Aliph Jawbone II Bluetooth Headset with NoiseAssassin (Black) [Retail Packaging]

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 0.5 x 1 x 2 inches ; 9.6 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B001AQYUWC
• Item model number: Jawbone II
  

By : Jawbone
List Price : $129.99
Price : $49.99
You Save : $80.00 (62%)

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description
Setting new standards for mobile voice clarity and personal style, the new Jawbone Bluetooth headset by Aliph represents a complete departure from the gadgetry of the mobile headset industry. Originally developed for military use in extreme environments, Jawbone features NoiseAssassin--a proprietary technology that eliminates background noise from mobile phone conversations. Jawbone is the only Bluetooth headset with a Voice Activity Sensor (VAS) that actually feels your speech, which helps Jawbone distinguish your voice from background noise.

The new Jawbone in black.
Widely recognized as the best Bluetooth headset on the market, the new Jawbone is 50 percent smaller than the original, award-winning Jawbone, offer over 4 hours of talk time, and comes with three earbuds and four earloops for a comfortable and personalized fit.
Military-Grade NoiseAssassin TechnologyDeveloped over years of research for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), Jawbone's NoiseAssassin eliminates real world noise better than competing headset because it's the only hands free device that accurately separates human speech from ambient noise. Unmatched in its ability to remove noise from loud environments like busy streets, cars, crowded cafes, and airports, NoiseAssassin is comprised of two features unique to Jawbone: a patented Voice Activity Sensor (VAS) and proprietary Digital Signal Processing (DSP) algorithms. Jawbone is the only Bluetooth headset with a VAS that feels the speech vibrations from your jaw. This enables Jawbone to capture the distinct frequencies of your voice. Proprietary DSP algorithms work in concert with two powerful microphones and the VAS to accurately model surrounding noise and aggressively eliminate it from the conversation.
Conventional "noise suppression" headsets do not have a Voice Activity Sensor and can only estimate when speech is occurring. This causes performance issues like voice distortion, especially in the presence background noise.
Not Just a Headset, It's EarwearMade with premium materials like medical-grade plastic and fine leather, the new Jawbone with NoiseAssassin combines science and beauty in the most unassuming, yet richly detailed product. Every effort has been made to contain best in class noise suppression technology in a miniature form that is 50 percent smaller than the original, award-winning Jawbone.
The new Jawbone accomplishes a clean and sophisticated look thanks to invisible buttons. Touch-surface technology allows the user to operate switches by lightly pressing the outer shield. Curved and rectilinear to follow the face, the outer shield is lightly textured and inspired by three-dimensional noise abatement surfaces. The infer surface, the one touching your face and creating contact with the Voice Activity Sensor, is gently curved to be ergonomic and comfortable on your skin.
Offering a comfortable and personalized fit, the new Jawbone comes with three sizes of earbuds and four earloops--two sizes of leather and two of slim, which are ideal for use with eyeglasses. Jawbone can also be worn on either ear and with or without an earloop.
Specifications

• Talk time: Over 4 hours
• Standby time: Over 8 days
• Range: Up to 33 feet (10 meters)
• Weight: 10 grams (0.35 ounces)
• Supports Bluetooth 1.0, 1.1, 2.0
• 80 percent charge in 35 minutes (full charge in less than 1 hour)

What's in the BoxThe new Jawbone with NoiseAssassin by Aliph headset, magnetic USB cable and wall charger, 3 earbuds, 2 leather earloops, 2 slim earloops, QuickStart Guide
Jawbone II Bluetooth Headset with Noise-Canceling Microphone, v2.0, Blah Blah Black, Jawbone Branded

 

Aliph Jawbone II Bluetooth Headset with NoiseAssassin (Black) [Retail Packaging]

 

Technical Details

• Bluetooth headset in black with military-grade noise elimination technology and invisible touch controls
• Patented Voice Activity Sensor that feels your speech
• Includes 3 earbuds, 2 leather earloops, and 2 slim earloops for a personalized fit
• Magnetic USB cable and wall charger delivers 80 percent charge in 35 minutes (full charge in less than 1 hour)
• Over 4 hours of talk time and 8 days of standby time

Customer Reviews

I am a huge fan of the Aliph technology. The first Jawbone is still my favorite headset of all time. It was a workhorse and the ambient sound nullification was and still is far and away the best out there.
The only faults I found in the original version were cleared up with the "New" Jawbone:
The user's listening volume is much improved. People had no trouble hearing me when I was in loud environments, but it was often difficult for me to hear them. The volume on the new version is so much better that for the first time ever, I turned the volume down because it was too loud.
The charging system on the first Jawbone was poorly designed. I've had three of them and it was a real trick to get the plug on the back of the headset to fit right for charging. The "New" Jawbone charging plug slips on easily and is held in place by a magnet- so much better! I have however, twice knocked the headset off the plug so once it is on, make sure you leave it where it won't be disturbed.
The size and weight are about half that of the earlier unit.
Styling is okay, but I really liked the glossy black and red colors on the original version and the "machined looking" slots pattern along the face of it. The new look is really feminine to me (not that there is anything wrong with that...).
So why did I give the "New" Jawbone a mediocre rating? My company bought five of these units for we "heavy users" to replace our original Jawbones. Only two of us can get these darn things to stay in position in our ears. We've tried every possible combination of ear-bud and hook and nothing seems to do the trick. Within a few minutes, it's dangling from our ears by the hook.
I am always adjusting it and during a call, I invariably wind up hanging up on the person at the other end. The primary button is activated regardless of where you press on the side of the unit when you are trying to push it back into your ear. (Even if you squeeze the sides with your thumb and forefinger) As you may know, the small clear projection nub needs to touch your cheek in order for the "Noise Assassin" to work. For three out of five of us, this is not happening making it completely useless. Note: Reviews on various sites refer to poor user audio and I would bet anything it's because they are suffering from poor fit.
I almost gave it a lesser rating but it did fit two of us and both of those guys are very happy.
Some other details: The talk time has dropped somewhat but for me that is a non-issue for me as I have a desk phone and I don't talk more than a couple of hours on my cel per day.
It comes with four hooks and three ear buds. two of the hooks are leather-wrapped and two are plastic with what look like machined aluminum bottom tips. The hooks attach in the same manner as the original Jawbone, but instead of being metal, they are slightly bendable plastic. I knew several people who broke the metal hooks when they put the headset in their pocket.
Bottom line: Make sure you buy it from someone that will take it back without a lot of grief if it doesn't fit your ear. If it does fit your ear, it will be the absolute best headset you can buy.
UPDATE: For better or worse, the unit will turn itself off if not connected to a paired device after an hour or less (not 100% sure of the time). So, if you leave the headset in your car and walk away with the phone it will eventually shut down. Presumably intentionally; presumably to save battery power.
Also, if not connected to a device (paired, but not connected)it will flash red. If paired and connected it will flash white.

With the included ear hooks and black donut shaped earbuds, this thing just won't stay where it is supposed to for me. Nearly every bad review seems to be about fit or sound, and with the Jawbone, sound depends on fit. If you can't get the New Jawbone to fit right, it is just not going to work correctly.
I found Jabra MiniGels at my local Verizon store in a 4-pack for $3. It's actually 2 each of 2 sizes, marked "14" and "83", which the package claims is "two standard and two small". The "83" size is larger and that's what works for me. They fit tight, in place of the black donut earbuds. The angle that worked best for me is about 15 degrees upwards of pointing at the white Voice Sensor. I could angle them almost 45 degrees and then the MiniGel would go really deep into my ear and fit really tight, but after a few hours this was increasingly uncomfortable. For me, a lesser angle is still very secure without being as tight and irritating to my ear. The looser it is, the more it can droop down over time, especially when eating or chewing gum. If it droops down, then it is no longer properly aligned towards the mouth and the white voice sensor loses good contact the face.
The best way I found to put it on with the MiniGels is to start with the Jawbone pointing down towards under my chin, and then twisting it upwards into place. I can do it without looking in a mirror now, and holding only onto the sides without going anywhere near the button surfaces. If feel like I need to poke it deeper into my head while pulling on my ear to seat it better, I can poke my finger directly on the gel or the black plastic post that holds it, rather than mashing on the button surfaces of the Jawbone.
Even with the Voice Sensor, the New Jawbone is not wind-proof. If you call yourself and listen on a muted phone in your other ear, you can hear how the background dampening algorithms work for things like turning on the kitchen sink -- the water sound comes through full volume briefly and then the jawbone starts to filter it out. If you talk without the white voice sensor properly touching your face, the algorithms will treat your voice as noise and actively try to filter you out. Wind is not a constant noise and so wind sounds will come through to the caller with varying levels of filtering. Callers will hear some of your radio if you leave it on loud enough. At the extreme, I've been able to make myself unintelligible to callers by rolling ALL my car windows down at highway speeds and wearing the Jawbone on the window-side ear, but most convertibles aren't as bad as that, and honestly, car windows do roll up for important phone now calls don't they? Understanding how the noise filter works may help you not rate the Jawbone unfairly... It has to work the way it does or no one would hear you when you start talking with a consonant sound (Like "Sh") because the voice sensor hasn't heard your voice through your face bone yet.
After only a few days now, I can't say if the MiniGels will ever split. The "83" I've been using shows no wear or cracks after stretching it off and on many times, and also carefully twisting it around many times (it fits really tight) trying to find the perfect angle, and from switching left-ear and right-ear a few times too. Even if they do eventually crack or split, they were pretty cheap, and after a while I'd want to replace them just for sanitary reasons! I only mention this because other reviews that led me to the MiniGels mentioned that the eargels they tried had split. I think it was in reference to the original Jawbone where you had to actually modify one of the twist-on earbuds so the eargel would fit in place of the stock rubber, which would lead me to also think that doing this would result in rough edges which could cut and begin cracks.
I still have over 20 days left to decide if the New Jawbone is a keeper (I found this one at a local AT;T store). With the MiniGels it fits well without even using an earloop! It doesn't fall off; I can swing (Mosh?) my head clear upside-down and it stays on. Even with the best I could get it to fit with the included Leather earloop and black donut earbud, it would fall off right onto the floor any time I bent over. Why can't Aliph get this right? They must get so many returns just from bad fit; you would think they would figure out something better.
The packaging for the MiniGels from Verizon says, "Compatible with EarWave and FreeSpeak". I had to ask for them at the "Tech Support" / Parts counter, they were not on display, and only the Manager knew where they were. I called ahead before I drove there to make sure they even had any. The package says EargelWaveCombo2pk008 100-2303-08 with UPC code 607421730129. I hope this helps you all. For $3, trying the MiniGels is very worth it before you return your New Jawbone.