Aliph Jawbone 2 (New) 30 second review

Only had it 12 hours so far, and my thoughts (using it with an HTC TYTN II):

• Beautifully small and light
• Fits very comfortably on my ear – slides on easily, and I really can wear it all day. It’s lighter than my previous favourite, the HBH-610 fitted with an HBH-65 ear loop.
• Mike noise reduction seems at least as good – made a phone call from the train, and the called party had no complaints
• Cool looking, not overstated, very cool LED
• Received sound / speaker sound is at least as bad as the old one – quiet and scratchy, but not as tinny. Apparently this varies by device, so might be better with a Blackberry, etc.
• Charger is very similar to the first Jawbone’s but the magnetic attacher is much easier to use; no more headset-wrestling as you’re trying to detach it.

Also – I remember some complaints on other reviews about having to push the rear (NoiseAssasin) button so hard you have to surgically remove the headset from the ear canal. Top Tip to avoid this: the documentation is misleading – it seems you have to push against the side fascia of the headset, at the rear, but that’s just because all their diagrams are ’side-on’ views. The button’s actually on the end of the headset - so you should press on the end, not on the side, for this button.

It’s a very nice, practical, wearable headset – so far. My two big gripes are:

• Speaker sound still isn’t great
• Only practically usable with one device; you have to repair to use another.