I have never considered myself an audiophile, but I have always been very picky when it comes to audio and video equipment.  For the most part, I have never been a fan of small personal type speakers as I have never been satisfied with the sound quality that typically comes from smaller speakers.  When Jawbone released the JamBox last year, I wondered how good the sound out these small speakers would really be.  Furthermore, since it is a Bluetooth device, I was even more suspicious since audio over Bluetooth has been less than impressive.

As needs change, I found myself needing a small pair of speakers for work as well as travel for periodic music, podcasts, and an occasional movie to avoid having to wear headphones.  Since installing things like iTunes, or music/movie players of any kind on my work system is frowned upon, I thought I would give these a try so that I could stream my content via Bluetooth.  Even though I did not like the price (aprox $130 OEM version, $178 retail), I had read several reviews that touted the sound quality, battery life, and features.

 

The Hardware

The unit came well packaged and looked exactly like a larger version of their Bluetooth headset packaging.  The pictures are a bit misleading as the unit is slightly larger than a hard clam shell type eye glass case.

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The JamBox comes with a suite of accessories.  Two USB cables, user guide, case, USB charger, and 3.5 mm patch cable in case you want to hard wire.

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Volume, talk, and multi-function buttons.

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A better look at the case.

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Hardware Setup

The setup for this device is very straightforward and pairing is about as easy as it gets.  The first time you power on the device is goes into pairing mode allowing  your to instantly pair it to the first device.  Subsequent devices are accomplished by holding the power switch on the side in the up position for about 3 seconds.  The device is voice feedback so like other functions, it tells you when it is in pairing mode.

 

The software

As with most Bluetooth devices, you should check the MFG for firmware updates.  Jawbone does a great job in simplifying this process.  To check firmware and activate other features, you simply turn off the device, plug it into the USB port, and log on to “http://mytalk.jawbone.com”.  It will install the driver and check for any firmware updates, as well as allow you to add some applications/customizations to your device.

 

Main Sign on screen

Mytalk 1

After it downlaods the upgrade you have a “sync” button which transfers the updates and modifications to your device.

Mytalk 2

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Settings screen

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Performance Summary and Conclusion

In the end it comes down to how good does it perform.  In the audio department, I would say it was an overwhelming success.  It does not have the dynamic range of my Polk Audio setup or the bass of my Velodyne sub-woofer, but for a small portable personal speaker that is not much larger than an eye glass case, it is very impressive.  I was extremely surprised by the sound quality of this device especially over Bluetooth.  In the area of battery life, it was far better than I expected.  I played it for several hours and it was still showing full at the end of the day.  I got between 7-8 hours of continuous use which is very good for this small of device.  The only real complaint I had (which is minor) is the multi device Bluetooth performance.  Although there is a setting in the advanced properties to allowing two devices to use it a the same time, it did not work very well and I was not able to stream from my iPad and iPhone seamlessly as I would have hoped.  I ended up switching it back to single device mode which allows it to pair to multiple device but only one can connect to it at a time.  I was able to easily work around the problem but found it annoying never the less.  Overall I really like this product and I know it will provide the solution I needed both in the office and on travel.  The blazing question is it is worth the money?  The answer would depend on what you are using it for and how often you use it, but for me the answer is yes.  If you can find the OEM version, or get one on sale it is great device and worth considering in your evaluation.  Sound is very personal so you really have to hear it for yourself to see if it will meet your expectations.  In my opinion, you will be hard pressed to find this kind of sound in this size package.