Aliph Jawbone Prime headset - Tested

Using a headset with your phone is the best way to stay legal behind the wheel, but background noise can often drown out the person on the other end of the line.

However, the Jawbone Prime uses military-grade NoiseAssassin technology, which acts like placing your hand over the mouthpiece when you’re not speaking. We found the device paired quickly and the range of earbuds meant we soon got a comfortable fit. Charging took less than an hour and, as the microphone activates only when your jaw moves, battery life was impressive, too.

On our route we experienced no disturbance from the air-con or radio, or near tall buildings, either. But while there was no distortion and sound quality was consistently good, the gadget is not ideal for listening to music wirelessly. What’s more, the hidden buttons did not provide feedback, and a lack of manual volume control left us flicking through the presets or accidentally calling someone.

Still, once you get used to the interface, you can redial by triple clicking a button, and the green casing makes it obvious you’re on the phone – not just talking to yourself in the car!

 * Contact: www.jawbone.com

 * Problems: Takes a while to get used to, no volume buttons, no interchangeable colours.

 * So why buy? Light unit, brightly coloured casing makes it visible, no interference, impressive noise cancellation.