Aliph Jawbone Prime arrives to coddle your ears, raid your wallet

by Paul Miller posted Apr 22nd 2009 at 10:00PM

It's been almost a year since Aliph last graced the Bluetooth headset world with its presence, and now it's back with the Jawbone Prime to reclaim the throne. The Jawbone Prime is only a minor update -- on the surface, anyways -- to its predecessor, and in fact the only visible change is a slightly different surface pattern and a minor indentation to denote one of the headset's two invisible buttons. Other than the quite welcome addition of Bluetooth 2.1+ EDR (multipoint connections, easy pairing), almost all the improvements under the hood have to do with the algorithm tweaks of NoiseAssassin 2.0 to improve noise reduction. It's really too bad the original isn't firmware-upgradable (we asked). The Prime will be replacing existing Jawbones at retail for the same old $130 pricetag, and comes in Blah Blah Black, Coffee Talk and Going Platinum, while an "EARCANDY" edition is available in Frankly SCARLET, 'YELLO!, Drop Me A LIME and LILAC You Mean It. Both will be available at retail on May 2nd.

Gallery: Aliph Jawbone Prime press shots

Filed under: Peripherals

Tags: aliph, bluetooth, bluetooth headset, BluetoothHeadset, jawbone, jawbone 3, jawbone prime, Jawbone3, JawbonePrime

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Highly Ranked

L3 @ Apr 22nd 2009 11:10PM

I must have it!

It doesn't fit well.

"why do you have me on speakerphone?!?"

Into the drawer with you...

I must have it!

Neutral

Richard @ Apr 23rd 2009 2:25PM

Brilliant comment!

Though the new earbuds take some of the sadomasochism out of "Jawboning" it.

Neutral

MarnBeast @ Apr 22nd 2009 11:13PM

Product looks cool, but the makeup and outfits on those models have to be the most hideous thing I've ever seen.

Neutral

j @ Apr 23rd 2009 1:38AM

Flimsiest, ugliest device I ever (briefly) owned.

Neutral

Ben @ Apr 23rd 2009 11:10AM

Ok, so it's ugly, thats pretty subjective, I might try it if it came in manly black butnot a chance in He** will I wear a florescent bluetooth headset, just too femine for my taste.

Neutral

Indyaner @ Apr 23rd 2009 5:46AM

Why does the Packaging looks like a Parfume? Does it smell?

Highly Ranked

Level 5 @ Apr 23rd 2009 7:48AM

Cute names, I think as a guy thought I'd want the black or silver. Neutral colors ftw.

Neutral

aoi tsuki @ Apr 23rd 2009 12:13PM

It also comes in black, brown, and platinum. There's shots of the additional colors in linked gallery.

Neutral

thesasquatch @ May 1st 2009 2:47AM

Everyone is entitled to their opinion..

For what it's worth - I'm in the IT network support field and spend about 5+ hours per day glued to my phone.
Jawbone 1 was the best all-around performer (clarity, range, battery-life, lack of voice distortion)...
Jawbone 2 IS a great headset as far as aesthetics and looks (despite many comments above)...find me a better looking one!!
-- I decided to stick with my Jawbone 2 despite the voice problems when the nub wasn't touching my cheek simply due to
it's outstanding feather-weight and ability to just stick in my ear and pop-out without the ear clip.
(yes, I dealt with daily comments like "I can't hear you - your voice just went very distant" - but I'd just push it against my
cheek again and I was back in business).
** I've tried and still have a box full of ALL top-of-the-line BT headsets on the market. The Jawbones are just the best quality.

THAT SAID - THE PRIME CAN EASILY BE THE BEST BT HEADSET EVER MADE IF IT DELIVERS ON THE POINTS PROMISED!! You have to stick with it for a few days before you grow accustomed (just like any high-tech device).