INTRODUCTION

   One of the most time consuming and hard trials of the past 5 years or so has been for me to try and find a Bluetooth wireless headset that can be used while riding on a bike or with the top of my cabrio car down. Something like that may sound a bit funny considering the vast number of wireless headsets in the market especially since most claim to offer plenty of volume combined with some short of wind-filter that makes it very easy for both ends to communicate even in places with lots of wind but to date only one has really worked well enough in such environments and that's no other than the latest Voyager Legend by Plantronics. Well good enough however is not enough for us and so although the Voyager Legend has been our "weapon" of choice for the past year or so we feel that there's still room for improvement and to that end for the past week we've been testing the latest Bluetooth wireless headset by Jabra, the MOTION.

   Jabra is the brand of GN Netcom, a subsidiary of GN Store Nord A/S (GN) - listed on NASDAQ OMX. Jabra employs approximately 850 people worldwide and in 2011 produced an annual revenue which amounted to DKK 2,106 million. Jabra is a world leader in the development, manufacturing, and marketing of a broad range of hands-free communications solutions. With a reputation for innovation, reliability, and ease of use that goes back more than two decades, Jabra’s consumer and business divisions produce corded and wireless headsets, plus mobile and in-office speakerphones that empower individuals and businesses through increased freedom of movement, comfort, and functionality.

   The MOTION Bluetooth 4.0 compatible wireless headset is really unlike anything we've ever seen in terms of design (although the base design is nothing new) but in the end what's under the hood is what matters the most and so Jabra has equipped it with all of their latest innovative technologies making it by far the most advanced model in their arsenal. The most important feature of the MOTION is without doubt the revolutionary built-in motion sensor which paired with the dual Omni-directional microphones intelligently adapts the sound level to your surroundings so it should have you covered according to Jabra even if you are on a bike or with the windows of your car open (or with the top down). However the MOTION also comes with other equally important features including Jabras intuitive call control system (answers the call automatically when picked up), NFC (Near Field Connection for easy pairing), power nap (battery saving mode), noise blackout v3.0 (dual microphones), wind-noise protection (filter for windy places), HD Voice (superior sound clarity), A2DP v1.6 (multimedia, GPS and podcast streaming), voice guidance (instructions on pairing, remaining battery life, connection status and more), voice control (take or make calls using your voice), touch volume controls (just slide your finger on the volume bar), 100m max operating range (Bluetooth 4.0 compatible devices) and finally an adjustable height for extreme comfort (adapts to any ear). So yea the specifications sheet is quite long but let’s see exactly to what all of these translate to in real use.

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

I was somewhat surprised to see that the MOTION arrived inside an entirely clear plastic box with the main features of the unit at the front along with the Jabra logo.

On the left side we see some of the other features of the MOTION along with a small box notifying you of their Connect application for android & iOS devices.

A few words about the headset along with the two replacement/extra eargels are placed at the rear.

The box contains the MOTION Bluetooth wireless headset, two extra eargels, AC power adapter, car AC power adapter, micro-USB cable, warranty paper, registration paper, a piece of paper informing the end use that the device needs to be charged prior to use and the quick start guide.

THE MOTION

Along with the pre-mounted eargel there are 3 eargels available (small/medium/large) for every ear.

Just by looking at the new Motion Bluetooth wireless headset you can tell it's not the smallest one around and is indeed a tad larger than the Voyager Legend.

The device comes with two Omni-directional microphones placed at the tip. These microphones also incorporate Jabras noise blackout 3.0 and wind-protection technologies for the best possible outgoing quality.

A small button placed underneath the boom microphone can be used whenever you wish to use a voice command.

The Bluetooth activity LED along with the battery state LED is placed in the area right above the boom microphone.

One very innovative feature found in the MOTION is the length adjustment of the driver section which allows it to adapt to any ear. The make/end call button is placed on the exterior of the same section as well (the surrounding ring is also a blue/red activity LED).

The micro-USB charging port is placed at the base of the device as seen above.

Yet another impressive feature of the MOTION is the volume touch bar placed at the rear which allows the user to increase/decrease the volume levels by just swapping his finger upwards/downwards.

Strangely enough the MOTION is one of the very few wireless headsets without a power on/off button. Instead in order to turn it off completely you need to retract the boom microphone as seen above.

USING THE MOTION

Prior to using the device i strongly suggest downloading the Jabra PC Suite from their support page to check for newer firmware versions.

The entire update procedure is quite fast (also allows you to change the audio language of the headset) and as you can see in just a few months Jabra has released several firmware updates (5 or more).

The Jabra CONNECT is also a very useful application that runs on android and iOS compatible devices. Now the main page may not be very useful while your headset is not being used (you can just check the battery level) but the others are not and so through those you can select the appropriate sound profile from the 3 available ones (outdoor/office/car), enable/disable the intelligent volume control, enable/disable voice commands, record/store and playback audio notes and finally it gives you a fast manual on the proper use of your headset.

CONCLUSION

   When Jabra announced the MOTION Bluetooth wireless headset and we had the chance to go over its specifications sheet a few months back in a way we immediately knew that this could be what we were expecting for so long meaning the best Bluetooth wireless headset for people who need to use one while on a bike or in their car with the top down (myself included). Well even after testing it for a few minutes we could easily say that it offer a more powerful and clear audio output compared to the Voyager Legend especially when used at places with noise (wind included). Now if i had to make an estimate I’d say that the MOTION delivers roughly 10% more volume compared to the Voyager Legend without however compromising on audio quality. Also although the headset is quite large (larger than the Voyager Legend) still since the boom microphone is placed behind the rear (as is the main body of the headset) it is actually less visible and that was a nice surprise. Worth mentioning is the fact that although the boom microphone does not stretch out towards the mouth as much as the Voyager Legend still people on the other end could hear us whispering with ease. The battery also lasts quite a bit and although we never did manage to reach 7 hours of use we did cross the 5 hours mark with the volume level turned all the way up so that's very good news. Now according to the Bluetooth 4.0 specs you should be able to use the MOTION up to 100m from your cellular phone, however that applies only if the connected device is also Bluetooth 4.0 compatible so our smartphones struggled even after 10m with walls in between. The sole "problem" i had with the MOTION is the amount of times you need to swap your finger on the volume bar in order to minimize/maximize the volume levels. True this isn't much of an issue but i would like just 3-4 swaps between the lowest and highest volume levels.

   As with most products by Jabra the MOTION bluetooth wireless headset is widely available and comes with a current price tag set at USD129.16 inside the USA (Amazon.com) and at 99Euros inside the EU (Amazon.co.uk). Granted the price tag of the MOTION is indeed set a bit high but lets not forget that it always costs more to get the best of anything and currently there's simply no better Bluetooth wireless headset in the market (even if just slightly better than the Voyager Legend by Plantronics) so i don't think it's wrong for Jabra to charge more for it. For excellent audio clarity, plenty of volume, supreme comfort, great design and a wealth of technologies used we are awarding the Jabra MOTION with our Platinum award.

PROS

- Build Quality
- Design (behind the ear)
- Weight (17.5g With The Eargel)
- HD Audio Quality (Both Ends)
- Built-In Motion Sensor
- Intelligent Dual-Mics With Noise Blackout 3.0 & Wind-Noise Protection
- Caller Announce / Voice Commands
- Battery Life (Up To 5+ Hours Of Continuous Use)
- NFC
- Bluetooth 4.0 (100m Max Operating Range/A2DP 1.6/AVRCHP/HFP 1.6/HSP 1.2)
- Touch Volume Bar
- Jabra Connect Android/iOS App 

CONS

- Price (For Some)