By April 19, 2012

Jawbone Prime Bluetooth Headset Quick Review

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There are hundreds of options when it comes to Bluetooth headsets from a wide range of manufactures. A few names in particular stand out from the crowd and Jawbone is one of them. They are certainly one of the market leaders in Bluetooth technology so I was happy to discover I would be reviewing the Jawbone Prime with Noise Assassin.

Having never previously reviewed a Bluetooth headset I’m sure you are wondering how I got on?

To find out you will have to read on.

 

 

10 Second Review:

  • Product: Jawbone Prime Bluetooth headset
  • Price: from £24 onwards
  • Summary: A headset that does what it says on the tin, very good as noise cancellation but very uncomfortable!
  • Best of: Noise assassin, call quality, battery life, price
  • Worst of: So uncomfortable to wear for long periods
  • Buy from: Various

 

What’s in the Box:
.    Jawbone Prime headset
.    UK 3-Pin charging adapter + plug
.    USB to Proprietary connector cable
.    Welcome and quick guide
.    Safety info
.    Ear loop
.    6x Ear buds of different sizes

 

Review:

I mentioned in the introduction to the review that I’ve never reviewed a Bluetooth headset before. Well to be honest I’ve only ever used one maybe twice before so I’m not what you would call knowledgeable on the subject, but what I am is a very thorough reviewer so I tested it in a variety of scenarios to tell you guys the truthful outcome.

The build quality of this surprisingly small device is really very good, so much so that I was quite surprised by how robust it feels. It appears to be made from super strong plastics which seem more than durable for this type of product.

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As for the design of the headset, it’s very different to any other that I’ve seen before. It almost looks like part of a turtle shell because of the indentations on the outer coating. I really like it actually as it’s something different. One thing that is very ingenious is the fact that the physical push buttons are hidden. This particular headset has 2 buttons. The first which is on the front of the device is the call and power button; the other is the ‘noise assassin’ button which switches on the wind reduction and noise reduction features. Overall I think that the design features work for this type of device because it makes Jawbone headsets more desirable for people when looking to buy one as they stand out from the crowd.

I guess there is one obvious thing to talk to you guys about, which is of course the performance of the Prime. I mentioned earlier on that I tested this out in many different scenarios such as very loud areas, quiet and also areas with less mobile network signal and one thing became apparent straight away.the call quality in all scenarios was superb! It always seemed to feel as though the person I was talking to was stood right next to me which I was quite surprised at to be honest. This headset has a feature that is key to its call quality called Noise Assassin. This is a button that you press if you are having trouble hearing the other person for any reason and what it does is cancels out any background noise, be that Wind noise or literally loud crowds of people.

One area in particular that the headset excelled was when I took it to the gadget show live this last week. It was a massive exhibition with about 18,000 people per day so you can imagine it would be loud. Of course it was very difficult to hear anything but when I took a call on the Prime I was gob smacked that I could hear the other person perfectly, even with massive background noise the headsets Noise Assassin feature worked really well.

There is another feature that I haven’t previously seen on a Bluetooth headset. With this one it allows you to connect 2 phones at the same time! Now personally I do own 2 phones but my BlackBerry is strictly for data purposes so for me this feature wouldn’t be of use but I am pretty sure that for businessmen and women that it would come in handy a lot.

Although the call quality and overall performance of the product is pretty good I did find something that really annoyed me. To wear this thing is like sticking a pin in your ear in multiple places. It is categorically the most uncomfortable headset I’ve worn to date, even the pretty awful Apple bundled headphones are more comfortable than this thing and that’s really saying something! On the box it says the following ‘Best Fit- New Fit ear buds provide the most comfortable range of fit options possible’. This is not true at all. I literally tried all of the bud options and all of them are so rock solid in the ear that it became really quite painful after not even 15 minutes of wearing it. But for the purpose of the review I powered on despite the pain so that I could bring you guys the best review possible.

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I know that I very rarely quote what manufacturers say about their own products but I’m going to do it again now, but this time they are as accurate as it gets. ‘Talk up to 4.5 hours/ Standby up to 8 days’.  I have had the device to use for about 2 weeks now and I’ve honestly only had to charge it 3 times which I think is pretty good indeed, especially for something so small so a huge thumbs up to Jawbone here!

 

Conclusion:

As the title suggests this was indeed a quick review but I’m hoping that I’ve given you a good idea of what this Bluetooth headset is all about.

I have mixed views on this device because on the one hand I really enjoyed using it because the call quality was sheer bliss, but on the other hand it is so uncomfortable, unless the problem is my ears. Based on my experience I don’t think that I can recommend this product because I don’t want everyone to feel that it’s uncomfortable and have felt like they’ve wasted their hard earned money. I would have to recommend maybe looking at some of Jawbones more ‘high end’ headsets instead.

 

Reviewed by: Chris

Posted in: Reviews

About the Author:

Five year veteran of the site. BlackBerry specialist, but experienced in most operating systems. Enjoys flower arranging and cross stitch.
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