Loading ...When we got word of the Jawbone 2’s release, it was only a matter of time before a full on review. Our own Vincent posted a wonderfully detailed review over at SlashGear, but that is not going to stop us. The Jawbone 2 is a extremely well designed, thoroughly thought out headset. Aliph spared no expense when making this device, and they certainly did an amazing job with it.
The Jawbone 2 is packed in a box every bit as elegant as the device itself. The device comes in an acrylic plastic case, where the Jawbone is held on a pedestal like plastic extension. The front of the case lifts open to reveal the Jawbone in all its glory, and allow the user to remove the charger and the ear accessories, so that the fit of the Jawbone can be customized. The device is rugged, but of course I am not going to try and smash the review unit.
I have spent a few days with the headset, and now I finally understand the hype. The design is amazing, dare I say flawless? It has an elegant diamond texture, which is made from military grade plastic. The texture almost makes the device look flat against your face during use. Another reason I really liked the texture, is it did not allow for fingerprints to show up, which is a main gripe I have with many phones and accessories. I found the device to fit very comfortably against my face, and had no trouble with the rubber stopper touching my cheek, which I at first thought would be a problem.
One of the main things Aliph has continued to tout about this headset is sound quality, being naturally skeptical, I tested this claim extensively. The result, is this device is every bit as good as you have heard, and then better. I test called just about everyone in my phone book, and asked how I sounded. The catch though, is I did it driving in my car, with the windows down. I also made calls standing outside in the wind, and even in a noisy restaurant. On all occasions, I found the device’s noise cancellation technology, called NoiseAssassin, outperformed even my wildest expectations. Callers reported little to no noise, with the technology. When I turned off NoiseAssassin manually, by holding the button down for two seconds, callers immediately noticed. One even asked “Why on Earth would you go from a quiet room to a noisy one in the middle of a call?”, when I of course had merely turned off noise cancellation. Another plus of the device, is people on the other end of the call did not hear an echo, as they sometimes do with cheaper headsets.
The Jawbone 2 comes with a number of accessories. There are three ear pieces, they range from small, to large. The large is very large, it would not even fit in my ear. It also comes with four ear hooks, which are flexible, and all different sized. Two are leather wrapped, and the other two are standard plastic. If you prefer not to use on at all, the ear hook is optional. I preferred to use one, as I often lose things, but if they are not your style, then hey what can you do. I tried the headset without an ear hook, and though there were no problems, I found it rested much more reliably on my cheek if I used one. Again, the headset must be resting on your cheek, or the rubber sensor will not activate the microphone. This can be defeated by turning off NoiseAssassin.
Aliph has always chosen a unique design for their Jawbone line. This time around, they made the device almost 50% smaller than its predecessor. The Jawbone is very streamlined, but Aliph had to make a few concessions to get it that way. There are only two buttons on whole whole device, one is activated when you press the body of the device, and the other is activated when you press the top of the device. The buttons are easy to push, sometimes a little too easy. Aliph was not about to leave you without a notification light, so they added on tucked away. It is only visible when it is flashing really. It has red, and white. Red while charging, white when done. Flashing white when in use, and red/white when pairing. If you do not like the LED notification, then you can turn it off, simply click the talk button five times in quick succession.
Overall, I would say the Jawbone 2 is the best Bluetooth headset I have ever used. It comes in at an expensive $130, but it is worth it. The device is a winner in every category, comfort, build quality, sound quality, and even looks. The bottom line, is the device is an amazing headset, it is easy to use, looks great, and is perfect for every day use.
June 5th, 2008 at 6:59 pm
How flexible/adjustable is the ear loop? Is it rigid like the previous model or is it a bit more bendable so you can mold it to your ear better?
June 18th, 2008 at 1:13 pm
I have just taken delivery of the Jawbone 2 and was eager to try it out as was so impressed with the videos on the website - don’t believe the hype. My unit will be going straight back as I paired it to an HTC THTY II and gave it a go. The unit buttons kept swapping so when I tried to use the noise cancelling button to make a voice call, the unit shut down. The battery life was not up to anywhere near expectations as mine lasted a day on standby. Voice calls seemed to dial any number so it was like a lucky dip as to who you would actually end up calling. The noise cancellation works a treat except that no-one can actually understand a word you are saying either. Maybe I’ve just got a dodgy one but reading the review above would suggest that there are a lot of dodgy ones about.
Very Disappointed so don’t waste your money and time
June 27th, 2008 at 9:23 am
Hmmmm I am wondering where the previous poster bought his J2? I say that because I have had no issues with mine. I have called everyone in my phone book and not only do they tell me the call clarity is immaculate, most people do not believe I am on my cell phone Or they ask me have I bought a new unit. It is so small and light I forget it is on my ear. I had the original and was impressed with it. This one……is a work of art.
July 9th, 2008 at 6:06 am
The very first released ones had some bugs that caused that to happen (among other oddities), the later ones were fixed; most likely he just got one of those defective ones and rather then get them to replace it (with from what he described it was obviously defective), he just gave up and now bashes on it.
July 13th, 2008 at 11:35 pm
i agree with OvermindDL1
July 16th, 2008 at 2:12 pm
have been using original jawbone for almost a year. it does have good sound, i had much less complaints from folks on the other end about the sound quality. i am a large guy, so size of it was not much of concern. i was very pleased with battery life. but! it was very awkward to use, will not stay in the ear, due to spring loaded yoke, and i had to continuosly re-plug it into my ear. due to my work, i move my head a lot, and it’ll just dangle on the yoke in no time. comparing to plantronics i had before, it was total pain in too-too fit wise. plus, as of late, it started throwing a fit - will “lose” the phone by itself, or will provide speaker sound but mike will not pick up my voice. hard resetting phone bluetooth will fix it, but why?
so, i did my reserch, and for a moment considred plantronics 520, simply because i had such a nice fit with it. but then i leaned towards the 2nd jawbone, simply because of the audio quality.
i have it in my ear for about half an hour as of now.
here’s some word for the jawbone folk: it does fit and feel MUCH more comfortable. that it does. i can’t even tell i have it on. i have just called my buddy and he could not tell i am on bluetooth.
but! there’s always that but. when you switched to cancealed buttons, now they are operated by the shield itself. of course, you made them very sensitive. BIG MISTAKE! by the time i had jawbone inserted into my ear properly, my fingers have activated those buttons some dozen times, as you really have to PRESS ON THE SHIELD to insert it into the ear. so i had it turned on and off, making all kinds of beeps into my ear, etc. also, Noiseassassin button appears to disconnect me from a phone call when pressed for volume adjustment. ??? it’s supposed to do it only when the phone rings, not when i am talking to someone.
i have little doubt i’ll have more surprises coming, so i stick to the receipt well. in general, for $129 + tax, i think it should have been without such a hassle, don’t you? figures, i’ll have to shut it down to insert into my ear, THEN turn it on, otherwise, i have no idea how the buttons won’t be activated as you have to push on the shield to insert it into the ear.
to answer someone’s question, ear yoke is easily bendable. so was the JB1 one, i had no trouble adjusting it. of course, took me about 2 mths to find the comfortable fit, he-he. Jawbone folks, you are definitely good at electronics, but ergonomics is none of your virtues.
July 20th, 2008 at 10:59 am
I have recently acquired the J2 and previously had an original Jawbone. The ear hook did not fit far enough down the back of my ear to hold the phone in place. I now use the ear hook from my original Jawbone along with the ear bud foam cover from the Plantronics 510 ( placed over the ear bud ) and it is absolutely super. I don’t know why Aliph changed the ear buds, the ones on the original worked great.
Best
Harvey
August 22nd, 2008 at 4:04 pm
Purchaced Jawbone 2 today. It pairs up easily with my Samsung A737. The first call I made worked great. The second it started echoing and getting garbeled. I made sure it was touching my cheek. I move around alot and so does the piece. I tried the different ear pieces that it came with and nothing worked to keep it in place. The noise cancelation was not like what they show on you tube. The person on the other end could hear my cat meowing at me. I am pretty sure my cat is not as loud as a construction site. Hope this helps.
September 12th, 2008 at 7:10 am
I have used the original Jawbone since it’s introduction (with Jabra eargels for comfort), but only in noisy environments as I never could get a stable fit, and compared to my Motorola H700 (now using the H710), it was a pain to use the buttons. The J2 carried over the original problems that I found with the J1.
Pros:
1. Best noice cancellation on a consumer headset, by far.
Cons:
1. Difficult fit; I cannot use the provided earloops, and have to use Whoops Earbud covers to fit in my relatively small ear canals.
2. Relatively difficult to pair, re-pair (I have two phones), and use the controls when in your ear. (especially compared to the Moto H700 or H700
September 24th, 2008 at 6:17 pm
Hey all,
Suggestion for all Jawbone 2 users, get the Plantronics Discovery 925 Silicone GEL ear piece and replace the black round Jawbone one with the GEL.
Why because it holds it all by it self with the nub not just touching but pressed against you face and soooo comfortable, (love the feel and fit of the 925 but wanted the noise reduction of the Jawbone, but had fit issues until now). Use the loop just for extra safety like when you run but not needed for daily use.
Jawbone biggest problem is the ear mold!, but doing this make this a dream of a head set!!!!!
Cost is only 4.95 for a pack of three from of same size, so 14.85 for a pkg of S,M,L and you will be converted.
BTW once you have the fit fixed you will get more volume and killer sound reduction.
I will send a picture to the author of this site so he can post it.
Phil
October 27th, 2008 at 12:24 pm
I’ve had my Jawbone 2 for a month now. My concern on 1st use was the fact it fits inside ones ear & not against it like my previous headsets. I’ve never got on with this design until this headset. After a week, I stopped using the too easy-to-bend earloop altogether.
As for the noise cancelling that can be turned off as mentioned during a call - it far outstrips anthing else I’ve encountered - Alph’s so-called NoiseAssassin technology works BRILLIANTLY. It works well enough to voice-dial reliably with some degree of background noise well beyond what 3 SE headsets were capable of. I too was worry that the rubberised sensor would not contact my jaw correctly (my ears stick out) - it does & is there to sense speach.
Although the design is “buttonless” the main outer shell flexs inwards reasonably positively as does the top part of it. The least well designed aspect is that the volume is adjusted by tapping the top of the case during a call (a beep is heard for each step) until it cycles through the loudess settings back to the quietess - so be warned! There is no visual warning from the Jawbone of an incoming call - no change in the LED flash rate. The voice command ready beep is too loud - I don’t know if this is the JB2 or the phone (SE W890i) just sending a very loud tone (likely!)
Maybe not perfect but close - sound quality & comfort are top rate. Any oddities, I soon jot used to such as pressing the device back into my ear terminate calls - clasp the sides to do this.
Perhap Aliph will include automatic volume control on the next model - the JB2 either doesn’t do this at all or is too weak.
As an aside: problems with BT headsets such as loosing the mike’s sound, poorer than expected battery life etc can oftern be the phone!!!