Jawbone Icon Review: Missing One Important Feature

The Jawbone series has always been touted as the best, hands-down, when it came to noise-cancellation. However, it's also been a pain to wear, at least through the first two versions. The company recently introduced the Jawbone Icon, a much smaller version, with the advantage of programmability. How does it stack up?

The Jawbone Icon comes in six different styles, which are not just different in looks but in voice. That's right, the icon responds to you with a different voice tailored for each version (The Hero, The Rogue, The Ace, The Thinker, The Bombshell, The Catch). However, you're not stuck with the voice you get by default. Using that same programmability feature that utilizes the MyTalk software platform, you can put the Ace's voice on the Rogue, for example.

The MyTalk program is currently in Private Beta. However, Aliph is smart enough to let everyone who buys an Icon get access within hours of asking for access to the site, at least for now.

The Icon has been made remarkable smaller than the overly large earliest versions you might recall, so much so that finding a fit with the provided eargels and hook is pretty easy. A hook isn't really necessary for most people, and the fit, at least for the reviewer, was solid and comfortable.

When you turn on the Icon, depending on the "personality" of the voice on the earpiece, it will tell you its ready to go. If your phone is ringing, it will automatically answer the call. The device only has two buttons, a large one on top for redialing, hanging up, and the like, and a power switch on the inside the Icon that's very easy to use.

What the Icon doesn't have is a volume control. For that, you have to use your phone's volume control, which didn't bother this reviewer, but has annoyed some on the Jawbone forums.

Noise cancellation? As expected, on a Jawbone device, it's tops. One nice feature for iPhone users: an battery meter shows how much battery is left on your Icon. A warning though, for people who might have jailbroken their phones and used that space in the upper right hand corner to display a numeric battery indicator for their iphone ... it screws up the Jawbone's indicator.

What's the biggest complaint about the Icon? Unlike many headsets nowadays, it doesn't offer A2DP. Those who want support so they can listen to music or YouTube, or Internet radio through the Icon will be sadly disappointed. In fact, the forum has a very long thread discussing the topic, with much criticism of Aliph, and with many saying they will switch if Aliph does not use MyTalk to update the headset with A2DP.

Aliph, for its part, has responded only by saying that MyTalk was designed to enhance the functionality of the Icon, and that users should "stay tuned." It has, however, been some time since the Icon was released, with no changes to A2DP, so some are getting tired of the wait.

Conclusion: The Icon is a great headset, with (finally) a Jawbone version that finally seems to fit easily and comfortably. However, the lack of A2DP seems an oversight, and its hard to understand why Aliph would omit the feature, as most OEMs are adding the feature to their latest headsets.