7/8xx series headsets that were natural to wear and take off, but the Jawbone was ear gymnastics trying to wear it.

SOUND QUALITY
—————-
Everyone that I spoke with thought that I sounded tinny and they also sounded odd.

There always seemed to be a constant wind sound as others have mentioned.

FIT
—
This headset was just BIG, bulky, and ugly.
I looked like a geek wearing this HUGE rectangular device on my face.

I also mentioned above how odd it was to put on and take off this headset. It was unnatural feeling.

As for bulky, it was a combination of the ear gels and how far it protudes or is stuck in your ear that I didn’t like.

OVERALL
———
I’m going back to my Cardo Scala 500 or check out the 700.

The $100 price I paid for this headset was not worth it.

I just called Jawbone (Aliph) and told the lady in Cust Ser about the problem. No hassle, no problem. She said that it was probably a bad charger, took my name and address, and said that a new one will go out maybe today, but no later than tomorrow.

If anyone had a hard time getting results, I might suggest calling back and maybe geting a different person. I haven’t tried it yet, but as far as I am concerned, they stand behind their product.

I had a Cardo Scala 500 for a few months and then lost it.
The Motorola H700 just seems pretty to me and has great reviews on CNet, so it was on my list until I read your Jawbone review.

The Jawbone just seems a little expensive since I’ve already lost 2 Bluetooth headsets.

Is there a way that others have made sure that they don’t lose these things?

Yes, I would say that the Jawbone has better sound quality over the Cardo. Hard to tell with battery life since I tend to charge often.

Compared to the Cardo Scala and a Motorola H700, how does the Jawbone compare in sound quality, battery life, and size?

Thanks in advance.

EDIT: Looks like you answered those questions here: http://the-gadgeteer.com/review/cardo_systems_scala_700_bluetooth_headset
The Jawbone is the winner now…

Looks like I still won’t go wrong with the Cardo.

I have used a variety of Bluetooth Headsets for the past 2 0r 3 years.Usually in my auto with an older Nokia phone. I place the phone on the dashboard with it to automatically answer after 2 rings when I say “Hello”.

All of the Bluetooth Headsets worked fine inside the auto. However, if inside a restaurant or outside some people had difficulty understanding me and usually I had to walk to a quiet corner or an isolated place.

I had not yet read your review, but read reviews of several other writers that gave the Jawbone rave reviews. I purchase the Jawbone a few months ago and experienced some of the gripes in your threads. I had to try a different gel earpiece and found it difficult to put on. however, with a little practice I can place it on with one hand.

I don’t ride in an topless auto or stand over an air conditioner during my calls.

However, I placed test calls to friends in Japan and Taiwan. During these tests I stood next to a road with busy truck traffic and in extremely noisy restaurants. In all cases the listeners reported dramatic changes with the Noise Shield “On” or “Off”. With the Shield “Off” I could not be heard as with my other Bluetooth Earpieces. With the Noise Shield “On” I was asked if I had gone inside to a quiet place.

After the test to Japan to an engineer, he answered, “You have a winner there”.

In addition I have had none of the breakage or other problems some others have experienced.

As a Registered Professional Engineer in the State of California I can state without reservation that it works for me.

William

I contacted their customer service at Aliph and they responded back via email fairly quickly. They determined that the Jawbone is not compatible with my phone and service. I have a low end Nokia and Verizon. Not sure if other phones on Verizon would work. So they asked that I contact their return number and get a RMA.

I ordered one for my engineer and one for my wife, they just got them today and are like kids at Christmas!

I spent some time bending and twisting the ear loop to make a perfect fit, all was going well until I tried to bend the wrong spot and snaped the very end off the ear loop! So, I tried it without the ear loop and it works fine for me, I just need to get used to it.

Noise reduction is great. I have kids and you can hear them as clear as you can hear me. No magic here, they still need to be quite while I am on the phone! However, if they are in the other room people only hear me.

Noise from the car, train or on the street is greatly reduced and in most of my tests no one knew I was not in my office.

I would say it is 80% effective which is better then anything else I have used.

I found the fix it trick using the eargels, and it worked great for a week or two, then the eargels ripped and after replacing I found (in my experience) these last 1 week on average and I can’t just keep buying them over and over.

The “wind” issue really shocked me. I figured “Military Grade” noise cancelling would take out the wind noise at least as well as the other ones I have owned.

It would be great to find an earpiece that I can use and be functional and efficient.

I am much like the previous poster with the same problems:

Don’t like hardware hanging off my head; small or inconspicous is better.

Fit is as important as quality.

As a Construction Engineer for the City of Fort Worth, I have a wide variety of greatly varying conditions I wear it in, from on the jobsite with heavy equipment running, traffic whizzing by, yelling and carrying on of the workers (sometimes I really don’t want what a construction worker is yelling across the jobsite to carry over the call, at times it can be very colorful language). The other end of the spectrum is in my office working on the computer or running a pre-construction conference, I need it to work and be practical and secure/comforatable enough to allow me to use it all day.

Anyone PLEASE have a suggestion? There has to be one out there at some price that will do it all.

Thanks for helping a newbie here on gadgeteer!

chull wrote:

I got a Jawbone with the hope of reducing the ambient noises on a phone call. I have two daughters (1 and 3 years old), a Miata convertible, ride my bicycle and I am a consultant who ends up getting calls at all hours – but usually when I am in restaurants or Starbucks (is that a restuarant or does it deserve a special category?). So there is constant noise around me, except for the little time I am actually locked in the office, when I don’t need bluetooth. I end up with the headset in my ear 60-80% of the time I am not in the office or at home.

So I needed a very comfortable headset that blocked out noises. And it had to be easy to use one-handed, as I am usually carrying a child or a phone or a bag or something else, if I need to be using the BT headset.

So I now have the Jawbone, and I am quite disappointed with it.

-Ergonomically, it is a mess. The earloops are big and due to the metal/rubber construction get in the way of getting it on the ear. It absolutely requires two hands if you use the loops.

- The Noise Cancellation does not work! Sure, I can test it out by turning it off, and this does make a huge difference. But with it on, all of my callers can still hear my children singing in the background, the road noise in the car and the baristas calling out the orders. Even when I am not talking, and yes, the silly white jaw button is pressed into my cheek.

- Wind performance is horrible. This earpiece sticks out so far from my face that it is much more in the windstream than any other earpice I have used. When it gets windy, the headset seems to become half duplex – I cannot even listen to a conversation if wind is hitting the microphone(s). Among the BT headsets I have used, the Motorola HS810 was the best at wind performance, mostly because it’s microphone is closest to the face. The Jawbone is unusable is any location with more than 10 mph of wind, so playgrounds, the miata, and the downtown canyons of any city are pretty much off limits.

- Ease of use is bad. I cannot put this headset in my pocket, as I would never be able to get it out to answer a call. The ear loops grip to everything in my pocket and also fall of easily. It does turn on relatively quickly (3 seconds on a button), but does not always immediately pick up a call, so I have to answer with the the phone to be sure of answering at all – then turn on the headset – hoping the caller can wait. So this is another earpiece that has to stay on my ear if even one hand is full (remember the kids..) The Motorola is the clear winner in this category – it is very small and turns on immediately by opening the boom – and always picks up the call within a single ring.

BTW, altough I may love gadgets, I do not enjoy displaying them. So I do not have any cases and everything needs to fit in my pockets (Treo included). I feel self-conscious about having an earpiece all of the time, and the Jawbone is a big ostentatious one.

There is no audible indication of common actions. For instance, I frequently redial, which requires two button presses on the Jawbone. But you get no indication on either of the presses or when the redial actually starts. Only if you hear ringing 5 seconds later do you have any feedback. If the earpiece is in your ear, you have no idea if it is on – on the Scala and Jabras, a single click of the multifunction buttons will beep – nothing on the Jawbone (I have a Treo 650 which does not support voice dialing). If you hold the call button for a few seconds you can turn it on or off, but you have no idea which – the same tone is used for turning it on or off – you would have to take the earpiece off and look at it to see if the light flashes white (on) or red (off) while you press the button.

-Summary: I will try the Jawbone for a few more weeks (I have had it for two now), but I will probably go back to the Scala as the fulltime earpiece. When I switch phones to the Nokia N75 (one is on order), I will likely move to the Motorola HS850 or H9 – they do not work on a Treo.

Chull, nice information. I have a Moto H700 and just bought the jawbone to test it out. I feel the same as you do. Also, mine fell apart the 2nd time I charged it. When I pulled off the charger, it came apart!

I made serveral calls to the same person trying both the H700 (which uses motorola’s noice cancellation) and the jawbone. Using the jawbone with noice cancellation off, the motorola performed better. With the jawbone noice cancellation on, it was slightly better than the motorola, said my friend on the other end. BUT, it’s super hard to use, hard to turn off and off, and trying to answer a call fast when it’s in your pocket, well, you end up missing the call.

I do have a question for you though. I also have a convertible, and you think the H700 would perform as good as your HS850 did? They are pretty similiar. Also, why not got with a H700 for the new phone that’s on order?

“It sounds as though you may have a damaged charger cable. Because of the wide range of usage patterns, we do not cover the charger under the warranty plan.”

They did offer to inspect the charger cable if I sent it to them, at my expense.

So beware – if you get one with this problem, you’re on your own!

William

Well it sounds like you are giving the Jawbone a thorough test. I’m sorry that it is not working out for you.