Review: Jawbone ICON Bluetooth Headset

Introduction

Jawbone has been known for years as a leader in noise-reducing headsets.  Aliph has recently unveiled the Icon model that differentiates itself in many ways.  First, the headset comes in 6 different finishes that give you the choice of how you want to have the device look in your ear.

Also, the Icon comes with it’s own OS on board that provides access to some cool apps custom to this headset. The one I noticed first was a headset battery indicator on the iPhone.  There are other apps on Jawbones’ MyTalk website.

So, with nice looks and some interesting proprietary apps, how does the Icon perform?  Lets dig in and find out.

Out of the Box

The box is minimal in packaging, which is good from an environmental package.  The headset is quite small, only 1.8 inches long by about 1″ wide and only 0.72″ thick.  Additionally, the Icon only weighs 0.3 ounces, feeling very comfortable in the ear.  There’s one send/end button on the device which is right next to the charging jack.  There is an on/off button on this device as well.

The Icon comes with an array of earbuds and loopy devices for fitting in your ear.  They want the Icon to fit in anyone’s ear, apparently, and this is a good thing!

Apps and Other Features

Of course the Icon can do regular Bluetooth headset things such as answer, reject and redialing of calls.  One great feature about the Icon is that it reads the incoming caller ID, giving you more info when deciding to take or reject a call.

The little apps that the Icon can run are a very distinguishing feature.  Some cool apps include the ability add new languages, Jott Assistant, Voice Dial, and Dial2Do (a Jottspot type application).

Real World Test

The Jawbone Icon has some amazing noise canceling technology.  For instance, there’s a sensor on the unit that detects when you are talking and goes into action.  It didn’t matter if I was in my noisy Honda Civic, walking down a city street with traffic, or in an office environment, my callers said I sounded great and barely knew I was on a headset…that is rare!  The “NoiseAssassin” technology works very well.

To me, callers sounded quiet at times.  There is no manual volume control on the Icon (my only complaint) so I was unable to adjust their voices.  As a result, I asked folks to repeat themselves – which is annoying.

But, with this one complaint aside, this is the best performing Bluetooth headset I have used to date.  I was able to get the 4 hours of battery life it advertises and then some.  Also, the Icon paired easily with 5 different handsets.

The Jawbone Icon is priced at $99 and is available at Amazon.com

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