Jabra EarBoom for phones with Universal 2.5mm Jack

Manufacturer:	Jabra
List price:	~~$24.99~~
Our price:	that is 100% off!

Jabra EarBoom for phones with Universal 2.5mm Jack

Average rating: Stars

the best headset i've ever used (and i've used 'em all)

i helped develop the danger hiptop (aka "t-mobile sidekick) and hated holding its brick-like nature to my head ... i wanted a good headset ...

the only problem is i *hate* earbuds, so i wasn't looking forward to shopping for/buying one. i went to the local super-electronics store, and abusing their return policy, bought one of every headset they had to try -- 23 headsets to be exact ... i picked up the jabra only to be a complete-ist, figuring there was no way i'd buy its star-trek-bugs-crawling-in-chekov's-ear styling.

but after trying them all, the jabra was *easily* the best feeling and best fitting.

in a nutshell, here are the things i like about this unit in particular:

* it comes with 6 different fittings (3 sizes for the right and the left), so you get a chance to get a *much* closer fit than some generic ear piece.

* contrary to what others have said here, the ear pieces stay *very* snug in your ear (if they don't, you're not fitting them correctly).

* i wear glasses, so i can't tolerate over-the-ear headsets. this, of course, is great in that way.

* i like having the model with the microphone boom over the classic ear-only jabra because it:

1. let's people know you're talking on the phone, and less likely to interrupt you while you're talking.

2. i drive a convertible and the mike cover is good enough that i can easily talk to people with the top down and be heard without a ton of wind noise.

* it's small and easy to wrap up into my cell case.

also in the newest version, they've adding a securing "lip" to the rubber ear pieces that keep them from falling off the ear piece (this definitely was a problem before).

to top it all off, jabra's support is excellent. i called their 800 number when my securing clip for my shirt broke and they immediately sent me *three* replacements, free of charge, along with a ball point pen for my "troubles."

at 10 bucks, these things are a steal ... using one with my hiptop is a joy -- it means i can still contruct sms's, type in emails, add messages and addresses to my address book whilst talking on the phone. if you have a data device of any kind, this will make your phone experience twice as good.

a truly great product from a company that knows how to treat its customers right. what more could you want?

thanks for reading.

Jabra EarBoom for phones with Universal 2.5mm Jack - Jabra

A good unit at a great price. Worth a shot.

Jabra makes, by far the best hands-free devices on the market. This particular model, the EarBoom, is not with it's faults. However, it will meet your needs for the most part if you figure out it's peculiarities.

Jabra provides multiple ear gels for comfort and for left ear or right ear use. The criticism that they are hard to get used to is valid. You have to try putting them in different ways till you figure it out. The instructions are not a substitute for trial and error I suppose.

As for the hands-free jack on your phone, you have to make sure you have a 2.5 millimeter jack. That is the one with 2 stripes on the plug. Unfortunately, a specific compatibility list is hard to come by. Look at the specs for your phone and give it a try.

The microphone will capture sound just fine, despite the short arm. If you find people are telling you your voice is muffled, you must slighly twist the microphone head. I have found that sometimes, if it is at the wrong angle, it will not capture sound as well. The arm is flexible enough that it can be adjusted slightly.

I also prefer the EarWave Boom or the EarWrap, which have wraparound ear attachments and a slightly longer more solid arm. The Jabra EarWave Bud doesn't have a microphone arm, but instead has the small mic on the cable with a clip to attach it to your tie. Personally I don't like those models. I have not found much difference in sound quality, though the EarWave Boom and the EarWrap are somehow easier to figure out.

For difficulty of use and for a microphone arm style that I just don't like, I have docked this unit 2 stars. It should be noted that none of Jabra's newer models have this microphone arm any longer But this is good bang for the buck. Try other higher end models if you are more demanding, like I am, and are willing to spend the money.

Jabra - Jabra EarBoom for phones with Universal 2.5mm Jack

great, but confusing

I think this is a pretty good earpiece... granted, I've only used one other (it was a flimsy little thing that came w/ my friend's Nokia), but this one far surpasses that one in sound quality and comfort. Where my friend's would fall out of my ear, this one (once I got it figured out) never comes loose. Second, listening to people on my friend's, I would have to turn up the sound to hear the person well, and then they sounded muffled and distorted; but on my Jabra I can actually turn down the volume on my phone and they sound crisp and clear-- moreso than when I'm not using the earpiece. Finally, when my friend calls me and uses her earpiece, she sounds distant and muffled; I've had no complaints from the people I'm talking to using the Jabra, and, in fact, my mom said it sounds better when I use the EarBoom than when I don't.

The ear gels are a bit hard to get used to. They are oddly shaped (as you can see in the picture), and there are six of them total-- three of them for each ear. Lots of reviewers complained about the fit and comfort of the ear gels, while others claim these are the most comfortable earpieces they've used and that they fit perfectly... I can honesly say I've had both experiences. When I first got this unit the earpiece kept falling out everytime that I would turn my head: *very* frustrating. I tried pushing it into my ear as hard as I could, I tried holding it in place with my hand, but that only seemed to defeat the purpose of having a hands-free earpiece. Nothing seemed to work. I was thinking of returning it. I was thinking of throwing it into traffic on I-95. And then one day, somehow, I came to the realization that you have to sort of twist it into your ear-- with the little poky-out part stuck in the fold of your ear next to the ear canal (not the fold on the top of your ear; if you do that it'll just pop out again)-- and then *voila* it stays put. Matter o' fact, it'll stay put so well that it'll be a little bit difficult-- even *painful*-- to get out again.
I can imagine that people with different ear sizes, different patience levels, and lower IQs might have different experiences than my own. But all I can say is that once I had this little bugger figured out, I was golden. I love this thing and almost never talk on the phone without it.
Admittedly, it is a bit difficult to get into your ear-- I'd say it takes upward of 2 seconds to get in properly (before you're good and practiced at it), which may not sound like a lot, but it's long enough to not recognize somebody's voice or hear the first sentence they say, or whatever. A *very mild* frustration. But like all things good and pleasant, it takes a little practice to get it just right and now I have it so that I can answer the phone, slip the EarBoom in my ear and start a conversation without missing a beat. In fact, I find this earpiece to be so comfortable that I forget that it's in until I go to scratch my ear or something!

The other complaint that I saw on here was that it's not compatible with Nokia phones. In fact, it even says right on the package that it's not compatible with Nokia. That's funny, I have a Nokia 3589i and it works just fine. They make two other models of EarBoom (one of which clearly would not have worked with my phone), both of which claim to be Nokia compatible, and *neither* of those works with my phone! Confusing? Yes! The problem is it doesn't work with *all* Nokia phones. While browsing at the store I noticed that the ones that claimed to be Nokia compatible had a list of phones that it works with, but it didn't include mine (it included one that was, numerically speaking, very close to my model: the 3590); which piqued my curiosity. And so I went to the friendly manager of the store that I was in and he opened two of the different packages for me and let me test both of them. One of them worked, the other didn't. The strange part of it was that we couldn't see a visible difference in the two units... and then one of us noticed that on one of them the jack had two small black stripes around it (that's this one, and if you look closely at the picture you can see them), while the other one (the one marked as Nokia compatible) had three. Hmmm... Curious.
So my advice is to either know your phone well (as in, have the little book handy) or ask for help before purchasing.

All in all 4 of 5 stars. I'd give it 5 stars on performance and comfort, but have to take it down a notch for an extended period of getting used to it and for confusing packaging.

Addendum:
Several months later the little piece of foam has fallen from the end of the boom so that any sound from the wind becomes almost unbearably loud for the person at the other end... And living in windy Providence, this is a bit of an annoyance.
Also, for a while I was having a problem where the earpiece would cut out for seconds at a time so that I couldn't hear the person on the other end of the line (and, likewise, they couldn't hear me) unless I jiggled the little jack. This was *very *FRUSTRATING.** Now, for some reason, I'm not having that problem anymore. I'm not really sure if the problem was due to my phone or the EarBoom. Either way, it's something buyers should be aware of.