For me, there are 2 key things when I’m buying a Bluetooth headset, 1) the quality of the audio picked up by the headset, and 2) the quality of the audio I hear in my ear from the headset. Typically, the manufacturers focus on the audio quality being sent to the person you are talking with. They add all these great features (noise cancellation) to help clear up your voice in a noise area and make it sound like you’re sitting at your desk on a regular land line. In the pursuit of this, they tend to forget that I still need to be able to hear the other person clearly in my ear. The volume has to be loud enough that I can hear them in a crowded place, and it would be nice if the speaker was decent enough so that I could hear them clearly and without all those crackles and pops.

Enter SoundID. The 510 is the first headset I have used that has it’s own app that runs on your phone allowing you to customize the audio quality that you hear in your ear. It also has a host of other cool features, like a touch sensor that allows me to easily crank up or down the volume without having to fumble around headset feeling for those super small buttons.

Let’s start with a walk through of the iPhone app that allows you to configure the 510. The first thing to note is that this app is also available for Android and BlackBerry devices – sadly, there is no Windows Phone app at this point. Hopefully that will come in the not too distant future.

When you launch the EarPrint app, it will try and communicate with the headset, so make sure that it is turned on and already paired with your phone.

The Personal tab is where you can customize the audio settings of your headset. To adjust the settings, just tap and drag the ID logo around the screen until you get the configuration that you like the best. As you move it around the screen, the software is tweaking the bass and treble accordingly. This works for both music and phone calls.

On the Level tab, you’ll find a reading of the audio around the headset. This will display the current level of audio that the headset is picking up. Green is nice and low, Orange is an indication of normal to loud audio, and Red means that the current audio levels around the headset are considered high and it could result in hearing damage with prolonged exposure. It’s a handy tool to help you figure out what the best level of background noise is for your optimal listening environment. You can’t always control the environment, but at least this way you can better understand the conditions you’re currently in.

The Battery tab provides information about the battery and firmware details of the headset and EarPrint software. No more quessing about how much charge is left on the headset, the information is right there in the EarPrint app for you. Remember when you would never know how much ink is left in your printer cartridges? When they added an indication to the desktop printer drivers that showed this information, it really changed printing. You always knew what you had left. Now that same feeling is here for your headset. I hated not knowing what kind of charge was left on my headset. EarPrint fixes that for me. 

The Tools tab offers some really nice additions. First off, is Rest across the top. Selecting this requires a confirmation step and will then reset the headset back to factory settings. It will even result in the WiFi settings getting erased from the headset. Next up, EarPrint gives you a quick In Call status indicator option. Enabling this feature will cause a little LED on the headset to flash green when you are on a call, in hopes that others will notice that you are in a call and not interrupt you. Next up is Noise Reduction. You have the ability to turn on and off Noise Reduction. So you can quickly test and see what provides the best possible audio for the person on the other end of the phone. Next up, there’s Pass Thru Mode – this will take the audio around you that the noise cancellation mic’s are picking up, and it will play it back in your ear. This way, you won’t suffer from one ear picking up all the audio around you,while the other doesn’t hear a sound until the phone rings.

The last option on the Tools tab, is to find your lost or misplaced headset. To do this, simply click the Find My Headset button. You will be presented with a typical “are you sure” warning as well as a notice that a loud audio noise will be played from the headset. I have yet to misplace the headset. Although, I’m sure it will happen eventually and this option makes it so much easier to handle if or when it does happen to you.

The headset may not be the smallest thing on the market, and I think that’s a good thing, as I find the super small headsets can be too small and easily lost, as well they seem to have a harder time with the noise cancellation features.

Looking at the headset, you will only see 2 physical buttons. Well, technically it’s 1 switch and 1 button. The switch is for on /off functionality and works so much better than other headsets where you have to press and hold a multi-function button for a certain amount of time in order to get the same functionality. The button on the face of the headset is the main button that you will use to interact with the unit. What you don’t notice is the touch pad that runs down the outside of the device. The button is your one-stop place to kick off voice commands and what have you. The touch pad allows you to quickly and easily adjust the volume of the ear piece. Placing your finger in the middle of the touch pad and sliding it to the the back of the device will turn down the volume and doing the reverse will turn up the volume. To mute, simply place your finger on the touch pad for approximately 2 seconds.

Another feature that you won’t see is the 3 noise cancelling microphones. These are located under the metal grill that runs down the side of the ear piece. One microphone is located at the rear of the device, another at the front, and a third is located about three quarters of the way towards the front. According to SoundID, this configuration helps to isolate speech and reduce wind and general background noise. During my tests, the noise cancellation worked very well. Most people could still tell that I was using some sort of hands free unit, however it did sound clear and I never had anyone complain about background noise.

When you look at the back of the unit you’ll find a MicroUSB port for charging the device. MicroUSB is used on most smartphones these days, so it makes charging this a dream since it will use the same cable as your phone. No more messy collection of cables in the car to charge all your gadgets.

The 510 I received came in a small box with Demo Unit stamped on the outside of it. So I can’t talk about the device is presented in the retail package or how easy/hard it might be to free from the packaging. Inside the box you’ll find a headset along with a small wall adapter with a USB port of charging with, a 6-inch MicroUSB cable, a holster for the headset, and a small box that contains 2 additional ear buds, a plastic over the ear loop, and a foam mesh to use on the end along with the over the ear loop. And the only other thing in the box is a little quick start guide giving you all the information you need to pair the unit with your phone, change the earloops, and of course, how to operate the unit. While the extra’s are nice, I mainly used the holster for protecting it from getting lost or damaged. I clipped it in the car so it’s always there are easy to access. The USB plug is nice and compact – I actually carry that in my bag for use with charging any of my USB devices.

I’ve been using the 510 for the last month or so, and it has yet to let me down. I’m getting a nice long life out of a charge and I continually play with the sound settings during calls. I have to admit that I’m finding it fun to tweak it for the best audio for every call. Sometimes the best is no different than the previous call. But it’s still fun to try out new settings.

The SoundID 510 can be purchased for $129.99 directly from the SoundID website. If you look around, you’ll can find it for less from one of the partners listed on their site. Best Buy Canada sells it for $99.95. Fry’s sells it for $109.95. And there’s the advantage that you could pick it up from one of those partners which means no shipping costs.

If you’re in the market for a new Bluetooth headset, and you’re looking for something with a little more than the regular run of the mill Bluetooth, the SoundID with the EarPrint app is a very cool combo and well worth investigating.

Aliph has since updated the design and functionality of the headset, calling the new version appropriately enough “the New Jawbone” or “the Jawbone2”, the name I’ll use in this Product Review. When it first came out back in May of 2008, it was one of the single most expensive accessories that you could buy for your phone, with an MSRP (Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price) of $129. But you certainly got a lot of bang for your buck with this device: the inclusion of the new NoiseAssassin Technology and the new smaller footprint (earprint?) makes this version a must-have item for the Ultra Mobile among us, even a whole year later.

Thankfully, the price of the Jawbone2 has also been substantially reduced in the last few months, coming down from the original MSRP of $129 to around $59. This to be mostly a reaction to the release of other “bone” technologies being offered by other competing technology vendors, but Aliph is also making room in their line for the release of their next BT Headset: the Jawbone Prime, which was released back in May of 2009.

Additionally, since most states have enacted some version of a “Hands-Free” law, owning a BT headset is actually becoming less of a want and more of a necessity, especially for those who accept cellphone calls while driving. This, coupled with the afore-mentioned discounted pricing now available, makes this is the perfect time to buy into this model and brand, with it’s uber-cool features.

Out of the three weeks that I wore this headset, it was mostly good times, but there were some frustrations that came packaged with the Headset. Most notable was the ongoing battle to keep the headset in my ear, which proved to be exceedingly frustrating. A distant second was the lack of a dedicated volume toggle switch, but this was minimized by overall good “automatic” balancing of the volume in general by Jawbone2 itself.

So, let’s dig into the Technical Specifications of the new Jawbone2, there are quite a few of them to discuss!

Additional Technical Specifications:

• Invisible touch controls: Touch-surface technology allows the user to operate switches by lightly pressing the outside shield, which hides the underlying switches entirely.
• Voice activity sensor identifies and isolates your speech and subtracts the unwanted background noise to allow you to speak normally in any environment
• 50% smaller than the original Jawbone
• Military-grade noise elimination technology
• Eliminates up to 10x more noise energy than closest competitors
• Faster processing eliminates unexpected noise bursts
• Unmatched intelligibility – voices sound human, not robotic
• Sophisticated dual microphone array reduces wind noise

Talk Time

I found the talk time estimate to be fairly accurate, giving me approximately 320 minutes of Talk Time. Most of my time was spent on the ratio 70% listening, 30% talking, so I don’t know how much your time will vary if you are a serious talker. Accordingly, I found Talk Time to be accurate.

Standby Time

I was unable to get a good measurement on this, because I was always using this device (nothing like talking on the device to throw off any battery measurements)!

However, I can state categorically that I was able to go without a charge for almost six days during the first week of my review when the device was not used very much.

On the morning of the sixth day, the device would not power on, so I’ll say it was just short of six days Standby time. However, during average usage over the last two weeks, I found that I can get about four days of Standby time if I eliminate maintenance charges, so I consider Standby Time to be accurate or better than specified.

Weight

I won’t bother actually weighing the device to confirm accuracy. But I can say that this headset is super light! However, please note that this can actually be a bad thing, if you chose not to make use of the ear loops, as the device could fall out of your ear and you might not notice it. However, I found the weight to be absolutely perfect for my needs: just enough that I can usually tell when it’s in place and working, but not too heavy that a quick turn of the head would dislodge the device.

Range

With my device powered on and my phone left on a tabletop within the line of sight, I was able to walk approximately 40 Feet away. When I went into a different room with minimal wall shielding (light wiring, no electrical), I was able to maintain a perfectly clear connection up to about 15 Feet. On the other side of a wall that contained a Microwave and some other electrical wiring, as well as exterior grade siding, I had relatively good connectivity at 10 Feet, but there was some noticeable interference, mostly in the form of “static”. It should be noted that in this particular experiment, the other party could not hear me at all on an intermittent basis. So I would consider Range to be “better than specified” based on my findings.

Connection Type

The use of the newer Bluetooth 2.0 Standard instead of the older Bluetooth 1.1 standard will be a transparent change to the end-user. Some additional signal quality improvements are realized due to the new EDR (Enhanced Data Rate) specification, and overall improvements to the Signal Strength. No additional functionality is realized by the Jawbone2, so this particular feature is effectively moot.

Special Technologies

The advent of the “Bone” and “Noise Assassin” Technologies by Aliph are the two main reasons to buy the Jawbone2.

The Bone Technology refers to Aliph’s patent for picking-up the transmission of a user’s voice as that vibration travels through their body along their skin to the Jawbone’s Voice Activity Sensor (VAS) pin, which you can see in the picture below. If this VAS pin isn’t touching some solid part of your body, then your voice will not be transmitted as clearly. This is because the Jawbone’s built-in microphone will be the only receptor to carry your voice, and it’s optimized to only carry the low-end portions of the sound spectrum, so your voice will sound muffled.

This use of vibration technology represents a definite improvement over the simple speaker which most BT Headsets employ. Even high grade speakers can pickup ambient noise around the speaker, so the amount of data being transmitted is greater, and the amount of distortion increases as well. But with Aliph’s Bone technology, the headset picks up the vibration of your voice travelling through your body, which greatly reduces the ambient noise being transmitted, and accordingly the overall distortion of the voice is decreased as well, making for a much cleaner conversation. I noticed repeatedly that anytime I was conversing with someone and they couldn’t hear me, it was because the VAS pin was not touching my skin, and a quick adjustment of the headset always resolved the problem.

The NoiseAssassin Technology refers to Aliph’s patent for reducing Wind and other loud background noise. According to Aliph, this technology reduces ambient noise 2 – 3dB, and was developed to DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) standards for Military use. Part of the Noise Assassin technology is the built-in capability to automatically adjust the volume of your conversation based on the ambient noise around you. This worked exceptionally well in keeping the volume “just right” almost the entire duration of my review (I recall only two or three occasions where I would have liked to adjust the volume manually). Noise Assassin is enabled by default on every call. You may disable it during a phone for the remainder of that call, but it will be re-enabled on your next call. To disable it, press and hold the NoiseAssassin button for two seconds and you’ll hear the three descending tones that indicates it has been disabled.

Additional Functionality

Playing with the JB2 Quick Start manual, you can find several worth-while facts about it’s operation:

Special functions provide by the NoiseAssassin button:

• Press and hold will get you Voice Command. If your phone supports Microsoft Voice Command, then a whole new hands-free world opens-up for you.
• Press while a call is coming-in will reject the call.
• Pressing the NoiseAssassin during a call multiple times will cycle you through preset sound levels.
• Pressing and holding the NoiseAssassin button during a call will turn off NoiseAssassin for the remainder of the call.
• 3 Presses will dial the last number called.
• 5 Presses will turn-off the LED indicator light.

Let’s not forget the Talk button:

• Pressing and holding the Talk button when the JB2 is currently off will turn-on the headset.
• And obviously pressing the Talk button during an incoming call will answer the call.

But did you know that:

• Pressing the Talk button while already on a call will allow you to answer another incoming call.

One of the biggest shortfalls of this device is that there is no dedicated control button for volume control. While I do miss this feature, I never really suffered for it, as the NoiseAssassin technology did a superb job of keeping the volume more than adequate at all times.

Problems Encountered

Unfortunately, of the total three week time I spent wearing the headset; at least half was spent re-inserting the earbud, which was a significant frustration for me. However, I did notice over the last few days that a fair amount of the time the earbud was not fitting was actually due to the largest Ear Loop ring actually pulling the earbud up and out of my ear. The different sized Ear Loops (all smaller) only served to exasperate the issue further.

I found that simply removing the Ear Loop from the equation pretty much solved the problem for me in the short-run, but I dislike this solution in the long-run, as there would be nothing to keep the Headset from being lost entirely when it does eventually fall-out of the ear.

Pros

• Excellent voice quality.
• Excellent signal Strength.
• Very lightweight.
• Comfortable fit (when it wasn’t popping out of the ear).

Cons

• Bad fit for Ear Buds on outer ear canal: I found it hard to keep the earpiece in my ear. The Small Bud fell out too easily, and Large Bud kept pushing it’s way out of my ear until it eventually popped-out.
• Use of the Ear Loops can exasperate a problem with the Ear Buds not fitting.
• No Standard Volume Control: there is no dedicated volume control on the headset. If you have NoiseAssassin disabled, then you can then use the NoiseAssassin button to click through a preset series of volume settings.

In Conclusion

I found the Jawbone2 to be quite a remarkable device. When the device fit in my ear snugly and stayed put, it was absolute heaven. The signal quality and signal strength were both top-notch, making this device entirely worthy of a perfect score. Every other headset that I have ever tried allowed me to hear the other party fairly clearly most of the time, while my voice was typically harder to hear all the time. But with the JawBone2, I carried on long duration conversations while at the wheel and felt quite literally like the other party was in the seat next to me, mostly notably because of the absence of the word “what?” or commonly heard phrase “what did you say?”. And the only time I experienced audible interference was when my actual cell-phone signal was poor, so I do not attribute any loss to the headset itself.

I also enjoyed the JawBone2’s ability to automatically regulate the volume of the connection, so that I really did not experience many situations (two or three at most) where I wanted to manually adjust the volume.

So, even though I experienced a great deal of frustration with this Bluetooth Headset, the quality of the conversations was a real plus, and that part will continue to inspire me to keep adjusting the Ear Loops and the headset position until I find the right combination! A lot of other JB2 users that I spoke with never experienced the Ear Bud issue, or problems with the Ear Loops either, so your Mileage may vary!

Final Score

4.85 out of 5.00
Price: MSRP of $129, but sales can be found online for $59 including shipping.
Warranty: 1 Year.

I was very impressed with the packaging when I unboxed my BlueAnt. It’s clean and clearly shows you the complete product without having to open the box. You can clearly see that this headset is an in-ear with a hoop to that goes over your ear to hold it in place. Some pictures that I’ve seen online had removed the hoop, so it wasn’t clear how the headset would work.

Opening the package proved a little more difficult than I had expected. You actually open the product from the bottom, but the metal cap was taped and glued in place. If it wasn’t for the sticker telling you to open it from the bottom, I would have thought that I was going to break it.

Once open, you’ll find all the cables and manuals are hiding in the bottom. The Z9i comes with a USB cable for charging directly from your computer or just about any other device with a USB port on it. It also comes with a standard electrical plug that allows you to plug this unit into the wall for a complete and quicker charge.

The headset itself is small with a couple volume buttons on the top side and one big “ant” button on the back. Below the ant button and before the ear piece, you’ll find a small proprietary port for charging. The port almost looks like miniUSB, but sadly, it’s not. The buttons on the top are used for volume and the ant button is the main function button. The hoop is allowed to freely swing and rotate making it really easy to put on. The Jawbone, my previous headset, was always a pain to get on your ear. I have broken the hoop on that headset 2 or 3 times and on top of that, it just never felt right. With the Z91, it’s a very different story – easy to put on and light weight.

When it comes to performance, the Z91 doesn’t hold back despite it’s small size. The in-ear volume – the volume that you hear in your ear, when they talk, can be adjusted. In most bluetooth headsets, I have found this volume to be too low making it really hard to hear the person that I called. What good is noise cancellation if I can’t hear what the person is saying because it’s too noise where I am. Don’t get me wrong, noise cancellation is great and really helps to make sure that the person I’m talking with can hear me, regardless of the background noise that surrounds me, but I still need to be able to hear what they say. The Z91 is great in this department. In fact, I have even had to turn the volume down on occasion, especially when I’m not in an overly noisy environment like my car.

So how does the BlueAnt Z9i compare when it comes to noise cancellation? Well… you be the judge! I’ve called my voice mail and recorded a message from the BlueAnt Z9i and then again using original Jawbone. Take a listen to the following WAV files and then you can be the judge on which headset performs the best when it comes to noise cancellation.

So what’s the final word on the BlueAnt Z9i? Well, if you’re looking for a small Bluetooth headset that is easy to put on with strong in-ear volume, then the BlueAnt Z9i is a great buy. If top-notch noise cancellation is a key requirement, then you might not want to get the BlueAnt. I found the background noise on the BlueAnt to be very surprising. I never had anyone complain about the background noise, but I was surprised to hear how clearly the radio noise came through. It did manage to stop the sound of the car’s engine, the snow tires, and the hole in my muffler. For me, I’ll will continue to use the BlueAnt headset as the size, battery life, easy/quick installation, and in-ear volume are worth much more. I can always push mute on the car radio or pause on my Zune if need be.

I recently came across a review over at My Today Screen that compares the new Jawbone with the BlueAnt Z9i headset. Both of these headsets are top notch in my opinoun. So it was interesting to see that the BlueAnt actually outperformed the Jawbone in some of the tests, like audio quality, battery life, and even noise cancellation. I tend to rank those 3 elements as key for a headset. Given that the BlueAnt managed to beat the Jawbone, then I have to think that BlueAnt is a pretty awesome headset. Has anyone used one and have any comments – good or bad, about the headset? For that matter, any suggestions or comments on any Bluetooth headset?

I’ve tested out a number of wireless keyboards in the past, but never really found one that I liked or worked well enough for me to continue to use it every day. I had a chance to play with Apple’s ultra slim Bluetooth keyboard recently, and I have to say that I was pretty impressed. To start with, this thing is super thin and light weight. It’s truly an impressive keyboard when you hold it in your hand. Apple did a great job on the design – no real surprise there. Two AA batteries are inserted in the tube at the top of the keyboard to power it. Even the screw to open and close the battery compartment is well thought out. It’s a deep thread and only requires a short half turn to open or close. So you’re not twisting the screw forever just to swap batteries. The overall feel when typing is quite nice. The keys are easy to press and spaced at a normal space, or at what feels like a normal spacing to me.

To install this keyboard, Apple’s instructions tell you to install the software on your computer and then follow the prompts on your screen. Which works really well if you are installing this on your computer. I however was not. Like a true mobile geek, I wanted to pair it with my Smartphone before doing anything else. That’s natural, right? So, I fired up the keyboard and the little green light started to flash which means that the keyboard is in discovery mode. I searched for new devices from my Smartphone and instantly made the connection. Unfortunately, that’s where the fun ended. Apple’s manual doesn’t tell you the pairing code. If I had walked through the desktop install I might have known a little more about how this works, but in all reality, Apple should have put the steps into their manual so people wouldn’t have to guess at how it works. Not everyone is buying the keyboard to use with a desktop. After trying the standard pairing codes to no success, I did some searching around the internet and figured out that there is no default value set. You need to enter the code on the device and then on the keyboard in order to pair it. So once it’s entered on your mobile device, hit next or done on the device and turn to the keyboard and enter the same code followed by pressing the enter key. Presto – You’ve now paired the units, enjoy! Using this process, I was able to pair the keyboard with 2 different Windows Mobile devices and a BlackBerry unit too.

I think the keyboard is big on style, small on size and great on functionality. My only real complaints are the lack of documentation and the price. While it’s not super expensive, it’s more than I would be willing to pay for a wireless keyboard. Perhaps in 4 or 5 months the price will drop down to a more reasonable range. I only say this because I don’t need a wireless keyboard to do my daily work. If you’re in need of wireless keyboard action, this is a great choice. Check one out and see for yourself.

Unfortunately, the keyboards weren’t in the office for very long before they left to see action at a conference. Once they return in a couple weeks I will snap some pictures of the units along side some mobile devices and even a standard desktop keyboard. Tune back here in a couple weeks and I should have the pictures for you.