The Jawbone is connected to…

No, this is not a post about the human face anatomy, but it could be! I want to share a few thoughts what is purportedly the best bluetooth headset on the planet, the Jawbone® Era. For quite some time now, Aliph has made some of the best bluetooth headsets for mobile phones, and their new iteration, the Era, is a worthy descendant of a great line. You may find the name a bit strange, but it is inspired in the fact that this headset has a small sensor that
touches your jawbone and uses its vibrations to distinguish your voice from environmental noise. The technology used is called NoiseAssassin® 3.0, a military grade noise and wind cancelling technology. This means you should always be heard, loud and clear, when using the headset, even if Katrina is raging around you. My experience with this feature has been mixed, as quite a lot of times, when in the quiet of my office, my interlocutor says “I can’t hear you very well..” Doh!

The Jawbone® Era also allows you to listen to your music, video and calls in “HD-quality sound”. Well, the sound is not bad but, HD? I don’t think so.You can answer a call by simply double tapping on the side of the headset, but I wonder what I look like (you don’t have to say it) when I keep tapping the side of my head until it answers the incoming call! To conclude my criticism to this headset I must also mention the fitting in the ear, via one of eight optional earbuds. These fit the inside of your ear and hold the extra light headset in place, but after a couple hours wearing it my ear is sore for almost a week. You can always use the binaural earloop, but that spoils the whole concept of this headset design.

Now, for some positive things. The first one is that you can connect it to more than one device at the same time, so I have it connected to the phone and the laptop, allowing me to take calls or use Skype, without having to change the headset or re-pairing it. But there’s more. When I get a call, and provided I've entered the number and name into its contact list, it tells me who is calling, or at least reads me the originating number. It also lets me install apps (which I haven’t found that useful yet) and updates. You can even download and install different voices to tell you who’s calling. Battery life is also pretty good and, if you have an iPhone, BlackBerry or Android there’s a battery indicator on your phone for the headset.

Oh, and it looks good too! I have never been a huge fan of bluetooth headsets, but with all its pros and cons, this is still the best one I’ve used. Just wish it wouldn’t hurt my ears so much!