Jabra BlueParrott Reveal Pro Noise-Cancelling Bluetooth Headset - Black

I've seen people with these, and have wondered how they work. So. Step 1, charge up. There is a lead which charges via a USB. That's easy. Then attach the right sized ear bud, and clip on the opaque round ear piece before using. This keeps it in place (there are instructions). Then turn on, and pair with your device. It will pair with up to two devices at once. I have found this useful driving home in a hire car (didn't want to faff connecting my phones to the car) - as it linked to both my work and personal phone. You can press on the side to answer - and the app tells you how to deal with calls waiting as well. On some phones it will link to Siri or the android equivalent, but not mine. This could be because my Siri has Alzhiemers, after all, he is a rather older model, so some form of dementia may well be setting in. As a phone he has been known to nod off without warning and must be at least four years out of contract now...I'm assuming that is a form of phone retirement.....But back to the device. At work, it was quite good. I could leave the work phone (even older than mine) charging up (bless, the battery really falls asleep with predictable regularity in a mid morning nap...) and go and make tea, with the device still connected. I rather like that. It is handy. It stays connected to around 10 feet, which almost lets me roam my small work building.On the down side, because I can't access Siri from the device, I can't make a call without picking up my phone, which really isn't safe while driving. So my social existence is entirely dependent on people wanting to call me. Which means I was entirely able to concentrate on my driving....But I have made and received calls, and its good. There is a volume control, and I found it both hears and picks up speaking well.For the person who needs to be connected, this is great. It gives that bit more mobility without feeling you have a phone attached to your ear. Instead, you have an ear bud in your ear (limit to an hour or so otherwise you risk pressure damage to your ear). But it does allow you to do other things, and use your hands, while conducting a conversation. Multi-tasking! Just don't blame me if your hands do something rather stupid, like put the butter in the microwave while engaged on a call...Personally, I'm glad I have this. I don't need to worry about connecting my phone to a car I'll only use for a couple of days, and I can stay available at work while making tea...

My biggest worry with Bluetooth-reliant devices is always 'Is this going to be easy to connect to my phone'?. I have reviewed so mamy products o where this has either been an absoloute song and dance or the device has completely failed to conncect to the phone meaning I could not actually use the product.Not so here - this Parrot has wings in that regard.Connecting to Bluetooth was very easy - much easier in fact than getting the various bits and pieces out of the geometric cardboard boxes everything had been placed in. It seems that whoever designed the packaging must have holidayed in Giza just before. As aesthetuically pleasing as the design is, it is not very practical and it took me a little while to pick through these ti get everything I needed to put this together.When I did , that bit was intuative and the quick start guide was helpful.The device took about half an hour to charge, relatively fuss-free.As for performance, I decided to use this on a conference call in an open plan office with my Iphone. This was fine at first - when there were only 3 people on the vcall everyone could hear me well, but when others joined and the office I was calling from became busier, some people complained they could not hear me properly.So all in all - a decent performer without being spectacular. I think this might struggle to cope in some very noisy work environmernts but might be just the ticket in others

This is not an inexpensive headset and in writing this review, it was impossible not to compare it with my excellent (and much cheaper) Jabra Stealth. It did not do well.First of all, it may be that if you work in a really noisy environment and you may need the extending boom mic to cancel out noise. There are still other options available and I would choose any of them. But maybe, in this particular circumstance, you would look at this. Also, you can connect up to 8 devices and I've never come across a headset that does that many before.Now for the downsides. For a mono bluetooth headset it is remarkably bulky (and ugly). It is - by a wide margin - the most uncomfortable headset I have ever used. A recent 30 minute phone call has left my ear feeling quite sore. There are a number of earpiece options included but none of them made the headset feel either secure or comfortable. The sound is clear, but tinny and horrible. The phone call I mentioned? It was to my parents. "Who is this?" said my father and when I, rather surprised, told him, he said he hadn't recognised my voice! The contrast with the smooth, rich sound of my Jabra Stealth is night and day. And for all it's bulk and discomfort, it manages to last just 1 hour longer between charges than the Stealth. Even down to the little things this headset doesn't measure up; the Stealth shipped with a car charger that has 2 usb slots and a reasonably useful 2A output. The Parrott's has one slot and outputs just 500mA. You'll need to change the car charger to actually charge any other device. Oh, and car use? Not much there either. It won't operate my very modern phone by voice (the Jabra Stealth does, both to call and to use Google Assistant) so you would need to manually dial the phone (illegal when driving, annoying when not) and just use the headset to talk.I honestly can't think of any redeeming features to make me think better of this device, even if it were a bargain-basement device rather than a premium one. It feels like a headset that's travelled in time from about 2005. Jabra make some great headsets - why are the even selling this one? I honestly recommend avoiding it.