Ain’t no jibber
Jabra…
Talk on your phone a
lot? If you do, then you’re probably older than thirty and you
should definitely read this review. Sometimes it just isn’t
practical to continuously hold that slab of a smartphone up to your
ear, especially if you need your hands to write, type, or direct
traffic. What you need is a Bluetooth headset that not only works
well every time, but also looks like the bee’s knees. You need the
Jabra Eclipse.
The Eclipse Wireless
Headset from Jabra is a Bluetooth controlled earbud designed to make
phone conversations easier. Obviously we’ve had devices like this
on the market for as long as Bluetooth has been a thing, but with the
Eclipse Jabra have upped the ante and thrown in a load of valuable
extras, as well producing a headset that is as beautiful as it is
minimal. Oh, and it only weighs 5.5 grams – once it’s in, you
really will forget about it.
Using Bluetooth 4.1,
the Eclipse has an effective range of a whopping 30 metres from the
connected device. This means you don’t necessarily need to carry
your phone about the house or at the gym; stay within 100 feet and
you’ll still be able to take calls. It is also fully integrated
with Siri and Google Now, allowing you to access your emails and
search the web with your voice.
The ear piece itself has a three hour talk-time battery life, so unless you use your phone constantly, it should see you right for the whole day. However, the pebble-like protective case into which the Eclipse slots is also a portable recharger, juicing up the headset for an additional seven hours! Simply charge up the unit via Micro USB (cable included), pop in the headset, and take the whole thing with you for when you need it.
The speaker in the
headset is probably the best we’ve ever tested on a device of this
kind, supplying sounds (not just calls, but also music and audio
files) with headphone like quality. The premium music-grade speaker,
coupled with that extremely powerful Bluetooth 4.1, means everything
sounds crisp and clear and you really do forget that you are using a
wireless headset.
To be honest, none of us have really bothered with Bluetooth headsets for the past five years or so, but the Jabra Eclipse is actually very appealing. Sure, you might not use your smartphone to make calls as much as you did ten years ago, but with voice commands fully integrated like this, combined with the incredible sound quality and functionally to use as a podcast and audiobook headphone, we really couldn't recommend this one more.
£79.99
