The Jabra Stone Bluetooth headset came out a few weeks ago. It is, by far, one of the most unusual Bluetooth headsets we have seen. Larry and I have been using it for a little while, and we’ve found that it has some significant pluses and minuses.
Let’s take a look.
From The Company:
Jabra Stone is a revolutionary new shape of headset. Advanced microphone technology takes the headset off your face while improving conversation technology. The sound is perfect and your face is free. Features include automatic pairing,and a revolutionary design comprising an earpiece and mobile charging stand that when combined resembles a stone. Noise Blackout Extreme uses dual microphones to eliminate annoying background noise. Jabra Digital Sound Processing (DSP) enables you and your caller to hear better. For maximum comfort, it is extremely lightweight at 7g. The round sweep of STONE’S uniquely formed frame is lined with soft rubber, and a soft ear gel ensures a snug fit and natural feel against the skin. Operation includes touch volume control, at-a-glance StatusDisplay, multipoint capability and streams music from A2DP enabled phones. Talk time of up to 8 hours with the STONE base charger, standby time of more than 11 days. Includes USB cable & wall charger. Supports BLUETOOTH® 2.1 + EDR. g.
Impressions:
The Stone is boomless but still offers decent sound on both ends. It isn’t as good as some headsets I have tried, such as the Etymotic etyBLU but, unlike the etyBLU, the Stone simply wraps around the ear and, as a result, is far less noticeable. It is also one of those rare headsets that are light enough that you can actually forget you are wearing it.
The case for the headset, or “Stone” (hence the name) holds it snugly and serves as a mobile charging unit to top off the headset every time it is inserted. That’s a good thing since the Stone offers some of the shortest talk time we have seen (2 1/2 hours for the headset alone). When combined with the Stone’s charge, the headset will go for up to eight hours.
In all I find the Stone to be one of the more comfortable headsets I have used. At the same time, both Larry and I found it to be a bit on the quiet side. For the most part this was the result of the headset itself resting on the outer part of the ear rather than being able to seat it deeply inside the ear. It worked fine but it would have been nice to have a bit more volume.
One other issue was that the tones for voice control are, at times, difficult to interpret. This results in making it difficult to know when to begin speaking. Not a deal breaker but a bit of an annoyance.
At the same time, the unusual look, neat charging system, remarkable comfort and overall design of the package makes it well worth a look if you are in the market for a new Bluetooth headset.
The Jabra Stone is widely available. Amazon currently lists it at $139.95.
What I Like: Neat Design, Super Comfortable
What Needs Improvement: Short run time without the Stone, a bit on the quiet side, no independent on/off switch