Review: Aliph Jawbone Bluetooth Headset

Aliph Bluetooth Jawbone

Aliph Bluetooth Jawbone

Aliph Bluetooth Jawbone

Aliph Jawbone
Weight	28.34g (1 oz)
Body Size	45.72mm x 55.88mm x 17.78mm (1.8" x 2.2" x 0.7")
Talk Time(1)	6:13
Ear Loop	Over Ear, optional
Left/Right Ear?	Both
LEDs	1, Red and White
Pairings	Unspecified
Headset Sound	Excellent
Mic Sound	Outstanding
Included Accessories	USB Charger, AC to USB adapter, five ear-buds, four ear loops, and a user manual
1) hh:mm. Music was piped continually through the headset in both directions, for a worse-case scenario

The Aliph Jawbone Bluetooth headset really is extraordinary. The experience starts with the box that it comes in, resembling the display of a work of art you might find in a museum, and these good first impressions are just a sign of things to come.

The Jawbone Bluetooth headset is an upgrade to the wired Jawbone headset. The Bluetooth version received an impressive makeover leaving it looking much sleeker and, because it is Bluetooth, the annoying clunky cord is no longer a problem.

The new look, designed by Yves Behar, a distinguished industrial designer, is very impressive. The Jawbone is available in black, silver, and red, and they all look as attractive as each other. Our test model is the black version. The front face is a glossy black accompanied by small perforations from the front of the device to the LED at the rear. The LED glows white when the headset is active and glows red for powering up and down. The LED acts as a divider between the perforated part and the rear black glossy piece that contains the Jawbone wording and tops the headset. Buttons are located under the surface of both the perforated and the brand bearing areas. Both of these buttons are easy to find and press.

The size of the Aliph Jawbone is on the large side at 45.7mm x 55.9mm x 17.8mm (1.8" x 2.2" x 0.7"), but the performance of the headset makes this barely a consideration. Unlike the size, weight is a fairly standard 28.3g (1oz).

The Jawbone's battery was the only feature of this headset that did not stand out, delivering a talk time of 6:13 (hh:mm) and coming with a manufacturer claim of 120 hours of standby time. The charger that comes with the Jawbone is a USB charger, but the package includes a USB to AC adapter. The package also includes four adjustable ear hooks, five ear buds, and a user guide.

Thankfully, using the Jawbone turned out to be just as enjoyable as looking at it. The main talk button is used for answering and ending a call with a short press, or powering the headset up and down with a long press. The talk button is also used for voice dialling, last number redialing, and transferring a call between phone and headset. The Noise Shield button, the smaller button that carries the Jawbone branding, is used for turning the Noise Shield and Voice Activity Sensor on and off, changing the volume level, rejecting incoming calls, and putting the device into pairing mode. The fact that you can turn the Noise Shield and Voice Activity Sensor off is a little bewildering, as we can see absolutely no advantage in doing this, or even a reason you would want to, but more on this later. The volume control is different to that of most other headsets in that there are six levels of volume, but only one volume control button. The Noise Shield button will increase the volume to the next level and is accompanied by an audible beep. Once the headset reaches the maximum volume level, another press of the Noise Shield button will put the headset back to the minimum volume level.

Pairing mode can only be entered when the headset is off, and is achieved by holding the noise shield button until the LED flashes red and white. Pairing the device was easy, and we had no troubles during testing. The pairing code is ?0000,' and the number of simultaneous pairings is unspecified.