Product: Aliph Jawbone Prime
Manufacturer: Aliph
MSRP: $129.99     Find Lowest Price @ Price Grabber
Author: Nick
Date: August 19, 2009

Just a couple months after we reviewed the Jawbone II, Aliph released the Jawbone Prime. Among the improvements is NoiseAssassin 2.0 which is supposed to work better in windy environments than the Jawbone II’s NoiseAssassin. What exactly do these improvements mean for the consumer? Let’s find out!

Features/Specs

• Talk Time: Up to 4.5 hours
• Standby Time: More than 8 days
• Range: At least 33 feet (10 meters)
• Charge: 80% charge in 35 minutes, 100% charge in < 1 hour
• Weight: ~10 grams with Earbuds, 9 grams without Earbuds
• Colors: matte black “Blah Blah Black”, satin brown “Coffee Talk” and platinum “Going Platinum” for Jawbone PRIME. EARCANDY comes in four colors: red “Frankly SCARLET”, yellow “‘YELLO!”, green “Drop Me A LIME” and purple “LILAC You Mean It”
• Supports Multipoint: Pairs with up to 8 devices, 2 simultaneous connections
• Supports Bluetooth®: 1.1, 1.2, 2.0, 2.1 + EDR

Packaging/Contents

The Jawbone Prime comes packaged in a clear hard plastic box which can be easily opened by cutting a few pieces of tape. Inside the packaging you will find the Jawbone Prime itself, a USB charging cable, USB A/C adapter, instructions, as well as the plethora of earbuds and earhooks which the Jawbone has become known for.

First Impressions

Upon opening the Jawbone Prime packaging, I noticed that the Prime was very similar to the Jawbone II in many regards such as size, shape, button placement, etc. However, one noteable difference in terms of appearance is the number of colors available. The Jawbone Prime has two more color options to choose from, for a total of 7, than the Jawbone II had.

Like previous versions of the Jawbone, the Jawbone Prime includes several different sized ear pieces as well as a couple different ear hooks. This level of customization allowed me to comfortably wear the Jawbone Prime for a few hours at a time. However, it was not a perfect fit and I would sometimes have to readjust the headset.

Unfortunately the Jawbone Prime still uses Aliph’s proprietary charging cable. This is not all bad as the the charging end is held against the headset with magnets, alleviating any sort of port that can get damaged or simply pop out. The included USB charging cable can be used to charge the Jawbone Prime from either a computer or used with the included USB A/C wall adapter. However, in a world where many phones now use mini-USB charging cables, I would much prefer a mini-USB charging port on the Jawbone Prime in case I forget the charging cable at home.

The absence of a dedicated volume button makes adjusting the volume more difficult in call than it should be. While the Jawbone Prime is supposed to have automatic volume control, it was almost consistently too low for me. To adjust the volume from the headset, the user must troggle the Noise Assassin button, which is located on the back of the headset, until the desired volume level is reached. This results in the user having to toggle through high volume levels if before they can reach the lower volume levels.

Also I found the lack of visible buttons to slightly affect the functionality of the Jawbone Prime. While hiding both buttons under a single face plate may be more ascetically pleasing, many times I found myself accidentally hitting the “Talk” or “Noise Assassin” button whenever I would go to readjust the headset during a call.

Testing

To test the Jawbone Prime, I used the standard battery of tests that I put all headsets through. This includes but is not limited to:

• Outside in windy weather
• Outside next to a busy roadway
• In the car with the vents blowing
• Inside with the TV on
• Inside with a group of 4 people talking
• Inside with no background noise

During testing, one person mentioned being able to hear a slight echo while I was in the car. However, in all the other situations, while not perfect, the person I was talking to said that the sound quality was excellent with very little background noise. Is the Jawbone Prime better at background sound cancellation? It’s rather hard to say but after comparing the two, I would say the Prime is only slightly better than the Jawbone II, with the biggest difference noticeable in windy conditions

Conclusion

The Jawbone line of headsets have always been known for their excellent ability to cancel out background noise, the the Jawbone Prime is no exception. However, it is my thoughts that there is not a big enough difference between the Jawbone Prime and Jawbone II to warrant an upgrade if you already have a Jawbone II. However, if you are in the market for a new headset, the Jawbone Prime is definitely worth a look.

Pros

+ Several different earbuds and earhooks included
+ Available in a variety of different colors
+ Slightly better than the Jawbone II

Cons

- Uses proprietary charging cable
- No dedicated volume button
- Hidden buttons easy to accidently push

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Tags: Aliph, Bluetooth, headset, Jawbone, Prime