Jawbone Jambox

Anyone familiar with Jawbone products knows the importance that they place on the packaging of their products, and the Jambox is certainly no exception to that. The Jambox is positioned in a perspex case, not dissimilar to those employed by Apple as the boxes for the iPods, seemingly floating above the black cardboard exterior below the perspex display. The overall effect is one of shear beauty, but it is cleary a case of form over function, with the box proving extremely difficult to open. Once you finally figure out how to open the box, you are rewarded with a neatly arranged assortment of cables, manuals and a carry case housed below the Jambox. Overall, the packaging lives up to the Jawbone reputation, and though proving surprisingly difficult to actually gain access to the goodies within, it is a truly great (and frustrating) unboxing experience.

Another area that Jawbone have always excelled in is product design, and once again, Jawbone have not let the ball drop, providing a gorgeous design for the product. The top and bottom of the case are covered in a matte, rubbery material that feels great and gives the speakers really great grip on nearly every surface. The rubber is also removable making cleaning up any spills a breeze. Each different colour Jambox comes with a slightly different design to the speaker grill that wraps all the way round the product, the unit we tested was the 'black diamond' which featured a diamond like pattern on the grill that looked fantastic. The speakers don't actually feature many buttons or ports, with two for volume control and one general use button that sit atop the speakers, as well as a sliding switch for power control and syncing.

Even with such an impressive design, the real qualities of the Jambox only appear when the device is turned on. The Jambox wastes no time before showing off, making a satisfying thud followed by a voice over that lets you know that the device is on. And once the music streaming starts, the Jambox does not stop impressing. The audio is rich and full, though unsurprisingly becomes slightly distorted with bass-centric songs, with its physical limitations meaning it cannot produce the deep lows of larger speakers. However, nearly all songs that we played through it during testing sounded great and where delivered with really impressive volume that would easily be heard throughout even the largest of rooms, though it is not quite loud enough to be the sole source of music in a crowded, loud atmosphere.

Another real bonus for the Jambox is its tight integration with Jawbone's online service 'MyTalk'. After a short install of their software (available for both Mac and Windows), any time the Jambox is plugged in via USB you are directed to the MyTalk website. In a truly innovative and impressive approach to desktop syncing, Jawbone have virtually removed any need for desktop software (their download package is more a plugin, allowing the web browser to control the Jambox over USB) providing an in-browser settings manager for the Jambox where you can download new voice overs and send links to your phone for great ways to put your Jambox to use. This approach is one we have never seen before, and we where honestly really impressed by it. Definetely a fantastic bonus for the Jambox.

Overall, the Jambox is a really fantastic little bit of equipment with outstanding sound and design, along with a really impressive tight integration with Jawbone's online offerings. It is really hard to find a fault in the Jambox, that is, until you look at the price tag. At $200, the Jambox really is an extremely expensive bit of gear that too many is simply not a necessity, and unfortunately for Jawbone, provides Jambox's only real downfall.