Jabra STONE2 Review

Introduction:

The Jabra STONE2 claims to be a member of the high-end Bluetooth headset kind - an example of a unique design fused together with a bouquet of useful features. Picking up right where its predecessor, the original Jabra STONE, left off, the STONE2 feels well built, weighs next to nothing, and it is definitely something that you wouldn’t mind being seen wearing in public. The most noticeable improvement that we find in the new model is the inclusion of voice commands that make using the headset a true hands-free experience. Besides that, you can use it to listen to your music and videos thanks to its A2DP support, and the active noise reduction feature should make your conversations sound as clear as they can be. So far, everything about the Jabra STONE2 sounds great, but does the headset really perform well enough to justify its $129 price tag? Let’s check it out and find out for ourselves.

Design:

Folks who are familiar with the original Jabra STONE will notice that the newer Jabra STONE2 model looks pretty much identical to its well-crafted predecessor. You get the same earpiece and charging dock tandem – snap the two together and you get a “pebble” that can be carried around in a pocket or clipped to a belt for convenience. What’s the idea behind that? Well, the charging dock contains a battery of its own and can charge the earpiece completely up to four times before it runs out of juice. The dock itself gets charged by using the included power adapter or by attaching it to a USB port with a microUSB cable. The earpiece on its own can provide about 2 hours of talk time, but if you charge it on the go with the dock, that figure can be extended to the impressive 10 hours of talk time.


Both the charging dock and the earpiece are made out of soft touch plastic and feel very well put together. It doesn’t take long before you realize you are holding a high quality product in your hands. Unfortunately, the headset is meant to be worn on the right ear only, and since its ear hook does not bend in any direction, the fit isn’t what we would call snug. Nevertheless, thanks to its low weight of 7 grams, the earpiece’s presence is not too noticeable. It should not put any strain on your ear even if you choose to wear it for long periods of time. There is one thing that could have been improved on though – the set includes 4 different eargels, and even though they do get the job done, none of them seemed to provide a perfect fit. Adding more shapes and sizes would not have been excessive.



There is only one physical button located at the bottom edge of the headset. It is your ordinary multifunctional button that picks up and hangs up calls, enables voice commands, and turns the device on and off. Finding it with your thumb is pretty easy and it provides sufficient amount of tactile feedback. Adjusting the volume is done by sliding your finger along the side of the earpiece, which is touch-sensitive and seems to be very responsive to our fingers. We may not be the biggest fans of touch-sensitive volume controls, but we have to admit that on the STONE2 it works much better than it did on the original Jabra STONE.

So, we have examined the Jabra STONE2 on the outside, but no matter how pretty it looks, it isn’t of much use if it doesn’t do its job as a headset well. Let’s see how it handles calls and whether we can stream our favorite tunes straight to it without any troubles.

Performance:

Pairing the Jabra STONE2 is a piece of cake – it goes into pairing mode as soon as you take it out of the box. The headset even provides voice instructions that take you through the pairing process. Once that is done, the headset asks for access to your contacts list, which you must allow in order to use some voice commands and to have the caller’s name spoken to you by the text-to-speech function.

The STONE2’s voice commands work pretty well and can come in handy when your hands are occupied. Saying “answer” answers an incoming call and saying “ignore”, well… ignores it. Holding the multifunctional key allows you to dial a contact’s number by simply saying their name. Is that cool or what?

Thanks to its A2DP functionality, you can listen to your music and videos using the Jabra STONE2. The headset will even work with Skype, which ought to make your conversations much more enjoyable.

We were quite impressed by the call quality that the Jabra STONE2 delivers, but being priced as it is, we wouldn't really expect seeing anything less of an outstanding performance in this category. Despite the sufficient amount of street noise that we subjected the headset to, the other party could understand us easily, probably thanks to the headset's active noise reduction feature. Voices sounded loud and distinctive with only a hint of being somewhat muffled. Our only complaints are that we could hear a faint high-pitched static noise from time to time, and that turning up the volume too much may lead to crackles and popping sounds.



Conclusion:

The Jabra STONE2 is truly a high-quality wireless headset and can be admired for its unique, practical, and stylish design. Besides that, the voice commands are always a nice feature to have, and the charging dock will provide enough battery power to last you through days at a time. However, there is still a little bit room for improvement – the earpiece can do with a redesigning in order to fit more comfortably. We strongly recommend trying the headset on and making sure that it fits you well before signing that $129 check. Now that we have made that remark, it is a good time to say the Jabra STONE2 is a great device, and if its steep price tag is not a problem, we doubt that its going to disappoint you.

Jabra STONE2 Video Review: