Jabra Eargels for Aliph Jawbone Icon The Thinker

The short form: BUY THESE! THEY WORK! THEY MAKE THE ICON THE VERY BEST HEADSET ON THE MARKET TODAY!!The long form:Imagine my distress when I found the PERFECT headset for call clarity and features such as voice calling and music streaming, and it was the MOST uncomfortable headset I'd ever worn in my life! That is how I felt about the Jawbone ICON. (See separate review.)I read all of these positive reviews with skepticism, but ordered the ear gels out of desperation! They are everything everyone is saying!! They are super comfortable, they channel the volume into your ear (I've got it turned WAY down) and you will NOT lose your headset even without that AWFUL hook Jawbone provides. I will say that I may be lucky that the small fits my ear perfectly - if one doesn't fit your ear snugly and comfortably I guess you could lose it, but mine fits like a finely honed jigsaw puzzle piece - it goes in and out easily, but fits perfectly and is "joined" so I won't lose it! I don't know how to describe it :( There is not any pressure on my ear - it just - FITS and when I shake my head it stays in snugly. I'm not ENTIRELY certain it is allowing the ICON to rest on my cheek enough to touch the voice sensor like Jawbone advises, but I attribute that to my really skinny face rather than any fault of the gels - I think someone who didn't look drawn all the time will not have any trouble with that issue. **** IMPORTANT **** The reviewers who say the gels do not fit the ICON have not placed the smallest doughnut shaped earpiece supplied by Jawbone on their ICON before installing the Jabra eargel! Do that, and it fit's PERFECTLY!Now for the cons. I know we get to rate the sellers separately, but we can't leave specific comments for each other in that section. So I just need to say that Happy Cellular did not meet my expectations. (THEY CAME THROUGH - READ UPDATE BELOW!) If all you care about is getting a product and getting it fast they did fine. BUT I cared about a few other things. I could have gotten this same product on e-bay in "bulk" packaging for $4 less, but I wanted the real deal - both to know they are genuine, and to know they are CLEAN. I got neither reassurance because these arrived in generic bulk packaging - just three little plastic ziplock bags inside a mailer. AND to make my impression of the company worse, they shipped it media mail. My understanding - and please correct me if I'm wrong - is that these ear gels would not qualify for media mail. I have written to the company with my concerns, and if they both refund my my $4 and explain their use of media mail, I will give them a high rating for selling a good product and shipping quickly. I can't give them 5 stars because I will never know if they are brand or knockoff.A wish I have is that we could recycle our unused gels - for example, I never even opened the size Large. If the company sealed them with a sealer instead of using ziplock, we could do that. I'd even pay the postage to return totally unused gels. That would also allow them to ship in bulk without upsetting customers about hygiene. I still don't believe they are genuine Jabra - because of the packaging. It would be cost prohibitive to have employees taking the brand name ear gels out of the packages and put into ziplocks. I am almost positive they are knockoffs. I'd love to see a real Jabra ear gel for comparison, but this is the only place I saw them in manufacturer's packaging, and it was inaccurate.****** IMPORTANT UPDATE ******Happy Cellular contacted me back and decided to refund my $4 even though they pointed out that they neither advertised they were in retail packaging (I assumed that) nor used media mail (actually I figured that out by re-checking the shipping envelope - I mixed them up.) So I will give them five stars, because the ALSO explained the reason they are not in retail packaging is because they are given them as a cellular company to give or sell to customers. (I suspect give, but what the heck, I am not their customer. I'm just happy to be able to get the product!)

I was really excited to try these out after having read multiple reviews and I have to say I am sorely disappointed.This is such a Frankenstein of a product they don't even bother to tell you how to put it together.Luckily I read the reviews and knew so here it is for the uninitiated:Put the smallest ROUNDED adapter on your icon (one you would use with the earhook).Now place the new gel OVER that piece.It does not really fit too well.After trying all three earpieces I found that the largest worked best for me (though best was lacking).I am unsure how people are saying that these puppies pipe the sound into your ear better than the jawbone's own earpieces!I found that it sounded further away (as it was) and was not as directed into my ear.I also found that these eargels held the jawbone off my cheek which is necessary for optimal sound for the person on the other end of the line (regardless of what Aliph says about the piece not needing to touch your cheek)My take is that the non-earhook adapters that came with the jawbone work very well, fit more snugly, sound better and feel far lighter.I think I wasted my money on these and wish I had not bought them.I would return them, but I feel funny about doing so after use (as short as that lasted).On a more positive note; The company that sold them shipped them free and fast. I think it took about one day post order for them to arrive.Now, if only I liked them!Namaste~06/15/2011 AmendedOK, I have had the chance to play more with the fit and positioning and they are not as bad as I originally thought.You really have to work your icon deep into the eargel to hear it well and if one of the eargels fits you it is a nice fit.I still do not think that I can hear the caller as well with these and I also note that my callers seem to hear me better when I wear the aliph fit piece (cheek contact is better), but for the purposes of a tighter fit these gels work better than originally assessed.STILL I contend that the jawbone's own fit kit is better and you should only spend the extra money if you absolutely cannot get that to work. In that case this may be a good solution for you.07/20/2011 Amended AGAINI have really worked with these earpieces now and I must...take it all back. I am ashamed. Abashed. At a loss.Having now used these earpieces for a while they have now become my staple earpiece. I do not even use the aliph fits anymore. They stay in the ear and even help to shut out other noise.The only reasons I do not give higher ratings to these are: 1. They come off the earpiece at times (not when in use, but when stored or pocketed) and 2. they frequently need to be adjusted prior to use for best sound (distance from earpiece to output from the jawbone).Great addition to the product, just give it some time to grow on you.