Customer Reviews

Jawbone PRIME Bluetooth Headset (Blah Blah Black)

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(39)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(23)
1 star:		(25)

 

 

This is now my 3rd Jawbone and they finally got this thing perfected. I am on a cellphone and in and out of my car most of the day. I have REAL experience with every model.

JAWBONE-1 was the best sounding to everyone I talked to which is what I was concerned with. It was way too heavy and awkward to use. Frankly, it looked clunky. The ear fit caused more "fits" than anything else, utterly frustrating.

JAWBONE-2 was a big improvement in weight comfort but STILL would not fit right for most everyone. The earloops where prone to break because you would constantly be "adjusting" it. Many times it would just fall out and hang on your ear. This caused the "jawbone" sensor to not make contact with your skin rendering this device basically worse than any other bluetooth headset. The volume was NEVER quite enough and the touch controls were so "touchy" you would almost always cut off your own call.

JAWBONE-PRIME - Great example of a company listening to the users. NO Earhook Required, REALLY! They took the approach of the Plantronics Discovery ear gel, and it will fit ANYONE'S EAR!!. At first you almost can't believe it will stay in without a hook but it absolutely does.

YOU CAN ADD THE EAR LOOP AND IT'S STILL COMFORTABLE, but, in reality, not needed except maybe for a confidence factor. If you're in a really rough environment on a job site then maybe the hook would add this.
It is SO light I suppose it could fall out of your ear and you might not notice that it feel out. The hook may help in that scenario.

Looks SO MUCH BETTER when on. - At least people don't look at you like you have an big cockroach hanging out of your ear like so many other headphones. If you like color, (mine's business black) this is a cool alternative for the right person.

Volume is awesome! Finally a headset that actually needs to be turned down. Can you imagine this? It's true.

Jawbone sensor NEVER CREEPS AWAY from my face. Once you simply turn the ear gel to your fit, it almost leverages itself against your skin to complete the fit.

I finally can put this in my pocket without fear of breaking it. Or, I place it in a tiny little belt holster I bought at Best Buy when not in use. THIS IS A HUGE PROBLEM SOLVED. I have lost 2 Jawbones already because I left it somewhere when I took it out of my ear.

I hope this review helps someone. I always wonder if anyone actually reads these reviews so let me know if it did.

Dave
Chicago

THE POSITIVES:
-Once you determine which earbud fits you best, then you will have no problem with the unit falling out of your ear. I can walk, jog, and even bend over and shake my head and the thing still stays in place, without an ear hook. It is super light and decently comfortable. I've worn it for 3 hours straight without discomfort. I haven't used it with the ear hook, so I can't comment on that...

-The volume is great. I've had a problem with bluetooth headsets not being loud enough, since I drive a diesel truck. You can literally turn the volume up until it hurts your ear. It by far has the capability of being louder than any unit I have ever used.

-The noise cancellation works good. When testing it, I actually revved my diesel with the window down and the unit on that side of my head. The person on the other end of the call could barely hear anything other than my voice.

-There was no noticeable wind noise when I tested it in a steady breeze.

-I have been told by everyone that I've spoken to that the clarity of my voice is better with this unit than when using the phone without it. (Motorola Q).

-It looks good =)

THE NEGATIVES:
-It doesn't come with a car charger (although that's pretty standard now days)

-It has a special charger that only works with it.

-There is still a little distortion in how people sound on my end. They are plenty loud enough, and I can understand them, but it's still there. Now, to be fair to the Jawbone Prime, it could be my phone, since it's the same distortion that I've noticed with all earpieces that I've tried.

Even with those negatives, it's still by far the best earpiece that I've ever used.

I've had a couple of Bluetooth headsets before - both Plantronics. And while they worked pretty reliably, they cannot stand up to this new Jawbone Prime. I recently ordered the Plantronics 925 (liked the styling and color). But after reading the various reviews and watching the videos on the Jawbone Prime, I decided to give this a try. I am glad I did.

I just got this today and I love it! The fit is perfect because of the variety of earpieces you have to choose from. I found the exact fit using the smallest earpiece with the little stabilizer loop. I don't have to use the earloop (thank goodness) - that was one thing that prevented me from trying the older version of the Jawbone. The Jawbone is so light that you can't really feel that you have it on. The NoiseAssassin works wonderfully. I made several calls today (to friends and to my voice mail) and the NoiseAssassin cancels out pretty much all of the ambient noise. And the people at the other end said that I sounded very clear.

Couple of little things that will take some getting used to: (1)utilizing the hidden button or dimple (on/off, pairing) on the side and the button on the top (last number redial, volume, NoiseAssassin cancellation, call reject). Since it's hidden for aesthetic reasons, it's a little hard to find at first. Once you get used to where it is, it's not a problem; (2)determining what mode the earpiece is in (on or off) since the little LED light is so small and kind of hidden when you press on the side button/dimple. This is minor and just something to learn.

Even with these two minor issues, I still give the Jawbone Prime 5 stars for call quality (especially the NoiseAssassin), style/workmanship, and ease of use. I will be returning my Plantronics 925. I wrote a review on this earpiece and will have to modify it after this.

I read and watched several off the reviews about the Jawbone Prime headset. Most spoke extremely well about it , with statements like "the best bluetooth headset ever" and so on , with most agreeing on that the 2 hidden buttons take a bit getting used to.

I agree with all these. The noise canceling does really work, driving on the freeway with the windows down , the other person could not tell and clearly hear me. But nobody mentioned the 2 aspects that made me return this headset.

- Very delicate . This is not a headset that you want to put in your jeans pockets, it would be trashed in a few days. All my previous headsets where a lot more rugged and did fine in my jeans pocket. This headset will require a purse or jacket pocket to store when you are about and don't want to wear it. Or you would need to buy a geeky belt holder.

- Less then 1 day battery live. With just a few calls , like 3 to 4 , having the headset paired to my phone the batteries didn't last the day. I left the house by 7 AM , before 3 PM the battery is dead.

I just purchased the Jawbone Prime with NoiseAssassin. It works great, in fact, it fit in my ear perfectly right out of the box! The volume range is great. After trying out the Plantronics Discovery 925 (which is very comparable to the JB Prime) I would definitely recommend the JB Prime. The Plantonics 925 felt like I had a rock in my ear. None of the earbuds fit right. Very uncomfortable! I returned the 925 and purchased the Prime and I'm glad I did.

Here's how the last three bluetooth headsets went for me:
1) Jawbone I - Really hate how it needed two hands to hook it on my ear and how it flopped around and was hard to get it to touch my face properly. Buttons were extremely hard to press, especially when it was on your ear where it could be painful. Made the mistake of putting it in my coat pocket where the ear loop broke off and in the process messing up the earpiece such that it wouldn't hold the replacement earloop.

2) Plantronics 925 - I love this headset. Really small/light with great selection of soft ear inserts for that perfect fit. Easy to put in ear one handed. Came with a custom hardcase so that no need to worry about breaking it in a pocket; bonus was being able to recharge the earpiece using the case's built-in battery. Biggest drawback was noise cancelling performance. I bought the Jawbone prime not because I didn't like the 925, but, because the Jawbone was 50% off when I bought it along with my new iPhone and two-year contract with AT&T.

3) Jawbone Prime --
I had to use an earloop; but, it's now easy for me to put the earpiece on my ear one handed. Wish the various hard rubber ear inserts would have allowed me to use this earpiece without the earloop (since the earloop is vulnerable to breakin.) Still not as secure as the Plantronics 925 in my ear, but, it's acceptable.

Buttons much easier to push.

Noise canceling microphone is excellent; no complaints. This remains the biggest selling point for the Jawbone.

Wish the speaker volume would go louder (similar complaint with the Plantronics 925).

Biggest complaint remains the vulnerability of the earloop when the earpiece is not in use.

So, I'm currently using the Jawbone in the car and bring the Plantronics 925 with me when I'm on the go (which usually means I'm not worried about road noise).

If I had to chose between the two, I'd go with the Jawbone Prime; just avoid putting it in your pocket if you need to use an earloop.

I believe that Jawbone headsets are WAY over hyped. They're decent, but by no means as good as many claim, and far from being the best. Don't believe me? Click on the 4 and 5 star reviews here and you'll see that most of them complain about either the button design, the comfort, something else about the headset, or a combination of those things. This tells me that those 4 and 5 star reviews should have been 3 or 4 stars or less.

My opinion of all 3 Jawbone headsets is pretty much the same. I wanted them to work, but the bottom line is that there are too many things about them that I don't like. While I used the Jawbone's, I kept telling myself that these things weren't that big of a deal. But they became very apparent once I switched to the vastly superior Plantronics VoyagerPRO.

The biggest negative with all Jawbone's is the sound quality to the person on the other end of the phone if the mic comes off your "jaw." The Jawbone Prime does the best job of keeping the mic to the jaw, but it still occasionally comes off. Too many times people on the other end of the phone tell me that they can't hear me or that I sound garbled. I also know someone who uses this headset and at times, they sound pretty bad on my end too. Not all the time, but enough to seriously affect the conversation so that I eventually have to ask, or they have to tell me, "Could you not use your Jawbone please? You sound like a robot in a can," or something to that effect.

The other is the poor "virtual" button design. The button placement / design couldn't be worse. It is far too easy to hang up on someone while adjusting the headset (which you have to do when it comes off your jaw and the person on the other side starts saying, "What?? I can't hear you!"). Some reviews here say that it's a matter of getting used to not doing that, but IMO that shouldn't be a problem in the first place. Especially by the third generation of the product. Adding to this poor button design is the poor volume / multi-function button. Come on Jawbone! Ditch the minimalist approach and add 1 or 2 more actual buttons (instead of these "virtual" buttons you have now) so we users get the response we're looking for when we press the button, and to prevent accidental "virtual" button presses!

Another is the comfort. I'm sure to some this headset is comfortable. To me, and clearly to many others, it isn't, hence the constant adjusting (and accidental hang ups).

Also, the battery life is decent at best.

In this headset's defense, it does sound fantastic to the wearer. You can hear the person on the other end clearly and loud enough.

Also, the wind cancellation is very good (but not perfect). If this is your one major concern, then I can say, "this headset is probably for you."

So, if wind cancellation is not that important of an issue for you, if you're serious about how you sound to others, if you want to hear others clearly, if you want good range, if you want excellent battery life, if you want comfort, if you want a durable headset, go with the Plantronics VoyagerPRO. It is hands down, far and away, the best bluetooth headset I've ever used. It does everything the Jawbone Prime does, except it does it a lot better (except for wind cancellation. It is good at this, but not as good as the Jawbone). Another option is the Discovery 975 if you absolutely must have an in ear unit. That one is also an excellent headset.

My daily driver is a Honda S2000 convertible sports car and like other manual transmission cars, some sort of hands free device is a requirement. But, since I have the top down more times than up, I needed something with wind screen technology (either high or low tech) as well. I have tried standard headsets with the foam windscreens, noise canceling headsets, and visor mounted hands free units. All worked fine until the top came down. "Car and Driver" TM magazine gave this the "Editor's Choice" based on wind suppression so I decided to try it out and here are the results.

Sitting at a stop light with other traffic moving - my wife said she could hear me fine with no back ground noise.

Driving down the road up to 45MPH - Still no problem and no background noise.

Driving speed approaching 50MPH - the wife finally says "you're breaking up..."

Same speed, but with side windows rolled up - problem cleared.

So, all in all, it does as advertised and maybe a bit more. Good job Aliph!

I bought this before buying a Plantronics Voyager Pro headset. I'm going to compare the two because I know a lot of people are deciding between these two headsets.

I'll start with sound and comfort since those are the primary concerns I had. In terms of comfort, the Plantronics Voyager Pro wins hands down. there are more sizes included with the Plantronics than the Jawbone Prime. Plus, the Plantronics has really soft comfortable gel rather than the harder Jawbone ones. I have small ear holes so I would start to feel uncomfortable with the Jawbone much faster. If the Jawbone had one more piece that was smaller (to match the small ones of the Plantronics), I'm sure I'd feel better.

In terms of over the ear, the Plantronics has a soft feel and you don't notice it much. I can wear it for long stretches of time. For the Prime headset, you can either use the metal wire hoop or go without the hoop (where insertion in your ear is the only thing holding it on). I could never keep the Prime from falling off without the hoop. and the hoop is not particularly comfortable. I didn't like wearing the Prime for long stretches. Plus, with the Prime, you have to have the small white piece touching your cheek. It's part of the magic of noise elimination of the Prime. If it's not touching your cheek, the noise reduction doesn't work.

When walking, the Plantronics is solidly there. The Prime headset tends to flop around for me when I'm walking. If I'm just sitting and talking, I have no problems with the Prime headset. but when walking, I'm always thinking of maintaining the contact of the Prime with my cheek because of the way the headset flops around when I walk. sometimes I accidentally hung up on people with the Prime headset when I was readjusting the headset.

With a Bluetooth headset, you don't just worry about how people sound to you, you also have to worry about how you sound to others. I remember I had a Motorola 710 and people sounded crystal clear to me but they all complained about how terrible the headset sounded to them. So I had to abandon that one. In terms of how I sound to people, everyone told me both the Plantronics and the Prime sounded great. So I was happy in that aspect. But in terms of how I thought others sounded to me, I prefer the sound on the Prime versus the Plantronics. Not that the Plantronics was bad. It sounded very clear. But it sounded as if the treble was missing. Almost like listening to a mono song. The Prime had the right balance in its sound.

The design of the Plantronics is very solid for me. There are lots of buttons and they're easy to tell apart which is important when you can't see the headset when it's on your ear. The Prime basically has 2 buttons do everything. With the Plantronics, it has a big boom and you don't have to worry about the placement of the headset. It looks big and somewhat ugly when you hold it in your hand, but when it's on your ear, it doesn't look so big and most of it hides behind your ear anyway.

That said, I'm not the person that wears a Bluetooth headset 24/7. I still think it looks weird to see people walking everywhere with a headset on as if it's an ear ring. I still wear a headset mostly when I'm talking a lot. So with that in mind, I can imagine myself wearing the Plantronics when I'm driving or talking for long stretches. And I'll be using my Jawbone Prime when I'm walking around the mall or at a restaurant. It's less conspicuous and comfortable in the pocket. So if someone calls, I can pull it from my pocket and wear it for the few seconds I need to talk and then put it back in the pocket when I'm done. Plus for some reason, I have a hard time putting on the Plantronics really fast when someone calls. The Prime is much easier to put on in a hurry.

It's not that I'm embarrassed to wear the Plantronics. It's that I'm embarrassed to wear any headset. I won't even wear the tiny Jawbone Prime for very long. When I'm actually talking, I could care less how I look but I don't want to be like the pretentious guys that are so "important" that calls can occupy every second of their lives.

That said, I definitely plan on using both the Voyager Pro and the Jawbone Prime headsets for different situations. For when I really need to talk (either multiple conversations or long conversations), it'll definitely be the Voyager Pro because of comfort. For those situations when I really don't need a headset, it'll be the Jawbone Prime.

Now for other smaller aspects of a headset... The Plantronics is easier to tell what's happening in terms of charge indicators and button functions. it is truly utilitarian. the Prime sacrifices for the sake of aesthetics. the buttons are hidden, the sound cues are harder to tell apart, and there's only 1 tiny LED.

Now, I don't want to give the impression that I don't like my Jawbone Prime. I am happy with it. But I don't think its aesthetics and sound outweigh the comfort of the Plantronics. So I think it's pretty clear that while I love both the Plantronics Voyager Pro and the Jawbone Prime headsets and will be using both, I'm leaning toward the Voyager Pro.

I highly recommend both the Jawbone Prime and the Voyager Pro. The Jawbone Prime sounds great, is very tiny and inconspicuous. You can't go wrong with either model. I think these two headsets are the elite models out there.

I lost my Jawbone 2 and it came down to eithr this (Jawbone Prime) or the Plantronics 975. All of my research basically concluded the Jawbone's sound cancellation is slightly better, and the 975 is more comfortable. After 2 weeks using the jawbone, I have to agree. Since this is what I expected going in, I really can't complain.

I travel a fair amount, so behind the wheel and in airports I need something that will allow me to have a coherent conversation with customers on the go. On this front, the Jawbone Prime performs very, very well. Getting out of my car, up the windy street and into a building the other day, the person on the other end thought I was at home in my office the whole time. With the old Jawbone 2, wind control was not there at all; I could talk in airports and the car, but not on the street if there was even a slight breeze. Problem solved!

My main complaint with the old Jawbone 2 was the ear clips, which prevented me from being able to toss it in my pocket without breaking the clip off. I was hopeful that the Prime would deliver on its promise to eliminate the need for the clip. What I have found is that for times when you are very stable (at the desk, in the car), it does work well without the clip. But if you are moving around it has a tendency to loosen in my ear. I admit that this might be my lack of expertise getting the proper fit, but I did spend a good 20 minutes testing various configurations.

My mother bought the 975,and that does stick right into my ear flawlessly and very comfortably. So overall, I think my research was about right - I gave up a bit of fit and comfort for wind and noise reduction, and am satisfied with it. But if you're like me and are torn between them, stop reading reviews and worrying about it - you'll be happy with either one. This one is currently 20 bucks cheaper, so scroll up and add to cart...