Jawbone "Era" Review

[John Yester]

Jawbone ERA

Each and every year more states are adopting hands free calling to be proactive with safe driving on America’s highways. The biggest issue people still struggle with finding a comfortable head set seem to be the following, Getting maximum battery life, conform ability and allowing for great call quality no matter where and what they are doing.

Companies continue to adopt better technology with each and every model they release while still trying to keep the size down.

I remember my first hands free Bluetooth device I got only four to five years ago. The worst thing I recall is the pain from wearing the device only three hours a day when in the car a few times. I tried different ear mounting options, new “Gel” ear buds, even the ear loop for a more secure fit. Neither was a positive result.

After multiple hands frees devices and most failed at giving me the best overall options, I was turned to Aliph the markers of “JAWBONE”. I was hearing great reviews online and a few friends also picked up the new hands free device. Going with positive reviews I kept hearing, I had to try it. The Jawbone ICON was everything and more. I found myself using it more outside the car and being able to handle call quality without any issues. Jawbone has recently released the “Jawbone” ERA to their lineup of headsets.

In the Box:

Jawbone ERA headset
Spout ear buds (4)
Round ear buds (4)
Binaural ear loop (optional)
Micro USB cable
A/C wall adapter
Carrying case
User guide

Initial Impressions:

The Jawbone ERA is just slightly longer and wider by spec then the ICON series. Yet still comfortably small, compared to its features and enhancements then previous models by Jawbone or the competition. I still feel about the same in the hand and placement in the ear I felt nothing drastically different then my previous ICON model.


Jawbone does offer the ERA in Four sophisticated, architectural designs. Midnight, Shadowbox, Smokescreen, and Silver Lining.

Once un-boxed I was paired up to my 9650 within 1 min to do some initial testing and check out the new features the ERA has to offer.

Talk Time: Up to 5.5 hours
Standby Time: Up to 10 days
Charge Time: 30 Minutes (80%); 60 minutes (100%)

Jawbone has always been one of my best headset brands over the years, not just for the size of the device. But the option of apps that work alongside the device that give you that edge on your everyday accomplishments.

http://mytalk.jawbone.com/jb2/mytalk/main

- AudioApps™ let you personalize the voice that tells you important information like battery life and Caller ID

- DialApps™ let you customize the TALK button on your Jawbone® device to instantly do a variety of useful things like call your favorite person.

There are even apps to listen to email or speak and send text messages.
-Caller ID by Name (Exclusive to Jawbone ERA)

[John Yester]

The Size:

Length: 2.02 inches (51.3 mm)
Width: 0.57 inches (14.5 mm)
Height: 0.95 inches (24.1 mm)
Weight: 10.2 grams

As I mentioned above the ERA is just slightly larger by spec but it is not cumbersome for everyday use in fact, I find myself wearing it longer every day. I seriously forget I have it in until a call comes and the caller ID starts talking to me.

One thing I never got used to on other headsets was the way the headset would sit on the side of your face. They either stuck out to far or weighed down the side of your head as you always knew something was there, and it would get quite aggravating.

Enhancements:

Adaptive noise canceling technology, featuring new auto-adjusting volume and NoiseAssassin 3.0

HD Audio brings music, video and calls vibrantly to life and right to your ear

First headset with an accelerometer and Magical MotionX™ featuring TapTap® to answer &

ShakeShake® to pair is just the beginning

MyTALK: VoiceAPPS, DialAPPS, CallerID by Name

Intelligent & Update-able to improve performance and enable future new features

NoiseAssassin 3.0

Full-spectrum HD sound

Day to day operations:

With a standby time of 10 days there is no need to worry on having a dead battery while you’re out of the office or in the car on those long weekend road trips. And a simple shake of the device 4 times you’re paired up and ready to hit the road.

At any given time you can hit the talk button to get an audible announcement of the current battery life.

When driving back to the office the other day I dropped both windows and popped the sun roof. With a large amount wind I was expecting the voice test call to be about the same as my ICON headset. Not even close! The NoiseAssassin 3.0 eliminates background noise and it also auto-adjusts inbound call volume and intelligibility to your environment.

Leaving my BlackBerry at my desk and being able to roam the main office or even my house. I got decent range with the headset—about 25 feet for music, and 30 feet for conversation before it started breaking up. Once the device is out of range from the paired device, an audible warning will sound in your ear notifying you that the device is disconnected.

Thinking along the lines of hands free now days, some devices are not truly hands free. You either have to fumble around with a connection button or some switch to answer a call. With Jawbone’s new TapTap® feature to answer phone calls on the fly without worry about taking your eyes off the road.


Final thoughts:

As many Bluetooth headsets evolve with safer features and user friendly controls every year. This is my best choice for having a true hands free life style and not having to worry about hearing the caller during those everyday non quite environments I always seem to find myself in.

With solid performance and long talk time, I feel I will use the ERA for more than just making and answering calls. I truly believe this is just the initial use for the accelerometer and motion sensing software, and cannot wait to see what is behind door number two….


Pros:
Good-looking.
Excellent sound quality, especially for A2DP, HD Audio.
Can run wide variety of Apps.

Cons:
Music volume can be a bit louder. (Could be my music compression)
Some Apps not available on Blackberry Platform

[rrrebo]

My original Jawbone lasted 3 years before the battery finally gave out permanently. Great sound quality, leading-edge noise cancellation. An excellent investment. I'm definitely looking to replace it with an Era.

[tporter40]

Just ordered one of these and was looking around on the mytalk website. Is there a version of "thoughts" for the blackberry? I noticed you said there was a dial app to allow users to create and send sms message with the era.

[Blacklatino]

Thanks for the review, John. I have a collection of BT headsets, but, always prefer Jawbone brand from the original to my icon. My wife confessed to washing my Icon headset yeasterday. So, I know what I'm getting for Fathers' Day.