A month or two ago, I read an article in one of my computer magazines where bluetooth headsets were rated. Of the ten that were tested, Jawbone rated best. To my surprise, it wasn't the most expensive of the ten. The review, plus its noise cancellation technology cought my interest.
Several weeks later, I accidentally washed my own bluetooth headset. I assumed the children had taken it, but found it in my pants pocket about a week later. Needless to say, it was dead.
I hopped online to get more information about the Jawbone headset. To my dismay, it has it's own website. On the demo tab there, I watched a video of a guy demonstrating the noise cancellation feature. He performs two tests. In the first test, he is standing in a yard. Next to him are two guys - one mowing the lawn, the other operating a leaf blower. When he activated the noise cancellation feature, you could hear him clearly and there was absolutely no background noise of any kind. I was very impressed. In the second demo, the guy is sitting in the passenger seat of an automobile cruising down the highway. He cranks up the radio, puts the AC on max blast, and rolls his window down. Again, when the noise cancellation feature was activated, you could hear him clearly. I was sold.
I called several stores in my area before I finally found someone with a Jawbone. It was their last one. My rush to the store was like a journey to pick up my winnings from a large lottory or something.
From the moment I saw the jawbone, I was impressed. The box it came in was sleek and well designed. The jawbone itself was perched on a pedistal inside a glass housing atop the box. It was beautiful. When I got home, I dropped it on the charger and started reading the manual. A full charge on a dead battery should take around 2 hours on a dead battery according to the manual, but mine took nearly three.
When fitting the jawbone to my head, I had several problems. The biggest complaint I have is that the earpiece is on a spring loaded device and forces the earpiece away from the jawbone. So, when I finally got it on my ear, the earpice and its spring loaded connection was pushing jawbone away from my face. I felt like it was going to fall off my ear. However, you are equipped with four different earpieces and four different earbuds so you can find a decent fit.
I paired jawbone to my cell phone just before my wife and I headed to town to run errands. On a small highway, at about 40 MPH, I called my mother for testing. She could hear me just fine. When I cranked up the radio, however, she admitted that she was able to hear the radio. Then, I rolled down the window. Unfortunately, she said she couldn't hear me at all. As we drove around town, I scratched my head and continued to review the instrucion manual making sure I hadn't overlooked anything. According to the manual, the noise cancellation feature can be turned on or off, but is turned on by default when you answer or place a call. I started to have my doubts about the online demo.
Later, on the same day, I called a buddy of mine to research a trip we are to take later in the year. I used my jawbone during the conversation. He said he could hear me, but could tell he was on speakerphone or a bluetooth device. At some point, I took a smoke break. When I stepped out on my porch, a continuous gentle breeze passed through. That's when my friend said, "Oh, you must be smoking now. I can here the wind." I couldn't belive it. That was a very light breeze indeed. I'm not sure he would have heard something like that on my older, cheaper bluetooth headset.
To conclude, I give you this:
Jawbone looks great. With 4 earbuds and 4 earhooks, you have 16 tries to get a comfortable fit to your ear (have patience). The noise cancellation feature doesn't work - AT ALL. Sound is better than my last headset, but still not as clear as holding a phone to my ear.
Well, this is just my opinon. I've only had my jawbone for a few days now. If any of you can shed some light my way or have had trouble with the noise cancellation feature of jawbone, post your info here.
Thanks,
Magus
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