Since California has a new law going into effect on July 1, 2008 that forces us to use either speakerphones or headsets, several weeks ago I decided to take the plunge and buy what is rumored to be the BEST bluetooth headset on the market today in terms of sound quality … the new Aliph JAWBONE 2.  Buying this gadget was the best purchase I’ve made in a while – definitely.
Prior to getting the Aliph Jawbone 2, I was somewhat using a Motorola HS850. I hated the Motorola HS850 – it was basically unusable in the car … as way too much road noise interfered. Not so much on my end, but that is what people I was talking to told me. So I more or less quit using the HS850 a number of months ago, and just held my cell phone handset up to my face.
One of my friends has the first generation Jawbone headset, and he’s always told me that thing kicks ass – even though it was big and bulky compared to other such devices. I had been meaning to purchase one, but kept putting it off … until the change in the state law forced me to go looking. And when I did start looking, I discovered that the second generation Jawbone had just begun shipping – and that it was much smaller than the first generation.
PRICES RISING
Okay – so two weeks ago, I ordered an Aliph Jawbone 2 from Amazon.com. Here is the web page I purchased it from:
         Aliph Jawbone 2 page on Amazon.com
Now this is interesting – when I bought mine two weeks ago, it was priced at $129.99 … and now the price has bumped up to $154.25. My guess is that demand is high for this gadget, and the Amazon vendors are taking their opportunity to gouge a bit. I’m glad I bought mine early!
It took about one week for the Aliph Jawbone 2 to arrive at my house. It comes in a fancy box – very ornamental. If they could knock off $10 from the price, and ship it in a generic box – I’d be fine with that.
Here is what this thing looks like:
It is about the same length as my old Motorola HS850, but the Jawbone 2 is more narrow. It is definitely an attractive device compared to most Bluetooth headsets, in my opinion. It comes with two different sizes of earbuds – large and small. And it comes with four different sizes of leather earloops. I had to try out several different combinations of earbuds and earloops the first several days I owned the Jawbone 2 before I settled on the best combination for me.
The Noise Assassin
This fancy device has something called Noise Assassin technology – which means that it actively filters out ambient noise from the microphone … which solves the problem my previous headset had when I was driving. In other words, road noise is no longer a problem for me when I’m using the Aliph Jawbone 2. The key to making this device work correctly is that it has to be physically touching your cheek – hence the name “Jawbone”, I suppose.  Anyway – it is not the least bit uncomfortable once you get the correct combination of earbud and earloop working for you. Anyway, the noise filtering technology built into this thing is great – road noise is not an issue any more when I’m using the Jawbone 2.
All of the functions of the Aliph Jawbone 2 are brilliantly handled by just two buttons – which are cleverly hidden underneath the top textured layer of the device.  There is a “talk” button on the outside, and the “noise assassin” button on the rear side. You answer a call by pushing the “talk” button. You also turn the device ON or OFF by holding the “talk” button down for two seconds. You use the “noise assassin” button to turn the noise shield ON or OFF by holding it down for two seconds. You use that same “noise assassin” button to adjust the volume by pushing it successive times to crank up the volume. There are more functions to each of these buttons – but those are the functions that I have used, as of right now.
Charging the Aliph Jawbone 2 is really easy. It comes with an adapter, and a cable which resembles a USB cable.  The headset magnetically connects with the small charging unit – and it seems to recharge in a lot less time compared to other devices I own … like less than an hour, typically.  [It is possible that I have not fully drained the power from my device yet though.]
Other than the above, that is pretty much all I can tell you about this thing right now. Bottom line – I highly recommend it.  Here is a URL to the CNET review I read which convinced me to give this thing a try:
       cnet.com Review of the Aliph Jawbone 2
At $130-$160, the Aliph Jawbone 2 is not cheap – but you definitely get what you pay for … a premium quality, very attractive bluetooth headset that outperforms every other bluetooth headset on the market today.
