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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
532 of 549 found the following review helpful:
Pricey, but impressive bluetooth speaker Dec 24, 2010
By Steeler Nation
"Peter"
I decided to try out this highly rated bluetooth speaker for my iPad and iPhone and was shocked at its ease of use, sound quality, small footprint, portability and long battery life. I liked the choice of colors which makes these small speakers standout and easy to spot. When I first opened the package, I was pleased that the company included several high quality cords including both short and long micro USB cords for recharging and computer synching, charge adapter, and a tangle-free audio cord for non-bluetooth sources. You can create an account on the Jawbone MyTALK site to download voice profiles and apps. In pairing mode, it easily connected with all of our iPads and iPhones. I tested the iPad first with Netflix, Pandora, Hulu+, Air Video Server, and iTunes. Considering that the speaker is only the size of 2 stacked Wii controllers, the sound was surprisingly strong, clear, full-bodied, and free of hisses or pops that I have experienced with other bluetooth speakers and maintained the bluetooth connection without a single drop. Next, I paired both an iPhone 4 and 3Gs and both easily paired with the speaker. I ran Pandora and tested the speakerphone function which worked nicely. You can program a quickdial number that can be immediately dialed by pushing the round botton on the top when paired with a phone. You can download apps for voice commands which I didn't try since I rarely ever use, but the transmission and receiving sound quality is quite good. The next day, I went to work in the operating room and everyone was curious when I pulled out the small speaker and placed my iPhone by its side. There's no need to bring any cords which is the real advantage of using this speaker for true convenient portability. When I started playing my Pandora selections from the iPhone, no one in the O.R. could believe it was coming out of this small speaker. It obviously isn't going to challenge a Bose SoundDock or Dr. Dre Beatbox, but we all had a pleasant day in the operating room doing a full day of cases with great tunes and the speaker lasted the entire day using only 50% of the battery life. At home, I was surprised when my son was playing games on the iPad downstairs and the sound was coming through the Jambox speakers located upstairs with perfect clarity. I researched all of the bluetooth speakers currently available, and this stands out by far. Personally, I prefer using this small speaker which I can pull out of my labcoat, rather than carrying around a large heavy sounddock with cords shoved in a bag. I now leave the sounddock in my office. The only reason I didn't rate this 5-stars is due to the sticker-shocker price which I personally feel is a bit excessive and would be more competitive in the $150 - $170 range. At the $200 pricepoint, most people are audiophiles and will likely make the unfair comparison to larger sounddocks. On the other hand, this is perfect for people like myself willing to sacrifice a bit of room-filling base-rumbling sound for a truly portable wireless speaker with accurate sound reproduction. Overall, I am very pleased with my purchase and will buy another when and if the price drops.
*****update 9/18/2011******
True to my word, when this went on a Gold box deal for $149, I purchased a second speaker for the kids who used them on camping trips to watch movies on their iPads with their friends. I've been using this daily over the past year with only a few minor issues. I am not a big fan of the latest downloaded software update to add "Live Audio" sound processing which really dampens the sound volume too much to be effective and have only noticed a subtle difference for certain music files. I suspect there will be more reviewers who will knock this device due to dissatisifaction with the Live Audio update, but don't realize that this can be simply toggled on/off by depressing and holding the minus and plus buttons together a few seconds. After purchasing a second one for the kids to use with their iPads, I had to change the bluetooth device names to distinguish multiple speakers since it is default set as "JAMBOX by Jawbone." If you have already synced your i"Device" you will notice that it will keep the old name. Simply go to Settings/General/Bluetooth and select the Not Connected icon and select "Forget this device." This will reset the name for the device and you can simply rescan and resync with the speaker to update the name in your bluetooth device list. I don't understand why there are so many poor reviews for syncing problems which I have never experienced using iOS devices. Other reviewers have also recommended the Soundfreaq SFQ-1 which has equal (to my ears, slightly superior to others) bluetooth sound quality and comparable pricing. I like the SoundFreaq, but I still prefer the JAMBOX due to its smaller size and simple rectangular shape which easily fits in my coat pocket for portability. The sound quality coupled with design factor make this a much more flexible purchase. Ignore reviews that make unfair comparisons to larger expensive office/room audiophile speakers which serve different purposes. I use both the Bose SoundDock and Dr. Dre Beatbox and also really enjoyed the inexpensive, but discontinued Griffin Amplfi speaker which all give a wider and fuller sound experience but are all impractical to drag around with you.
*** update 10/10/2011 ***
The new Jambox 2.1 software upgrade has fixed all the problems with the previous LiveAudio upgrade. The new SoundClarity algorithm is really nice and preserves the higher volume levels. I turn the LiveAudio off when we're in the operating room and it gives nice spatial sound and turn it back on when I'm alone in the office for a softer, but improved sound. I've noticed continued bad ratings complaining of frequent bluetooth connection drops. I have 2 Jambox speakers (blue and black) and have used them daily for 10 months with our iPhones, iPads, and recently an Asus Transformer android tablet and honestly have never had a single connection drop. I use the devices to listen to music in the operating room for 8-10 straight hours and we have have never had a dropped connection. I wonder if folks were unlucky to get a bad speaker or perhaps their problems are actually with their media devices that have outdated bluetooth protocols (i.e. non iOS devices).
118 of 126 found the following review helpful:
Nice piece of equipment Feb 08, 2011
By Seth Kahan
I originally wrote a review entitled, "Monstrously dissatisfied." Out of the box, my Jawbone Jambox sounded horribly distorted when playing my laptop's music. Before returning it I searched the web one more time to see if there was anything that could be my fault and found a useful thread called, "Terrible Sound Quality" (link below) on Jawbone's site. There I discovered that my Apple MacBook Air had two different drivers and the wrong one was selected, not that I was prompted at any point in the installation by either Jawbone or Apple. I also read that no one knew how to select the right driver on my operating system, Snow Leopard 10.6. With a little poking around I figured it out and now I think the Jambox is behaving the way it's supposed to.
I give the Jambox 4 stars because:
(a) it does a good job as a bluetooth speakerphone with my iPhone, improving a bit on the iPhone's capacity to do that job itself. I used it in my hotel room while it was charging, right out of the box. It was a couple of feet away from me as I worked and I could hear the other parties clearly and they could hear me. Then again at a meeting in an office when a speakerphone was needed impromptu, I whipped it out and there was no fuss, just performance.
(b) As an external bluetooth speaker it provides fine quality - not superb - but, for its size it's better than any of the other solutions I have purchased over the years. It's handy to have no cords (a corded set of speakers by the same price would outperform the Jambox). However, it is wonderful to have this wireless box for both my iPhone and laptop when I work around the house (my home office), and I have even used it in the car enjoyably.
On another note, my 12 yr old just picked it up and took it downstairs to see how far it could travel from my laptop and still pump out the music. It was impressive. He made it all the way downstairs to the other side of our house before losing the connection.
[...]
79 of 86 found the following review helpful:
 Battery failed in less than 60 days and manufacturer refuses to honor warranty Dec 08, 2011
By JC Chupack
On 8 Oct 2011, I received a Jawbone Jambox Bluetooth speaker as a gift, which my husband purchased for me on 6 Oct 2011 from Amazon. It was a great product, with good sound clarity. I was very impressed with the speaker's range and capabilities, although I did feel the usability left a few things to be desired. However, I had a problem in that it didn't seem to hold a charge. I contacted Jawbone's support via e-mail (form on their website) on 29 Nov 2011 for assistance. Unlike many other support services, their agent seemed to be truly reading my e-mails and not just scanning for keywords and sending form responses. However, once we got to the point that we determined an RMA was in order, support informed me that they were "out of stock" and couldn't promise when they'd have a replacement unit in stock. They said I could send my unit in but they couldn't tell me when I'd get a replacement. They could not even give me a range, e.g., 4-6 weeks, 2-3 months.
However, at the same time as they were telling me they were out of stock and could make no promises, they were selling my exact model on their website with indication that they are "in stock", so the claims of being out of stock ring false. When I pointed this out to the support representative, he provided no explanation for the discrepancy but instead continued to say they were out of stock. He recommended I continue to "check in with them" periodically to see if a replacement was available. I asked if, per their stated Warranty, if they could offer a refund since a replacement or repair seemed to be unavailable. Unsurprisingly, they declined that option.
This feels to me very much like an attempt to get out of honoring the warranty by putting the consumer off and/or making it so unappealing as to discourage pursuit of the warranty. At best, I suspect that they're simply "out of stock" of replacement units, i.e., re-furbished units, even though the warranty says replacement will be either new or re-furb and not limited to re-furbished units. I don't think that it's honoring the spirit of the warranty to delay replacement on that basis. I further think it's against the spirit if not the actual wording of the warranty to refuse to replace a faulty unit in any way when the unit failed in less than 60 days from the point of purchase. Finally, I think it's beyond the sense of reason to tell a customer with a ~$200 product that is now a paperweight that it's up to them to keep contacting you periodically to find out when the warranty will be honored. Admittedly, I've been lucky enough to not have very many issues requiring warranty service with my other electronics, but when I have, I have never run into this sort of shenanigan.
After this, there is no way I will spend money with them again, and I advise others to do the same. It may be within Jawbone's legal right to handle warranty requests in this way, but I think it shows an unwillingness to stand behind the quality of the product as well as a lack of caring about their customers once the sale is complete. As for my specific situation, I'm basically out of luck. I'm past the return window (30 days) to return it to Amazon. I'm not the only person who has run into this battery issue, and I wouldn't be surprised if that was part of the cause of their "out of stock" issue on replacement units. Buy at your own risk, because you may or may not ever be able to get Jawbone to actually honor their warranty.
137 of 156 found the following review helpful:
 Disappointing compared to the "original" May 17, 2011
By oluv
I already have two Foxls from Soundmatters. The Jambox is based on the same acoustic design from Soundmatters but inside a different body and as claimed by Aliph with optimized and reinforced body design. Therefore I hoped the Jambox would give me some improvement in sound, but i was wrong.
Both of my Foxls are different versions, the first one is version 2, the new one version 2.2 and there are significant differences in sound between both. The first Foxl had horrible bluetooth quality, apart from that my main criticism was the somewhat weak maximum volume. This improves a lot when plugged in, but from battery the Foxl was not loud enough for my taste resulting in distorted sound as soon as turned up a bit strogner. The newest Foxl is different, bluetooth quality has improved and the sound is more refined. Treble is less harsh while at the same time bass is stronger in the upper frequencies, as mids are clearer than before. Unfortunately the newest Foxl suffers even more at higher volume levels. The previous version applied some kind of compression/limiting to the music when turned up louder to avoid distortion. This is the typical effect you also get when listening to FM radio stations. To achieve maximum volume and drown any background noise, most radio stations apply compression to the music. The new Foxl doesn't do that anymore, so it distorts more quickly especially with peak-sounds like kick-drums etc. It tries to avoid distortion differently. When there is lots of bass, it lowers overall volume noticeably, which results in a somewhat "pumping" effect. I am not sure if I really like the new approach better than before. The previous compression was more "musical" and added a bit of "punch" to the music at higher levels.
Now to the Jambox: It sounds more or less like the previous Foxl version with improved Bluetooth streaming quality. But the unit I received has additional problems with the housing that resonates when deeper bass notes are played. Compared to the newest Foxl the Jambox sounds inferior by all means when listening to both at normal levels. Bass from Foxl is stronger and cleaner at the same time, bluetooth quality is similar with both, but compared to a wired connection both still sound noticeably worse through bluetooth. At higher levels the Jambox behaves the same as the old Foxl, it seems to apply the same compression and sounds louder and less stressed than the newest Foxl, but overall I was not able to detect any improvements in sound compared to the "original". Despite of the bigger size, the Jambox still has the same low output like the Foxl. There is no dynamic sound adjustment depending on the output level. I was begging for this for a long time. Adding a bit more bass at lower volume and taking a bit of bass away at higher volume to optimize output at all listening levels.
The only real difference is the design. So if you really want a blue, red or grey brick, you will be better off with a Jambox, otherwise i suggest you to take the Foxl. If you don't need loudest output, the newest Foxl version sounds definitely better and is smaller at the same time. But the differences in maximum volume between Foxl and Jambox are in reality not that huge. Both are not suitable at all for outside listening. It should also be mentioned that when plugged in, output is cleaner and louder from the Foxl. It plays with double power (2x4 Watt) then, unlike the Jambox which only has 2x2 Watt regardless if running from battery or plugged in.
I am sending my Jambox back, as I see no real advances. Despite the rubber coating, the Jambox also dances around when playing bass-heavy music. You also have to use some cloth or additional rubber mat (like the one included with the Foxl) to avoid this.
I am still hoping for an improved Jambox version. *crossingfingers*
Update:
Meanwhile Jawbone has done 2 firmwareupdates. Version 2.0 was quite a disaster, because it lowered maximum volume quite a bit according to many disappointed users. I hadn't done the update as i didn't want to screw up the volume of my Jambox. But some weeks later Jawbone came up with a fix and announced firmware 2.1. The volume issue has been fixed and the user can choose now between clarity ON and OFF. OFF is the way how it was before, but ON makes the output considerable lower, thus all the complaints, although Jawbone still claims this is to provide a clearer distortion-free sound and is not lower at all... Well, I prefer it louder to tell the truth and have set clarity to OFF.
The more interesting feature is the new "Liveaudio" setting. Pressing both volume buttons simultanously you can switch between both modes. With Liveaudio the Jawbone sounds considerably larger at low volumes. The frequency response has been tweaked for a more bassheavy clearer sound, which is much broader at the same time. You have the impression if the sound was coming beyond the small Jambox. Unfortunately with active Liveaudio the maximum volume is as low as it is with clarity ON and the other problem is that Liveaudio distorts at higher volume levels. It sounds pretty good with low levels up to speech volume, but turn it a bit louder (still far from maximum volume in normal mode) and Liveaudio distorts heavily, especially noticeable with bassdrum sounds, or low bassnotes etc.
I still hope Jawbone will do some further tweaks to improve sound in future. Liveaudio shows great potential, but it should adjust its sound to the volume automatically, now Liveaudio is trying to push too hard in the bass department which results in considerable distortion. It would have been better if Jawbone tuned the bass down, if you increase volume. I already complained, but nobody seems to listen...
26 of 26 found the following review helpful:
 Jambox Rocks! Feb 03, 2011
By Darklord
So I picked up my Jambox a couple weeks ago based on some reviews and a need for a portable speakerphone. It has really rocked my world in a short time since getting it.
I use it primarily in my home office as polycom type device to pair with my smartphone. It does that very well. Crystal clear sound when paired and extremely easy and intuitive to use.
What came out of the purchase that wasn't expected was how amazing of a device it actually is. I use a sonos system at home that connects to the internet and streams music to various rooms. Well, this little box does quite the same. I downloaded the "TuneIn" app for my iPad and connect via bluetooth. Let me tell you it ROCKS!! I have it set up in areas that I do not have the sonos (bath, master bedroom, etc) and the quality of sound that comes out of it rivals my high end inwall speakers. This little box fills my 20x20 room with vibrant and dynamic sound. I sincerely love it.
I just went to Vegas...brought it along and streamed music in my room...plan on doing to my all my future trips as well. It really is the perfect size and if you like music playing in the background (work, play, whatever)...this is the perfect device.
Note that the accessories it comes with are awesome as well..the case is brilliant as well as the cables.
Very well done Jawbone...I look forward to whats next!
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