What happens when you take a boombox, miniaturise it, add some designer style and then chuck Bluetooth into the mix?
Jawbone may or may not be a name familiar to APC readers, but the company has been making mobile headsets and accessories for over a decade. At first sight, their new JAMBOX looks like a little black power brick, the kind you'd use to power up your notebook. But it's actually an all-in-one Bluetooth speaker and speakerphone for music playback and phone calls.
Visually, it's a nifty-looking little device. The JAMBOX comes in four designs (Blue Wave, Black Diamond, Grey Hex and Red Dot). Our review unit was the Black Diamond model, and while the uniform blackness may be unremarkable, the diamond-shaped indentations covering the four-sided speaker grill certainly give it a classy look. For such a little box, it's surprisingly weighty at 347g, and the overall build quality feels nice and sturdy.
Setting it up is a cinch. Once the unit is charged, pairing is a one-click process. (The user manual claims JAMBOXs are pre-charged, but our review model refused to turn on until we fed it some juice - for charging purposes, the pack includes both an AC charger and a USB cable). It'll pair with any Bluetooth device (mobile phones, laptops, MP3 players, tablets etc.), and once the pairing process is complete (and audio playback on your device is routed to the unit) the JAMBOX acts as your speakers. We tested it with both a mobile phone and a laptop and had no problems. A nice touch is the "Whispers" voice from the JAMBOX which tells you status updates, such as when your pairing is active, successful, battery life left etc.
Jawbone claims that the "innovative single-grill construction... fully exposes the speakers, resulting in a richer, louder, and broader spectrum of sound." We found music playback was clear and gave surprisingly good bass for such a small unit, but bear in mind that it's a portable device and won't compare with a more powerful (or larger) speaker setup. For a product which measures only 151 x 57 x 40mm though, it's an impressive feat. The kind of sound it produces will comfortably fill a small-to-medium sized room (larger rooms may be a stretch).
In terms of playback scenarios, the JAMBOX is loud, clear and bassy enough to easily provide the backdrop for a small gathering or dinner party (and its portability and 10-hour battery life make it ideal for picnics and BBQs), but it won't be powerful enough to raise the roof at a larger event (not over the din of a sizable party crowd, for example).
Reception-wise, Jawbone claims the JAMBOX has a 10m range for Bluetooth. In our testing, we were able to move several metres away (and past a wall) before the Bluetooth got choppy, but for best results it'll pay to keep the paired devices close together (ie. in the same room). The unit features a 3.5mm audio jack, so it can also play music from wired sources which don't offer Bluetooth connectivity.
A sense of scale: the JAMBOX is shorter and shallower than a tennis ball, and about as long as a pen (desktop clutter, writer's own).
In addition to acting as a speaker, the JAMBOX also acts as a speakerphone for paired mobile phones, and because you can just plonk it down on a table, Jawbone claims it is suitable for "conference calls anywhere". (Just be aware that the microphone is only on one side of the unit, however.) In the event that your paired mobile phone receives a call, the unit will automatically prioritise the call over audio playback.
The "intelligence" alluded to in the marketing is that the unit connects via the web to MYTALK, Jawbone's site to update and "personalise" your device. In a sign of the times, you can even get "apps" (although we wonder how much mileage the average end user will really get out of this).
The sticking point if there is one is the price - the JAMBOX sells for $249. The appeal of the device is that it's small and unique-looking (in a cool 'designer tech' sort of way), easily portable (and the lengthy battery life is a plus), powerful for the size, well built, and of course it can double as speaker and a speakerphone. For the money though, you'd really want to be taking advantage of all these attributes, otherwise it's an expensive little toy.
The JAMBOX is only selling at Apple Stores at the moment (where online it seems to be selling for $50 more than the RRP), but additional retail locations will become available in the future.
Available from Jawbone, retailing for $249.APC rating: 7/10