Why You Can Trust CNET Jabra Stone 2 review: Jabra Stone 2
Jabra Stone 2
The Jabra Stone Bluetooth headset, which was introduced almost a year ago, was one of a few Bluetooth headsets we thought was stylish enough to not trigger too much embarrassment when worn. That is due to its unique and discreet design that stays close to the ear, looking more like modern jewelry than a telemarketer headpiece. The second iteration, the Jabra Stone 2, has thankfully kept the same design, but now has many more features to keep up with the competition. The Jabra Stone 2 is available for $129.99 retail.
Jabra Stone 2
The Good
The Bad
The Bottom Line
As we mentioned, the Jabra Stone 2 has the same design as the original. It's in the shape of a comma, or a curved hook, housed inside a smooth and round portable charger. The headset comes with four ergonomic ear gels that feel super comfortable in the ear. In fact, we found it completely effortless to slip the headset on and off. The only difference between the Stone 2 and the Stone's design is that the Stone 2 comes in glossy and leather finishes, in contrast to the original Stone's smooth pebble feel. The glossy finish is available from AT&T stores, while the leather version is from Verizon. For more details on the Stone 2's design, we'll point you to the review of the first Jabra Stone so we don't repeat ourselves.
The Jabra Stone 2 has the usual headset features like answering, ending, and rejecting calls, last number redial, voice command support, and multipoint technology so that it can connect to two devices simultaneously. It also has support for A2DP streaming, or stereo Bluetooth, so you can listen to music or turn-by-turn directions via the headset as well.
A couple of new features in the Jabra Stone 2 are voice controls and voice guidance, both of which are in other high-end headsets like the Jawbone Era and the BlueAnt Q2, so it's good to see Jabra finally catch up to its competitors. The voice guidance in the Stone 2 provides caller ID, even announcing the caller's name if he or she is in your contacts list. There's also a pairing tutorial, battery status updates, and more. As for voice control, you can choose to answer or ignore a call simply by saying "Answer" and "Ignore" to an incoming call.
For smartphone users, Jabra has also partnered with a few third-party developers so you can use certain voice apps with the Stone 2. That includes Vlingo, Dial2Do, and Voice Assist. The Jabra Stone 2 comes with an on-package redemption code that will let you download up to three free apps. You can find out which voice-enabled apps are optimized to use with the Jabra Stone 2 on the Jabra Web site.
We paired the Jabra Stone 2 with the Apple iPhone 4, and we did so without the need for a PIN code, though this may depend on your phone. Incoming call quality was pretty good--callers sounded natural with plenty of volume, though we did hear the occasional static and hiss. The quality was not that much different without the headset.
As for outgoing calls, the quality was not quite as good. It does do a decent job of blocking out extraneous noise thanks to Jabra's Noise Blackout technology--we tested it in a busy cafe during lunch hour, and our callers could still hear our voice above the din in the background. However, our voice sounded oddly digitized and harsh, and callers frequently said they detected a lot of digital chatter--beeps and clicks--when we spoke. We shut off the headset and switched back to the phone to see if the quality improved, and callers said the digital chatter went away when we did.
The Jabra Stone 2 has a rated talk time of 2 hours with the headset alone, with an additional 8 hours if combined with the portable charger.
Jabra Stone 2
