There are four fashion colors—red, yellow, orange and purple—for people who would rather accessorize than try to hide the fact that they're using a Bluetooth headset. (Their names, "Frankly Scarlet", "Yello!", "Drop Me a Lime" and "LILAC You Mean It" are at the very least, clever.) Of course, there's also the obligatory black, brown and platinum colors for people who take themselves seriously.

On the other hand, there are the voice quality improvements. The NoiseAssassin's Voice Activity Sensor is still there, providing great noise elimination as long as it's touching your face. But in the case that the little white nub slides off your cheek, their new Acoustic Voice Activity Detector supposedly provides as good a noise cancellation algorithm as other headsets on the market. Overall, the Jawbone Prime gives better noise suppression than the Jawbone 2 by about 3x (give or take, depending on the situation) as well as wind noise suppression.

Rounding out the features, there is Bluetooth 1.1, 1.2, 2.0 and 2.1 + EDR support, 10 meter range, 4.5 hours talk time, 8 days standby time, two simultaneous device connections and a price of $130. We'll let you know how it performs once we test it. [Jawbone]

The Verdict: The nX6000 is a small, comfortable, and best of all, great sounding headset that blocks outgoing noise well but also gives you a really loud and clear incoming sound, which works great in noisy places.

The Catch:

It actually fared better than the Aliph Jawbone, our previous choice for best-sounding headset for the price right now (left side on the photo below). Not only did the nX give a better and louder incoming sound for you to hear, the outgoing sound was pretty much on par between the two. And the nX6000 is smaller!

The Price: $129

The Performance: As we said before, the noise cancellation is as good as the Jawbone's, allowing the person you're calling to only hear faint music when it's being played, loudly, in the background. It's also comfortable and secure, with both an ear loop and an in-ear bud to fasten it in place on your head.

The Recommendation: If we had to choose between the nXZEN nX6000 and the Jawbone, we'd choose the nX6000. One of the main complaints we have with the Jawbone is its slightly soft incoming sound, which the nX addresses strongly. Very strongly.

In the style of Bose, JVC used squishy memory foam for the pads. The extra isolation is great, since the JVCs can be used when the active noise canceling is off, or when its AAA battery runs stone dead. These benefits do come at a price, namely $200, the same price as a raft of would-be Bose killers. But as you all know, Bose ain't dead yet.

Press release:

JVC ANNOUNCES NEW TOP-OF-THE-LINE NOISE CANCELING HEADPHONES

WAYNE, NJ, July 13, 2007 - JVC today announced the addition of a new top-end model to its line of noise canceling headphones. The new JVC HA-NC250 combines outstanding sound quality with advanced noise-canceling and isolation technologies to provide a superior listening experience.

The HA-NC250's noise cancellation circuitry includes feedback technology that constantly monitors the noise cancellation process. As a result, the headphones eliminate up to 85 percent of extraneous background noise. To further block noise, the HA-NC250 offers two JVC innovations that help isolate the listener from outside sounds. First, each earpiece employs a double housing structure for an extra sound insulation layer. Second, JVC developed a new technique for attaching the headphone's smooth memory foam cushioned ear pads to the housing that helps isolate background noise. The smooth pads also enhance comfort. These sound isolation features, for which patents have been applied, are especially important since the HA-NC250 can be used with the active noise cancellation switched off.

For the best possible sound quality, the new headphone uses a 40mm neodymium driver in each earpiece. For comfort and portability, the JVC HA-NC250 is one of the lightest headphones in its class, weighing just 5.3 ounces. It folds flat, and when folded is slimmer than most competing models. Included with the HA-NC250 are a slim carrying case, a four-foot detachable cord, airline dual plug adapter, and ¼-inch plug adapter for use with many home audio and video components. The headphones use a single 1.5-volt AAA battery for powering the noise cancellation circuitry. Battery life is rated at about 50 hours.

The JVC HA-NC250 noise canceling headphone will be available in early August for $199.95.

So what's the big deal about this headset? Auto-pairing? The Apple logo? The fact that it's small? We'll test it out ourselves and see whether it, or the Jawbone, is worthy of your cash.

Looks like progress, but do they sound like it? And how do they feel on your head? We're far more attracted to the Sennheiser HD-570 headphones, also introduced at CES this year. But then, those high-end phones are the high-priced hooker, demanding $449.95, while the Sony MDR-NC60 will just clip you for a quick $200 BJ. Either one will be available in March.

Our experience with other noise-canceling phones and a pic of those gorgeous Sennheisers:

We haven't tested the Sony or these Sennheiser cans yet, but we've used both the competing Bose Quiet Comfort II and the Outside the Box Solitude noise-canceling phones, and both really do work well. Each noticeably cut the wind and engine noise inside the airplane cabin, sound better than most mid-priced headphones, and perform about equally well in a side-by-side A/B test at 35,000 feet.

Over the duration of a coast-to-coast flight, we noticed a whole lot less fatigue when we didn't have to deal with all that constantly droning engine and wind noise. – Charlie White

Sony MDR-NC60 noise-cancelling headphones [Newlaunches]