Aliph_jawbone_bluetooth_headsetIf you’re like me, you spend a lot of time on the phone and being able to actually hear the person you’re speaking to is important to you. I’m a Treo fan and have had my Treo 700p for about a year or so now (previously owend the 650p until I dropped it on the concrete floor, during my friends bachelor party). And while it’s by no means perfect (lack of memory, it freezes on me daily, speaker phone isn’t that great and the camera has no flash), I’d have to say I do like my phone, a lot…even more than the BlackBerry 8830 I tested out for three weeks.

IMG_1358But getting back to the point, this blog is about my first two months with the Aliph Jawbone Bluetooth headset. I own a 1990 Toyota Landcruiser and it gets pretty loud in there, especially when I’m on the freeway. After trying several different headsets (I first tried the basic wired one that comes with the phone, then two different Motorola headsets, including the H700), I finally did the smart thing and asked around and did some research.

After checking out CNET.com, other online forums and discussing it with some friends, I finally went out and bought my own Jawbone. I paid about $140 after taxes (sells for $119.99 at several stores) from an AT&T kiosk by my office and haven’t regretted a thing.

JawbonetechnologyThe Aliph Jawbone supposedly uses military technology to reduce ambient noise, which delivers a clearer transmission to your listener. The Jawbone uses three different microphones to differentiate where sounds are coming from, as well as a “proprietary voice activity sensor identifies precisely when you are speaking.”

In lamens terms, the headset can differentiate between when you’re speaking and when your loudmouth co-worker is blabbing next to you. The Jawbone will actually filter out his voice and focus in on yours by using the multiple microphones, “jawbone” sensor and other noise filtering technology.

I tested the Jawbone out in my Landcruiser, going 70 MPH on the freeway, with the windows down and the person I was speaking to could actually hear me. I’ve also called people from my desk, with my stereo on fairly loud and they said that they could hear the music, but barely and that my voice was loud and clear.

Jawbone pictureThe Jawbone is pretty comfortbale (I’ve only had an issue with it once, when I was wearing it for about 3 hours and I had sunglasses on) and I like it more than other Bluetooth headsets I’ve tried. Aside from the, “It looks like you’re wearing a cheese grater on your head” comments, I think the Jawbone looks pretty cool. The headset comes in silver, red and black. The battery life is great and I can use it for 2–3 days, no problem. The one complaint I do have however, is that it sometimes has trouble syncing with my phone. I think this is more of a Treo/Verizon problem than anything else though.

I have tried updating my Treo software, but it hasn’t seemed to have made an impact – if you have any suggestions, let me know.

All in all, I think the Jawbone is a great headset and it lives up to everything it boasts. Ranked as the highest Bluetooth headset ever, by CNET, I’d say I must agree.