With noise-cancelling technology developed for DARPA, the Aliph Jawbone has good looks and an impressive pedigree. But can it stand up to the din of New York City?
Review summary of the Aliph Jawbone:
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 Though the Aliph Jawbone is a very good headset, with all of its hype and flaunted technology, we were expecting something truly dazzling. The phone's noise cancellation technology truly works, and we appreciated calls that remained audible even as nearby subways came to a screeching halt. However, we were disappointed by the headset’s muddied -- and sometimes static-plagued -- sound quality while we were calling from quieter locales, like our office. The design is striking, but the headset is easily twice the size of Nokia's tiny, comparably-priced BH-801, though the Aliph headset has a better fit and is more comfortable to wear. Overall, if you need the noise cancelling technology, this is a good choice, but if you're not into demolitions, you can find a better-sounding headset for less. Release: December 2006. Price: $120.
Pros: Noise cancelling technology really works to isolate your voice in a noisy environment; nice design.
Cons: Calls occasionally suffered from static, even without ambient noise. Sound quality
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Full Aliph Jawbone Review:
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Design: Very good
The Aliph Jawbone was designed by Yves Behar, of OLPC fame. Though it looks metallic, the Jawbone is actually made of smooth, solid-feeling "medical-grade" plastic. The piece is larger in person than it appears in photos, but not obtrusively so. With a rubber band extending from the metal earloop, the fit is very comfortable, and we were able to wear the earpiece for a couple of hours on our train commute from Manhattan to New Jersey. The headset's buttons are hidden in the design; you press on the grate-like swath for the "talk" button, and on the black rear end of the headset for pairing and volume control. The talk button was hard to hit, though there is a raised fin that helps guide your fingers, and pressing the button mean pushing the earphone hard against your head. It wasn't as bad as it sounds, but obviously some comfort has been sacrificed for cool design. The headset comes with four spare earloops, though we couldn't feel any difference in size between these, and four earbuds, which are sized and curved for differently shaped ears. The Jawbone fit securely on our ear, and it stayed put even when we vigorously shook our head.
Sound: Good
The Jawbone uses what Aliph calls "Noise Shield" technology, which, in practice, works something like noise-cancelling tech. The earpiece is covered with microphones which sense and eliminate outside noise, as well as a soft rubber button that sits against your jawbone to determine when you are speaking. To test sound quality, we descended into the New York City subways and placed calls a few feet from trains as they entered and left the station. On our end, we felt the default volume setting was a little low. The Jawbone adjusts volume based on ambient noise, though you can raise the volume manually as well, and we found ourselves pumping up the volume on every call, whether there was a lot of background noise or not. Audio sounded clear, but as the brakes squealed nearby, we lost track of our callers' voices.
On the receiving end, the results were mixed. Playing back messages we recorded with the device, we could clearly hear the technology working to isolate our voices from the surrounding din, but this usually resulted in a crimped, tunnel effect. Though we could be heard with the trains rushing around us, voice quality was seriously diminished. Our biggest issue with the earpiece was reception. Calls from the headset suffered from frequent static, and often our voice seemed muddied. A few times, without a great deal of ambient noise, our voices dropped out completely. Admittedly, we were underground for most of the test, but we compared these calls to messages recorded directly from our phone, a Palm Treo 700p, and sound quality was much better without the headset, while reception remained the same.
Calling: Very good
Using the Jawbone couldn't be easier. It has a single LED bar between the cheese grater-like talk button and the black Noise Shield button, and this button gives feedback in a few different colors. Pairing the phone with our Treo was simple, and the Jawbone held the connection easily, even after being turned off and then on again. Redialing and voice dialing were both simple, once we memorized the timing and number of button presses required. Battery life on the headset was very good. Though Aliph's claim of six hours of talk time was a bit high, we were happy to get more than five hours of talking.
Odds and ends
Along with the extra earpieces and earloops, the Jawbone comes with a USB charger cable and a wall plug, and the headset will charge plugged into your laptop, so you can leave the wall adapter at home when you travel. At $120, and available only in Cingular's stores, the headset isn't a great value, comparable in price to the Nokia BH-801, which is much smaller, but less comfortable. We've had better results in basic calling tests with cheaper headsets, like the Samsung WEP200, but we're not sure the Samsung device could handles calls next to an oncoming subway.
Price and availability
The Aliph Jawbone is available immediately at Cingular stores for $120.
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