Aliph Jawbone Bluetooth headset
We'll be sticking fish in our ears next
Exclusive Review Hands-free headsets are a boon for mobile users. Not only can you pretend to be Lieutenant Uhura, but you can write while you're on the blower or drive more safely. And legally.
Last year, Aliph released the Jawbone, a Bluetooth headset that was different from most earlier devices because it was sufficiently stylish for you not to feel a like plonker, and because it was easy to set up.
Already available in the US and Australia in black, silver and rose gold
Where previous headsets had proved challenging to pair and stay paired with a phone, Jawbone was simple and effective. It even had pretensions to being cool because its noise-cancelling technology had been developed for an American military defence agency.
Now, Aliph has refined the design and the technology to deliver a more powerful and neater new Jawbone. The new one is noticeably smaller, half as wide, much less thick and a little shorter. Although the MK1 wasn't huge, many will find the latest size-zero model preferable. Measuring 5.5 x 2.5 x 1.5cms and weighing around 10g, it's certainly much lighter, to the extent that you aren't as aware that it's there.
Still, since the sight of a guy wandering around with lights flashing on a headset permanently in place is not exactly something to imitate, forgetting it's there may not be an unalloyed advantage. At least the indicator light is subtle, a tiny white blip that flashes only occasionally and is otherwise invisible behind the matt-black, textured surface.
COMMENTS
Get one free...
I got one in to test, and they are amazing. There's some products that are just better, that you can tell the company really cares about. Dyson is one and for me Aliph (Jawbone) is another - no corner cutting and genuinely innovative tech.
I'll have to work "Anti-accordian technology" into the copy on our site somewhere now :)
Paris because she's not averse to commercial enterprises either
@kewl
I have to attend a lot of audio conferences, both in the office and from home. The Jawbone 1.0 is perfect as it eliminates any background noise (although you can sound a bit like a Dalek). I even tested it by standing next to an accordion player (he was playing the accordion at the time), and no-one else on the call could hear him.
However, I am intelligent enough to remove the earpiece and switch it off as soon as my call is over. People who walk around with these on their ears all the time look like twats. And I certainly wouldn't make a business call from Asda!
Just returned mine
I actually had a Jawbone 1.0 before it died at 1 year. I liked it, and I got this hoping it would be even better. No luck. The ear piece is a lot harder to get to fit semi-correctly than the original and the sound quality is terrible. Definitely a step back from the original.
I'll stick to cheap plastic looking ones
£80 for something that looks like a dog collar and a lead.
Does anyone remember Jabra Headsets???
In the UK, There used to be Jabra "jelly" headsets, these had a tiny microphone that attached itself to your jawbone, so rather than looking like a call centre operative in your car, you could look like a tw*t in your car instead...
This is just reinventing the wheel
