Eric, I'm really interested in your impressions once you get the device(s). Haven't tried the Icon yet, and not sure I'll give up on the really inexpensive and solid Jabra Extreme unless there's a significant difference. Looking forward to your review of the Newegg experience on this one.
Ok,... received the Icon about an hour ago [Edit: 2 hours ago now]. Strange,... I was expecting a DHL truck to pull up in front of the door. Nope,... went to my mail box and discovered it. It appears New Eggs free delivery is a tag-team effort between DHL and USPS. Anyway,... First, what I ordered is not what I received. On the billing statement, there was a note stating that the item I ordered was temporarily out of stock. So, instead of receiving the $48 Thinker along with the free blue rubber iPhone bumper, I received the $59 Hero ONLY,... no free gift. Oh they were quick to explain why I'm missing my free gift (which I have absolutely no use for anyway) LOL! I mean how many right minded folk would own an iPhone,... right? Sorry, couldn't resist. LOL! The Hero came in the retail packaging with ear gels and loop, not wrapped in bubble wrapping and stuffed in a brown envelope as some of the New Egg reviewers have reported. I made the decision to fully charge the Icon before jumping in, and charging this device was very quick. I was expecting to have it on charge for several hours, but to my surprise I got a white halo after only about 30 minutes of charge. The USB connector is the same as is on our Evo's, which is good for on the go. Pairing was equally as quick and surprising. I did have to remove the Prime profile in my Evo that was created when I allowed a friend to pair up his device to introduce me to these things. But once doing that, the Evo and the Icon pretty much put themselves into automatic mode and just got the job done. I did have to tell the Evo to Scan for devices when the Icon's halo started flashing red-n-white,... but that was it.
Once I got the devices properly paired, I went to Jawbone's site to register the device with MyTalk. Looks like this unit did not have the A2DP update on it. Now that could be read in two ways,... either the unit is very old and was put out on the streets before Jawbone started making A2DP standard, OR,... it could be a sign that it was not previously owned. To my understanding, once you do the A2DP upgrade,... it's done,... that's it. Now you can turn it off, but you can never revert back to a non-A2DP device (chime in if I'm incorrect on this). So I'm happy about that,... I think! You know what,... I think I like the design of The Hero a little better than the The Thinker, which I eyeballed at BB some days back. Sorta reminds you of a domino and not as busy as the texture on The Thinker. Male stuff!
[Edit: If any of you get an Icon that require the update to have A2DP access, after performing the firmware update, unpair your device/phone, reset the Icon, dump the original profile in your phone, and redo the pairing from scratch. Make sure you start from the flashing red-n-white halo]
My first audio test was calling the Plantronics Sound Check number I picked up in one of these forums, can't remember if it was this thread or not. To me, the sound is very clear, and I'm not getting that tinny piercing sound I've heard others describe. Maybe Aliph worked on that before jumping from the Prime to the Icon. Noise Assassin is incredible,... nothing short of unbelievable. I called my buddy at work and asked him to participate in a couple of tests (he's also in the market). First we held a simple conversation with me in a quite room,... excellent voice quality on both ends. If the Q2 sound quality is that much better than that of the Icon, then BlueAnt has hired Vivien Thomas,... for the Q2 is truely 'Something The Lord Made'! (I wonder how many of you got that). Then I started cranking things up, like the stereo, the garbage disposal, and our vacuum cleaner. Like squelch on steriods! He had to tell me to stop screaming during some of our tests. LOL! Later in the day, I plan on doing some outdoor, more real world tests, like driving and walking around downtown and at the Inner Harbour. See what happens. maybe even try holding a conversation at a bus stop. I've also tried some of the experience you guys have been performing, trying to create a disconnect between the Icon and the Evo. I'm happy to report that neither covering the Icon or the Evo with your hands causes a drop or signal disconnect. When the phone grabs the Icon,... it's got it. I mean you have to literally walk away from the phone to drop the signal and get a disconnect. I can easily go from adjacent room to adjacent room without any problems. Going from floor to floor is a different story. We're on Fios, so I'm not certain if my home equates to a "strong Wi-Fi environment, but I tried leaving my phone in the dinning room and walking over and standing right next to the Fios router in the family room and it still retained it connection. So in that department,... I guess I'm good. My only real outdoor real world test so far was to see if I could hold a conversation while pumping gas with the phone sat in the car. Positve results on that as well,... I did hear some crackling though, but the conversation surprisingly held.
The one button theme Jawbone has decided to adopt is a little confusing for first time users, but I imagine I'll get used to that. Some say it's a better strategy than having multiple buttons to find by touch. Don't know, as this is my first real experience with these things. Through MyTalk, you can decide whether that button toggles on/off Noise Assassin or controls the volume with a Press+Hold. Can't see the logic in on/offing Noise Assassin, as according to Aliph, it doesn't improve or degrade voice quality in either state, just noise management. I could understand turning it off in a quite environment if doing so noticeably improves voice quality. Otherwise, default it on, and leave it on. Comfort is a mixed bag so far. Experimented with the ear gels, and the medium size, which it's fitted to the device right out of the box seems to work best for me. The loop included with this thing is a joke loop. It's a flimsy thin soft plastic affair that snaps around the small of the ear piece horn, sorta like a C clamp or washer. Nothing like the much more robust loop you Q2 users are treated with. A total waste if you ask me. There isn't even a hole in the device to accept the better Carter pin style loops. All-n-all, its comfort level allows me to wear the thing for about 2 hours before discomfort sets in. I plan on purchasing some non-Jawbone gels, as I've read there are some out there that improves on both sound quality AND comfort. I'll start that research tonight or after I finish discovering Icon stuff and features.
Tried some of the voices found on MyTalk,... they're interesting. Quickly dumped the stock voice and opted for the Be Super or Hero voice. Sounded sorta like Sam Elliot in The Big Lebowski,... yeah, more male stuff! Me likes! I took your advice Cubfan and installed Choice Dialer +, but it seems to interfere with Vlingo. Uninstall Choice Dialer and I get all my Vlingo features back. Install it again, and the conflicts return. Maybe I can get them to co-exist via the settings menu or something,... I'll look into that. I tell you what, the stock voice dialer the Evo comes with is a joke voice dialer. Accuracy is piss poor and there are no setting menu to adjust between speed and accuracy,... at least none that I can find. I kinda wish that the Icon could trigger Vlingo, I can only get it to trigger Choice Dialer's engine. The two 411 dial apps in MyTalk are equally heavy in jokeage, and the My Favorite dial app only can be set for one (1) number,... I mean let's be honest, of what value is that? I plan on trying out Jolt, Dial2Do, and Voice on the Go maybe later in the week. They all have trail periods before you have to pay anything. But from what I hear/read everybody saying,... Vlingo is the way to go!
To sum up, I really like the Icon. I does everything I need to get down and more, and I'm guessing it's more stuff this thing can do I haven't even thought of yet or understand yet. The Icon, Andriod, Vlingo threesome should make for some mad entertaining stuff. Don't forget Choice Dialer either. Because I can't think of a situation where turning off Noise Assassin would be an advantage, I've set my button function to control in-call volume,... I'd recommend that to any Icon user.
If the Q2 is a better choice than this think, then I'm gonna own them both. I know several co-workers and friends who own two and regularly use both, so I guess I won't feel too silly! I just will need to figure out why in the hell they do that.
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