POSTED BY

Rob Beschizza

AT 12:28 PM
Wednesday May 20, 2009

Accessories • Reviews

blueant • jawbone

A day with Aliph's Jawbone Prime and BlueAnt's Q1

blueantvsjawbone.jpg

Aliph's Jawbone Prime and BlueAnt's Q1 Bluetooth headsets are alike. The Jawbone has "NoiseAssassin", while the BlueAnt has "Voice Isolation Technology" -- in either case, audio is clearer and louder as a result. Both can pair with 8 devices, and simultaneously connect to 2. Both are voice activated, and neither require earloops to fit comfortably. Both are pretty little things: as is clear at a glance, they even share a similar design. They are both $130, and both arrive in extravagant display-case boxes.

The differences: Jawbone's latest has a nodule that rests against the cheekbone, to detect jaw movements and "feel your speech." Its buttons are concealed underneath its flexible casing, adding a certain sci-fi geek cachet, whereas the BlueAnt has external controls. The BlueAnt has a useful voiceover that talks you through setup, whereas Jawbone users must consult the user guide.

Where the Jawbone Prime is superior is in its fit: its unusually designed earbud, in several sizes, makes it seem to float outside the ear canal, while remaining perfectly stuck inside it. BlueAnt's Q1 is comfy enough, but only has two earbud options and is easier to shake loose. The BlueAnt's just-works voice controls are more comprehensive than the Jawbone's, however, and its exterior controls are easier to hit on the go than the Jawbone's concealed ones.

But there's only so much that can be done with a bluetooth headset: the concept in either case is to offer decent hardware that doesn't make the wearer look like a junior executive. Both are in a league of their own compared to other headsets, so what it comes down to is taste: BlueAnt comes in black brushed metal and has straightforward controls, whereas the Jawbone is offered in fantastic colors and is too clever with its interface. BlueAnt's Q1 is conservative and buttoned-down, while the Jawbone Prime has attitude and style.

I'd keep the Jawbone, myself, but hey: green's my color.

BlueAnt Q1
Aliph Jawbone Prime

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8 Comments

Doomstalk

#1 – 1:18 PM May 20, 2009

BlueAnt? Is that a reference to William Gibson's Pattern Recognition?

Rob Beschizza

#2 – 1:23 PM May 20, 2009

I knew I'd heard it somewhere before...

jjasper

#3 – 2:33 PM May 20, 2009

Blue ant (disambiguation)

Pugg

#4 – 5:28 PM May 21, 2009

Are you kidding me? Jawbone 2 is possibly the worst in term of fit and performance I've ever seen. It has to touch your jaw to work??? Absolutely rediculous. Just that feature alone, will drive you nut. And the sound quality? It's like talking to a tin can. I still have it and if anyone's interested in buying from me, I will sell it for half the price that I'v paid for. Drop me a line.

Anonymous Anonymous

#5 – 6:23 PM May 21, 2009

Can anyone compare the current jawbone against the original? I never found a reasonable fit that kept the nubbin in contact with my cheek.

SailingWJ

#6 – 7:21 PM June 1, 2009

I just returned the Jawbone Prime, second one in a week. I really like it when it was paired. To answer the #5 ?, yes I had the same problem with the Jawbone 2 as it was always swinging out away from my cheek, I had to return it for that issue alone. All they did with the Prime was put a little loop of rubber on top of the ear insert which creates just enough pressure to keep it close to the cheek, simple and it works. My problem was it wouldn't stayed paired with my LG ENv2. With a fresh charge on both phone and headset it paired right up, but would loose connection within an hour and it then took 10-15 minutes of turning off and on both to get it to reconnect only to loose it again soon after. I tried two units as I really like the thing but it would be pretty silly to wear it as a fashion statement that I can't talk through.

Anonymous Anonymous

#7 – 4:11 AM July 9, 2009

My first jawbone's front panel developed a crack that eventually resulted in a piece of it breaking off. While it fit well and sounded good this lack of duability means I probably won't purchase another one.

Anonymous Anonymous

#8 – 9:01 AM July 26, 2009

I have both and here is my experience using them.

Jawbone works well but volume is too low.(i am hard of hearing)
Firmware is not upgradeable. This is a big minus to me.

Blueant Q1 works well most of the time and volume considerably higher with the newest firmware.

The plastic part that the earbud slides onto is easily broken and it is not a replaceable part.
When not using dont just stick it in your pocket like me.

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