Customer Reviews

Jabra C250 EarWave Boom Headset for 2.5mm Plugs

5 star:		(57)
4 star:		(29)
3 star:		(25)
2 star:		(17)
1 star:		(44)

 

 

It's amazing the sound quality considering that when you have this thing over your ear, the "mouth" piece is a lot closer to your ear than it is to your mouth. I made a call right after I bought it and the person on the other end could not tell I was using a hands free device.

Like all Jabra hands-free ear gizmos, this one comes with a variety of gel-like ear inserts for different shaped ears and for those who want to use the gizmo on their left ears instead of the right.

My less than perfect rating is the less-than flexible adjustment for the piece that goes around the ear. It's a snug fit, to be sure, but a little too snug. After a recent lengthy phone call, my ear was so fatigued from being squeezed for so long, it gave me a headache. There is no way to take the snug tension down a notch. I have normal size ears, not circus ears, so I'm not just complaining for the sake of it.

The gel-like insert feels great - but it's the over-the-ear gizmo that is doing the pinching. It's almost like wearing 4lb clasp earrings or something. It really takes two hands to put this thing on, too.

The quality in hearing conversations is also excellent. There is the most subtle of echoes in both receiving and sending, but it is barely detectable. My phone has an excellent hands-free speaker built-in, but a hands-free device is essential when you want privacy and don't want to hold your phone up to your ear for an hour.

My Jabra ProBoom died a terrible death in my briefcase when the ear clip was snapped off. The ProBoom was out of stock, so I ordered this EarWave Boom. I actually plugged this EarWave Boom into one ear, the ProBoom into the other ear, and did some head-to-head testing.

First, on this EarWave Boom, I can say that it's a very comfortable headset. The part that fits in your ear uses a new "mini gel" form factor that is less, well, convoluted than the ear gels that the other Jabra headsets have used. Definitely more comfortable as it makes less contact with the ear, but the flip side is you lose a bit of the noise-proofing that comes with the traditional ear gels. Also, I think that this new design is easier to get on and off than the ProBoom, but it's also a different motion.

The sound quality of the speaker was on a par with the ProBoom, but the volume was lower. I had to crank the volume nearly all the way up in a quiet environment, and had to turn it all the way up in a car just to get to "acceptable" volume. The old ProBoom, on the other hand, has volume to spare - and I'm not even using its active amplification feature. I'm using a Treo 600, so your mileage may vary with your phone.

The sound quality on the microphone on this EarWave Boom was just a *bit* less clear than the ProBoom. Of course, that may be expected given that the ProBoom puts a microphone just a centimeter or so from your mouth. The noise cancelling seemed to work as advertised in a car, although I got a couple people commenting that I was a little "muffled" sounding.

In the end, it's a very comfortable headset, but its speaker sound volume and microphone clarity are just a tad behind the ProBoom. In spite of having to wait for it, I'm going to go ahead and order another ProBoom, but I'll keep this EarWave Boom in my briefcase as a spare in case of another accident.

..Chris..

I received two of these as gifts. They both work the same, so I don't think either is defective. What I've found, though, is that when I use it with my Uniden TRU 4485 cordless phone at home, the person on the other end of the line can barely hear me. Whereas, when I use one of these headsets with my Motorola V180 cellular phone, the other party can hear me just fine. In both cases, I can hear the other party at a decent volume. The clarity of sound I hear on my end is good in both cases, as well. I've also found the headset to be lightweight, comfortable, and relatively easy to put on and take off. It also stays in my ear fairly reliably.

I've had about a dozen different headsets for cell phones in the last decade. This one is by far the best. It weighs almost nothing, the sound is clear and loud, and the microphone -- from what people tell me -- is excellent.

I've been using this headset (although mine doesn't have the call answer button like this version does) for a few years now. It's the first headset I've ever used that was comfortable and had great sound quality in both directions, and I've used it with 3 different phones over the years all with the same results. I hear people perfectly and I've never had a single comment much less a complaint about the sound quality from other people. It comes with two different size gels for your ear, and a spare of each so you're totally set. Depending on the shape of your ear you may prefer one or the other of the ear gels.

This headset is so comfortable I can wear it on my ear for hours at a time without it bothering me, and it stays snugly against my cheek and doesn't flop around in the slightest. I don't know why it has gotten some bad reviews on this site, on other sites it averages at least 4 stars with many, many reviews. Bottom line, I'd gladly pay 2 or 3 times what Amazon is charging for this headset, especially now that it has an answer call/end button on it.

I have used a number of bluetooth and wired headsets and always come back to this one. The incoming and outgoing sound quality is excellent. I have used it with both cell phones (HTC Evo Shift, Palm Pre, BlackBerry Curve) and with cordless phones (Panasonic) and the results are great. Note that you may need a 2.5mm to 3.5mm adapter to use it with your HTC Evo or iPhone, but that is cheap. I keep a couple of these in each car with adapter so that I can drive hands free.
Pros over Bluetooth:
++ No static - you can't beat wired sound.
++ No charging - it will always work when you need it.
++ Better value - I have used these for years and they keep working. My BT headsets all die after a year..if that.
++ Lightweight - fits great and works great.

I recently purchased this item because of the high user ratings but it was ineffective when driving on the highway. I'm thinking the mouthpiece is too far away when there is heavy traffic. It worked fine for the first few days and then listeners kept telling me they couldn't hear me because of the static. I stopped using it. It was very comfortable though. So if you do rural driving primarily, maybe this does warrant a high rating.

Just received it today from A1 Accessories. I bought it solely to use on xbox live so I wouldn't have to keep moving my other headset that I use for work (I work at home). My friends kept asking me to repeat myself. One said that he had to turn down his tv volume so he could hear me (no lie). I switched back to the other headset and I was back to crystal clarity. After that, I threw this one in the trash.. Good thing it only cost me $5 or so.

Decent sound in the ear but microphone sound quality was TERRIBLE. Everyone I talk to says I sound like I am at the bottom of a mine when I use this thing. Pure garbage.

The EarWave works great and does what it should. The problem I have and the reason why I gave it such a low score is because they usually do not last longer than three to six months. I use it in place of my bluetooth device and usually have to buy a new every few months. The wires begin to short out usually within the first six months.