- 1. The Lineup: Aliph, Jabra and Motorola
- 2. Aliph Jawbone Icon
- 3. Jabra Cruiser (HFS001)
- 4. Jabra Extreme
- 5. Jabra Stone
1. The Lineup: Aliph, Jabra and Motorola
The odds are increasingly likely that you live in a state that requires (or will soon require) drivers to use hands-free cell phones. If that wasn’t enough to entice you to buy a Bluetooth headset, perhaps it’s the annoying shoulder straight or earache that sometimes accompanies pressing your cell phone against the side of your head for hours. Or maybe you’re one of those, um, confused people who goes around carrying on a cell phone conversation in speakerphone mode, handset held up close to your mouth as you walk around. (Seriously? Did you not get enough attention as children? Do all of you have busted earpieces in your phones? Really, it’s just a few more inches to your ear.) Whatever your reason or motivation, this is a great time to take a fresh look at Bluetooth options.
We specifically set out to find the best, brightest, and most recent Bluetooth communication devices launched during the last three months—meaning the products that probably missed the entire stocking-stuffer holiday buzz. We found seven that fit the bill and lived with them for two weeks, rotating them among family members through a wide variety of environments and usage scenarios. Bluetooth devices are one of the hardest tech product groups to review because they’re so subjective. Some people have less discerning ears than others when it comes to noise, clarity, and fidelity, and everybody has different shaped ears, so what one person thinks is comfortable will itch and ultimately pain someone else to no end. We’ll try to offer an average of our tester’s impressions in the following reviews. Just be aware that your mileage may vary.
Interested in a quick take-away? Below, we've included a chart of the over-all score each Bluetooth device achieved.
- 1. The Lineup: Aliph, Jabra and Motorola
- 2. Aliph Jawbone Icon
- 3. Jabra Cruiser (HFS001)
- 4. Jabra Extreme
- 5. Jabra Stone
- 6. Motorola H720
- 7. Motorola Motonav 765t
- 8. Motorola T325
Who decides which Bluetooth to test and why no plantronics?
Your use of the area/radar graph to show the results is crap.
Just make it a bar or column graph so we can figure out which you rate highest, and which you rate lowest. I've been looking at the thing for two minutes just to figure it out, and it is too difficult for no obvious reason.
Who decides which Bluetooth to test and why no plantronics?
I spoke with Plantronics when preparing for this article. They did not have a unit that had launched within our recent history window. Sad, too. I've always liked Plantronics gear.
I love my bluetooth headset!
It's stylish, has a huge battery life, oh, and did I mention, it doesn't work with my PSPgo properly? Even thoughh it's a Sony headset>
I dislike the bluetooth headset market, all of them are exactly the same, but every one tries to be unique. What did we end up with? A bunch of ugly looking junk (that motorolla headset is the worst offender listed).
How is $99.99 a reasonable price? You're not buying a X-Fi card here...
Basic, simple, cheap. That's how you win my money. Also, it helps if it works...
The Jabra Cruiser is great. It's not 'thick sun visor' friendly - but otherwise I'm pretty happy. Another great speakerphone unit is the BlueAnt Supertooth 3 - however it's far bulkier - but does fit on thicker sun visors better (like the Highlander's with builtin mirror) and does announce phone book names for incoming calls (on the iPhone 3GS) unlike the Jabra for unknown reasons.
The Jabra Cruiser is great. It's not 'thick sun visor' friendly - but otherwise I'm pretty happy. Another great speakerphone unit is the BlueAnt Supertooth 3 - however it's far bulkier - but does fit on thicker sun visors better (like the Highlander's with builtin mirror) and does announce phone book names for incoming calls (on the iPhone 3GS) unlike the Jabra for unknown reasons.
BlueAnt Supertooth 3 is one of my favorite bluetooth products ever! However, it is not new so we didn't include it here.
Great review on the Jabra Stone. The features I liked which made me buy is the form factor. It sits flush to your ear so nothing juts out on your cheeks that will totally call attention. No blinking LED lights either that is just too distracting and annoying to others especially at night. It's perfect in all aspects except for the battery life. I get about 30 minutes on the headset power. I talk a lot on the phone, about minimum of 4 hours a day and sometimes it dies on me in the middle of the call and I have to find my phone to continue my conversation. But well, you can't have everything in one package. For now, I'm just happy that there is a STONE for those of us who just can't live looking like a spaceman talking on a headset. My spaceman days are over.
Hello Mr. Winkle!
Thank you for this excellent review :-)
After I read this review and this http://bluetoothheadsetreviewsonli [...] 20-review/ I was hooked to buy this headset and I have not regret it since.
Thanks again!