ERA by Jawbone Bluetooth Headset - Black Streak - Retail Packaging (Discontinued by Manufacturer)

This is an absolutely beautiful headset. I am at a loss to understand how anyone could think otherwise.I've owned several other headsets including the Icon, the earlier Era, and the Plantronics M50, along with many others going back 10 years. This is way better than all of them. Here are the details:SOUND: The speaker is by far the best of any Jawbone, and any other mono bluetooth headset that I've ever used. It sounds beautiful, and it even has the capacity for strong bass. You can hear this when you turn on the headphone and it powers up. It almost vibrates in my ear. It's astonishing. I often listen to audiobooks on my phone. The Icon was adequate and the earlier Era was an improvement. This one finally gets it right. Better than right. It's awesome!MICROPHONE: While I haven't tested with voicemail, I have asked several callers to tell me about the sound quality. They've said that it was excellent. It also filters out background noise way better than the M50. I don't know what the other complaints are about.FORM FACTOR: It looks great and feels solid. By far the best looking headphone so far. Also very comfortable to wear. Even the packaging shows attention to the detail. It is beautiful and simple without a lot of extra frills.IPHONE APP: The headset can be easily controlled from a beautiful iPhone app that also works with other Jawbone devices. Very slick.BATTERY LIFE: It may be a little shorter than prior models, but I haven't had any problems. This easily has enough juice to get me through a day of calls. It's plenty of battery for practical purposes, and I have yet to find any noticeable difference compared to other headsets based on my use patterns.I almost didn't buy the headset because of the bad reviews, and I'm really glad that I took the risk. I even carry it around with me at times where I would normally leave my other headsets at home, just because I like it that much.I normally don't take the time to post reviews, but I have an emotional connection to this product. It's beautiful, and it doesn't deserve the bad wrap that it's getting from other reviewers. It should have a 5-star review. It's better than any Jawbone designed so far, and easily better than the other headsets on the market that use conventional microphones. I couldn't recommend it more highly.

I am extremely disappointed. This is my first headset of any brand. I had read many fabulous reviews of the Jawbone line, particularly the ERA model. I charged the headset up fully, and the battery was depleted in 4 hours, with maybe 10 or so 1 minutes calls. No streaming music, nothing to drain it down. I recharged the headset, was advised to do a "hard reset" and again pair it to the Motorola Razr Maxx. I did so, and left the headset paired but unused. It lost and hour of talk time, about every hour and a quarter, simply being paired to the phone, on standby with absolutely no use. In 4 hours, it was dead again. I posted a message on the Jawbone Community Forum, but have received no responses. I think this item will be going back on Monday, when I can get it repackaged, request the return authorization and get it over to UPS. Truly amazing and disappointing after all the favorable reviews.UPDATE 2/25/2014I contacted Jawbone Customer Service by email and arranged a telephone consultation. The Customer Service Advocate, Andrew, was very polite. After I pointed out that I had gone through all the suggested resets and re-pairings, he arranged to have a Warranty Replacement headset delivered by Fedex Overnight. I received the new headset a couple of days later. I knew things were different the moment I turned the new one on. I immediately got the voice telling me that the headset was now in pairing mode, something that had never happened with the original one. I then logged in to my Jawbone software account where I was again prompted to download the Jawbone software. I did so, there was also a firmware download. (all of this occurred with the original headset also.) I charged up the new headset, and then put it to use. The new headset is still reporting 4 hours of talk time, after being charged and on for 14 hours, although with minimal use. Unlike the original, the new headset seems to be having no issues connecting with my Droid Razr Maxx. I think it is safe to say that the first headset was a dud, the bane of all early adopters with the introduction of a new product. It may be too early to tell, since I'm in the early stages of using the new headset, but thus far, it seems to be living up to the Jawbone reputation of good quality products that I had previously read about. I am increasing my rating from 1 star to 4 stars. I do not feel that I can go 5 stars at this point, due to the aggravation and frustration of having to deal with what was obviously a defective example of the headset.I do not know how many others may have purchased a defective copy. Mine was purchased directly from Amazon, not a third-party seller on Amazon, and arrived in what appeared to be factory new condition, identical to its successor, so it does not appear that the first was some counterfeit knockoff that got into the commerce stream. Just a word of warning, it is my understanding that Jawbone will not honor a Warranty claim on any product not purchased through an authorized dealer. You can check their website for a list of authorized dealers. Amazon is an authorized dealer, but some of the third parties selling on Amazon may not be. Be sure that you are buying from Amazon, and not an unauthorized third party vendor selling through Amazon. As my situation has demonstrated, that warranty protection could prove critical. Grabbing up a copy at a "great price" may prove to be quite costly, if the seller turns out not to be an authorized dealer.