Jabra - Steel Bluetooth Headset - Black

The Jabra Steel Bluetooth headset. For purposes of this review, I used this headset with my iPhone 6s. Pros: It has a rugged design, but is light weight and extremely comfortable to wear. In the box you receive the headset, 2 wind socks, 2 spare rubber ear pieces, a spare ear clip, and a charging cord. The headset stayed in place well, even while doing some light manual labor. Incoming sound was clear and easy to understand. The controls are simple to work. Cons: Outgoing transmissions sound tinny and have a slight echo to the person on the other end of the call. The battery life is short. If used moderately heavy, it will not last an 8 hour work day. The charging cord is very short. You have to download and install an App on your phone in order to use this headset. It is the first time I have seen that. The App also contains a locator feature to find your headset and digital manuals. Summary: While this headset is very comfortable to wear and sounds good on my end, it may not be good for those with whom you are talking. The short battery life means you will have to charge it mid day. Having to use space on the phone for a separate App to use the device is also a downer for me. This would not be my first choice of a headset.

The battery won't hold a charge long, even when the unit is turned off. You are guaranteed to grab it the next day and find it completely drained unless you've actually plugged it in, whether you've used it or not. The power button is in a poor location, meaning the unit must be removed from one's ear to actuate it. The fact that it's not a switch pretty much condemns the unit entirely. There's no way to tell if it's turned on without pulling it out, pushing the button, and rushing it back into your ear. No readily accessible volume controls are present. A hands-free device should not require one to pick up a phone and look at the screen. It defeats the purpose of the device. The volume, even when maxed out on three competing phones (iPhone, Windows Phone, and Android) is pathetic. This is insanity for a device meant to be used on a job site. I can't even hear it well in the office. Controls for voice assistants are slow, inaccurate, and generally useless. The range is extremely limited even related to MUCH cheaper products. Seriously... It's bad. Overall, this product is entirely valueless. Do not purchase it under any circumstances. You're only wasting money.

This is a replacement for a Plantronics Bluetooth Headset that was beginning to experience poor performance, such that anyone I was talking to said it sounded like I was talking underwater. I typically do not purchase a brand new item, particularly without ANY reviews whatsoever. But I felt this could be an exception. While the Steel does work, albeit only fairly well, it is not quite what I was looking for. It is not real comfortable, although I will change out the ear bud to see if that helps. It has only been a week after all. Also, at least three times a day I get a message saying "disconnected", followed immediately by "two devices connected" (I do have two iPhones connected). I would not be happy if this was to happen in the middle of a phone call. Also not pleased with the charger connection; the little door/cover is very difficult to manipulate while trying to plug in the charger. I will keep using it in hopes that it improves.

I purchased these for my new iphone X but returned the next day and purchased the wireless bluetooth Apple airpods which I love. I had the Jabra Evo for years and loved that model, worked very well, fit well, loved everything about it but unfortunately would not pair with the new phone. Got this model to try and hated it!!! Didn't like the ear pieces like my old Jabra had, didn't like where the "buttons" were placed and at first, I was confused what was the button to press and hold for 3 sec to pair the darn thing. Finally got that done and did like the voice prompt that the Jabra was on and paired. The last thing I hated was charging it. The little rubber door was so difficult to open, I can't imagine a man's fingers could do it easily. Then, the door is in the way when you are trying to plug in the cord.......very difficult!!!!! The only thing good was the warranty is for several years and it is supposed to be somewhat water resistant and sweat resistant.

Overall, I like the Jabra Steel. It sounds good and haven't had anyone complain how I sound, even in noisy outdoor environments. Here are my nitpicks that caused me to give it three stars. 1. It doesn't seem to last as long as advertised. After about 4-5 hours on conference calls, it is almost ready for a charge. 2. The door to the charging port gets in the way, when trying to plug it in. This is due to how compact the door and it's plastic hinge being very short. 3. Where the buttons are located don't seem logical. The power button on the bottom is placed right next to the power light, so when I am pressing the power button, my thumb covers up the light that tells me when it turns on. The call accept/end button is on the end (near your ear). When I press the button to end a call, I have to grab the bottom and top of the arm for support - if I squeeze too hard, it ends up muting the call instead of ending. 4. After a couple hours, it hurts my ear to wear. I would only recommend this product of the issues I described aren't a big deal for you.

I had one for a couple years and I used it pretty much every day. I likely charged it too often, but the battery life was still decent at the end of its life. Call audio was great and music sounded decent, except at the end. Eventually the rubber shell dislodged and I think moisture got into it, as the volume never went above about 50% at the end. Talk time is easily up there with the best, but pure music time was only about 2 to 3-hours, or a tad more, if I kept the volume down. I bought my new one, on-sale for like $70 and it's really great again to have a rugged bluetooth earpiece. I dropped my previous one a minimum of 200 times, and even into a puddle once, and it worked like a charm. I may buy a third, just to have in waiting for the future. It's easy to pair and connects to new devices quickly asn easily. Hope this helps. Regards from Florida Jimmy

I am a contractor and my main gripe with the earpiece is that the in ear piece hurts my ear after a day of wearing it and the over the ear piece doesn't sit tight as I have glasses. So far it has held up to the rigors of work, but I do wish it had a longer talk time as I like to listen to music while I work. The only durability concern I have is with the plastic cover for the charging port. It seems like it might break soon. Its only been a month and so far has been fine, though it could be a problem. It is also hard to move out of the way to get the plug in. There is no volume control, as many have reviewed which would be nice, though I've been able to get by. If it sat I my ear better, it would sound better. Overall, it does what it says and is nice to be hands free while I'm working. I'm been happy with it so far.

I used to have the Marque 2 from Plantronics but the part that goes into your ear is worse quality than expected and the replacement you buy from them is even worse. So I decided to go with another brand this time. I didn't want one that goes over my ear as I have glasses and this one seemed to fit well. It was a bit more expensive but I use my bluetooth a lot so I figured it was worth it. Sadly it was not. The sound quality is no where near as good as my old one. It only shows when it is low on battery but until then you have no way of knowing how much time is left unless you install their app on your phone (which brings a whole other nightmare as it keeps popping up and interfering). I returned it and is currently looking for another bluetooth.