Posted on by Terry White

Review: My New Jawbone Era Headset – It’s Jack’s Fault :)

I've been totally happy with my Jawbone ICON headset (see my original review here). I did notice a new model called the Jawbone Era, but I didn't really get around to looking at it. Then my buddy Jack did his review of it and I read it. There was one thing in his review that caused me to place an order on the spot. Well actually it was two things. The first thing and probably the one that stood out the most was actually a little thing. When I receive a call on the Jawbone ICON it rings in the headset, but it also reads off the phone number from the caller-ID. While that's fine, in most cases I'm not going to know whose number it is because I don't commit phone numbers to memory. This means I either just take the call or look at the display on my phone first. The Jawbone Era has a feature that lets you enter up to 20 favorite numbers with names via the MyTalk website and it will actually read off the name aloud when that person calls. This makes an already great headset that much more "handsfree". The next thing was the Noise Cancellation. According to Jawbone, this headset has their "Military-grade NoiseAssassin 3.0" and while I never had a problem with people hearing me with the ICON, there have been times I've been in noisy environments and better noise reduction would have been nice. 

 

But wait, there's more

Those reasons might not be enough for the general population to upgrade. So Jawbone didn't stop there. This new version while it's slightly longer than the ICON is also slightly thinner. It appears that this configuration allowed them to use a bigger or better battery. So now instead of 4 hours of talk time I get 5 hours. This is also the first headset with a built-in accelermeter. That's right! You can shake to answer a call. I didn't say it wouldn't make you look strange, but the feature is there if you want to enable it and use it. I much prefer the new "doubletap" to answer feature. Like the Jawbone ICON, the Jawbone Era is software upgradable with firmware updates as well as software add-ons. My favorite voice is "The Ace". If you have an iPhone or Blackberry the headset's battery indicator will display right on your phone. I also commend Jawbone for including several different ear gels at different sizes. It also supports A2DP which allows you to use this headset for your music and App playback as well.

I can't think of a single feature that I would add to this headset. It does it all and is a great step up from the ICON.

You can get the Jawbone Era here for $129.99 or less.

15 Replies to “Review: My New Jawbone Era Headset – It’s Jack’s Fault :)”

  1. Pingback: Tweets that mention Review: My New Jawbone Era Headset - It's Jack's Fault :) | Terry White's Tech Blog -- Topsy.com

  2. Hi Terry. Great review. Have you looked at the Sound ID models? I have both the ICON and the Sound ID 510. Both are pretty good headsets but I think the Sound ID has a slight edge. The battery life is great and the sound quality is outstanding. The fact that you can tune the sound via your iPhone is also pretty impressive. You might want to give it a peek when you get the chance. By the way, upon your advice I ordered the Solmeta GPS Pro. It is on the way. Can’t wait. When are you having more events up this way (Nordics)? Quite many Photoshop and Lightroom users here in FInland.

  4. Terry, thanks for always providing reviews on the “state of the art” devices. You da man! Slightly off topic but you mentioned listening to music with the Jawbone. Do you have any recommendations for any wireless headset that is ideal for listening to podcasts? Or would the Jawbone fit the bill even if it’s only in one ear?

    Thanks again!

  5. Good review Terry.

    Well, I can think of one improvement: I’d love to be able to mute from the headset.

    The latest feature in the Icon is the added volume control by holding down the rear button. That’s great but I generally don’t need to change the volume too much. However, when you in enough meetings, having a convenient mute on the headset instead of having to pull out the phone each time to do so can be much more useful.

    I’ve reported this to Jawbone, and have my fingers crossed that it’ll show up sooner than later…

    Cheers!

  6. I love this thing Terry. I have not yet purchased the new model, but might . Would be nice to have 20 caller id available. I use my Icon hero all the time to listen to podcasts during the day. At night before turning in, i can listen to youtube videos without tangle of wires, one ear is plenty for listening. Really a great innovation. This new model would give you another hour of battery life……They dont really say how much “listen” time there is, they only mention “talk” time….but i guess that is the same. All you have to do really to mute the audio, is to hit the button and “hang up”!…you dont have to pick up the phone or get the Icon out of your ear….just depress the switch. Thanks Terry, keep doing what you are doing! Sandra.

      1. Hey Rod,

        Always a pleasure. Nokia has a similar type device. I have this one as well. It is pretty good. I normally use the Sound ID for driving or when I need a hands free, but if I want to listen to music and be semi wireless, I use the Jabra or Nokia devices.

  8. The best Bluetooth headset I ever had was the original Jawbone 1. To make it the best, I epoxied the tip of a Shure E2c wire headset on it to turn it into an IN-THE-EAR headset. This greatly improved hearing callers in noisy environments such as when driving a car at 70 MPH.

    Nearly all Bluetooth headsets are NOT in-the-ear headsets. Thus, in noisy environments, it is hard to hear the caller.

    Unfortunately, newer models of the Jawbone are difficult to modify into an in-the-ear headset. And their native speakers just don’t provide enough sound in a noisy environment.

    Bluetooth headsets just don’t have good enough sound – other than my modified Jawbone 1.

    Thus, I have since preferred going back to a wired headset.

  9. Hey Terry,

    Great Blog!! But if you really want a great Bluetooth headset that has exceptional call quality and noise cancellation, upgradable, talks, and allows you to talk to the headset and never grab your phone again….. check out Blueant. Here’s the link: http://www.myblueant.com/q2/index.php.

  10. Iam blind and use it work My iphone4 and it is greate.
    I want to ask you for a book for the iphone4 but with the voice over commands for us the blind people. My wife read me the iPhone book and I like it a lot, but did not helpme with the voice over comm I have to figure it out how to meek the thing that the book tell
    Please consider it
    Thanks

  11. Help!!! I just lost my jawbone hero and need a new one. I have narrowed it down to the jawbone era or the sound id510 and can’t decide. I have an iphone 4. Any thoughts?????

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