Jawbone Prime Review

Company: Aliph
Product : Jawbone Prime
Price: $129

Convenience Rating: 4.5 stars
Audio Quality: 4.5 stars
Appearance: 5 stars
Re-use/Replay Value: 5 stars

Overall Rating: 4.75 stars (highly recommend)

Aliph’s Jawbone headsets have been constantly ruling the bluetooth headset market. Nevertheless, Aliph is still not statisfied with their near perfect headsets as they have just introduced the Aliph Jawbone Prime, which will replace the Jawbone 2 which was the company’s most successful headset yet.

The Jawbone Prime looks almost identical as its predecessor but boasts an even better noise-cancellation system.  It also feels more comfortable in your ear. Even though the design is very similar, I definitely think that it is an overall an improvement over the Aliph Jawbone 2. The call quality isn’t the best, but is still exceptionally great compared to most bluetooth headsets.  I feel that my dad’s bluetooth headset, the Plantronics Voyager Pro, sounds a tinsy bit clearer than the Prime, but still, if you are looking on both excellent style and call quality, the Jawbone Prime meets those criteria with flying colors.

The Jawbone Prime trails the Jawbone 2 with it’s super slim and lightweight design. The headset measures 2.1 inches long by 0.5 inch wide by 0.5 inch thick which makes the Prime barely visible when worn.  Instead of the scaly diamond pattern that was printed on the Jawbone 2, the Jawbone Prime has a very elegant dimpled loop pattern on the front that makes it look extremely beautiful. The texture of the front surface is smooth enough for your finger to glide over and feel for the buttons.  In fact, you’ll actually have to feel where the buttons are, because they’re invisible! A thin in-dented line toward the top third of the headset hides the multifunction Talk button, and pressing the very top of the headset activates the Noise Assassin or volume button. I would prefer real buttons rather than having to feel around for these hidden ones, but I can’t deny that the hidden buttons make the headset look really nice. However, the top button was a little unconvieniently located, and sometimes, I would tap my ear instead of the button, but after some time, I got used to it.

Oh yeah, about the volume button, there’s only the one volume button located on the tipy top of the headset. To change the volume, you have to cycle through preset volume levels instead of gradually getting louder or softer.  Sure, the Prime has automatic volume adjustment, but still, real volume rocker for manual adjustment would be more convienient and easier to operate. The volume button also has a double act: it is also the Noise Assassin toggle. Most of the time you probably won’t want to deactivate it, but sometimes when you want the person you are talking to hear the background noise, you can.

When you flip the headset around and you’ll find the earpiece covered in a squishy rubber earbud with a loop attached. There’s a very slight tip jutting out at the bottom of the earbud that helps it fit better in the ear, while the attached ear loop helps the earpiece fit within the opening of the ear. We really like these new earbuds–it has a nice secure and snug fit in the ear. There’s also an optional ear hook if you prefer, but you don’t really need it. The Jawbone Prime comes with earbuds without the attached loop as well. There are three earbud sizes in each style included in the package.

Also at the back of the headset is a tiny little white nub that acts as the Voice Activity Sensor, which is used to amplify your voice. For it to work, you have to wear the headset so that the rubber nub touches your cheek, thus detecting the vibration of your voice. With the Jawbone 2, if you couldn’t get the nub to touch your cheek, the sound quality would diminish. However, the Jawbone Prime has a new fail-safe feature that will maintain good sound quality even though the nub isn’t touching your face. The only difference is that the audio will sound like any other noise-canceling headset. Of course, it’s still best to have the Voice Activity Sensor touching your face to get the best voice clarity possible. Positioning the sensor properly is extremely easy, as long as you have the right earbud in place.

I paired the Aliph Jawbone Prime with my iPhone. Call quality was impressive.  The audio sounded loud, clear, and crisp.  Of course, this is in a quiet home environment.  I also tested it in a moving vehicle, on a crowded sidewalk, and on a windy day outside.  In the car and on the sidewalk, the audio sounded a little soft and muffled, but it wasn’t too bad.

I also tested the Jawbone Prime in front of an indoor fan at both low and high speeds. My voice sounded much softer and more muffled. However, you could still make out what you were saying. In normal everyday windy situations, the Jawbone Prime will do just fine. As for incoming call quality, we heard our callers clearly, though there was a very soft, almost unnoticeable  hiss in the background at times. But besides that, the sound was extraordinary.

The Jawbone Prime has all the typical calling features for Bluetooth headsets such as answering, rejecting, and ending calls; voice dialing support; call waiting support; battery status indicator; call mute; last number redial; etc.   It also has multipoint technology, which in other words, lets you connect the headset to two devices at once.  It has a talk time of about 4.5 hours and can last a week on a single charge when on standby.

The Jawbone Prime is an excellent headset for those who want a professional high end bluetooth headset that is not only stylish, but comfortable, and highly functional.  The Noise Assassin works flawlessly, and removes virtually all the background noise making the audio crisp and clear. The The hidden buttons are a little annoying, but besides that, the Jawbone Prime is a must have for everyone.

Pros: The Aliph Jawbone Prime is a low profile, really nice looking headset that delivers great call quality.

Cons: I am not to thrilled with the hidden buttons. The single volume button is not as great as a volume rocker.

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