After purchasing the Aliph Jawbone wireless Bluetooth noise cancelling headset for my Apple iPhone I have been nothing short of amazed with it’s nearly flawless functionality. I have had it for a few months now and feel confident it will continue to serve me well for years to come. Let me start off by stating I have had three or four Bluetooth headsets in the past; all of which left a lot to be desired and I always had a hard time hearing people when I was driving. This was the main reason for my search for the perfect Bluetooth noise cancelling headset. Every time I called someone in the car they had a hard time hearing me and I had a hard time hearing them. What is the point of a Bluetooth headset if you can not use it when you need to be able to use it the most? Enter the solution to my problem; the Aliph Jawbone noise cancelling headset.
At first I was skeptical because they stated it was noise canceling and it only detected your voice when you were talking. It seemed pretty far fetched to think the Jawbone could actually know when I was talking and not the person next to me at Starbucks. The way the Jawbone achieves this however is quite amazing. There is a small sensor that comes in contact with your face right around your jaw line (hence the Jawbone name) which senses vibrations from your jaw moving which would indicate you are talking. In addition to this, the acoustics and directional microphones adjust to find your voice in conjunction with the vibrations. This works flawlessly from my experience. I have had plenty of conversations in the car and every time I can hear the other person and others say they can hear me very clearly. This is something that has never happened with any other headset I have purchased.
Here is the breakdown of some pros and cons:
Pros:
- Excellent noise cancelling headset (it really does work)
- Headset easily stays securely positioned on ear
- Multiple earpieces and left and right ear adapters
- Stylish design
- Easy paring and good consistent connections
Cons:
- Cost is around $100 making this noise cancelling headset a little on the expensive side
- The size is large as compared to most headsets and this makes proper initial fitting key to comfortable use of the headset (some people have complained there were not enough options for adapters to find the correct fit for their ear and this caused the large headset to be uncomfortable)
- There is not any caller ID LCD or any way to use voice dialing – it is a barebones headset that only focuses on truly high quality sound and not bells and whistles
Summary
In conclusion it seems that the Aliph Jawbone Bluetooth wireless noise cancelling headset is not perfect, but very close. It depends on what you are looking for in a headset which will likely sway your decision on the Jawbone. If you are looking for a headset that will definitely reproduce great voice quality for both sides of the conversation then the Jawbone is a safe bet as long as it fits your ear well. With the multiple adjustment pieces I had no trouble finding a combination that fit my ear comfortably even with the large size and weight of the Jawbone. If you are looking for a headset with an LCD, caller ID, and other bells and whistles then the Jawbone is probably not going to live up to your expectations. This review has been based on pairing the Aliph Jawbone only with an Apple iPhone. There may be other phones that do not receive the pairing as well as the iPhone did, but I have had no troubles with the iPhone and Jawbone connection. One last note, if you are looking for a headset on a budget it is hard to find this one under $75 so be prepared to drop a decent amount of cash for this one. After using the Aliph Jawbone for a few months I would highly recommend it to anyone and everyone as I have been quite pleased with its performance.
Score: 9.5/10
