Buy wireless handsfree or Bluetooth car stereo

LillySV · 24-05-2014 10:27am #1

Hi my girlfriend is driving a mini and I'm trying to decide what's the best option for her to receive calls and answer them, in thinking either get a parrot neo, jabra cruiser or actually buy a pioneer or Sony stereo that has Bluetooth to answer phone. I don't see any point in buying a wired handsfree kit for same price or more than a good stereo.... What would people's advice be? Are the unwired handsfree kits mentioned good or would I be better getting stereo?

colm_mcm · 24-05-2014 10:44am

Personally, I'd get a kit rather than putting an aftermarket stereo in a mini.

LillySV · 24-05-2014 11:10am

Well I just see the kits as an awful lot of money, they're around 150 while I can get a stereo for 120.... But then again maybe the stereo wouldn't be good at calls?

colm_mcm · 24-05-2014 12:50pm

Some stereos have the Bluetooth mic in the actual headunit, some have external mic.
Unless you want usb/SD card input/iPod control etc and don't mind the sore thumb that is an aftermarket unit in a modern car then just get a carkit.

You'll get a nokia ck100 or ck7w on ebay for peanuts, they're discreet and simple.

LillySV · 24-05-2014 1:07pm

colm_mcm wrote: »

Some stereos have the Bluetooth mic in the actual headunit, some have external mic.
Unless you want usb/SD card input/iPod control etc and don't mind the sore thumb that is an aftermarket unit in a modern car then just get a carkit.

You'll get a nokia ck100 or ck7w on ebay for peanuts, they're discreet and simple.

Would an iPhone or Htc connect automatically with them?

TrailerBob · 02-06-2014 12:32pm

There's compatibility issues with the Nokia CK-7W and the iPhone, especially the ios7 in the 4s and 5. I have swapped a few over to parrot kits because if this. Best all rounder for me is the ck3100 parrot.. good value, excellent useability and easy to install.

Truckermal · 05-06-2014 7:10pm

TrailerBob wrote: »

There's compatibility issues with the Nokia CK-7W and the iPhone, especially the ios7 in the 4s and 5. I have swapped a few over to parrot kits because if this. Best all rounder for me is the ck3100 parrot.. good value, excellent useability and easy to install.

Ck-7W don't like smartphones in general, the Parrot is a good buy.

Bpmull · 05-06-2014 8:45pm

TrailerBob wrote: »

There's compatibility issues with the Nokia CK-7W and the iPhone, especially the ios7 in the 4s and 5. I have swapped a few over to parrot kits because if this. Best all rounder for me is the ck3100 parrot.. good value, excellent useability and easy to install.

The last three cars I have had had had that nokia ck-7w. I have only ever had iPhones in that time and never had an connectivity issues. Currently in my golf I have that kit and an iPhone 5 with the latest ios7 and have never had any connectivity issues at all.

TrailerBob · 05-06-2014 8:52pm

Surprised to hear it Bpmull, but great if it's working. What I mean be connectivity is I have found the sound quality deteriorating significantly with the newer iOS systems. Would have always sworn by the 7w kit for many years. Converted by Parrot these days.

Bpmull · 05-06-2014 9:36pm

TrailerBob wrote: »

Surprised to hear it Bpmull, but great if it's working. What I mean be connectivity is I have found the sound quality deteriorating significantly with the newer iOS systems. Would have always sworn by the 7w kit for many years. Converted by Parrot these days.

Oh there is no doubt that nokia is basic. It will make and receive calls over bluetooth that's about it. Kind of a no frills bluetooth kit. If I was going out in the morning to buy a handsfree it would be parrot. But all these kits came with the cars. The way I look at it if it ain't broken don't fix it. All though mine isn't exactly hd sound quality it is not particularly bad and I can easily here who's on the phone and they can here me.

bmstuff · 06-06-2014 12:00am

Personally I would rather go with a new headunit since the Mini uses single din radio size
It would provide more than just BT but also improved sound quality over the stock built-in amplifier.
Not only that, it would also be cheaper than a Parrot MKI9200.

colm_mcm · 06-06-2014 6:45pm

That looks pretty dreadful though. Why is Becker the only company that can make ok looking headunits?

LillySV · 15-06-2014 10:02pm

put in a pioneer stereo instead, sound is good and works great with phone...i notice the radio channel only seems to play in front left speaker and back right speaker...is that normal?music from phone is perfect

bmstuff · 16-06-2014 10:46am

LillySV wrote: »

put in a pioneer stereo instead, sound is good and works great with phone...i notice the radio channel only seems to play in front left speaker and back right speaker...is that normal?music from phone is perfect

So radio tuner only to 2 corners while music streaming and cd play to each corner?

JohnBoy26 · 16-06-2014 4:34pm

colm_mcm wrote: »

That looks pretty dreadful though. Why is Becker the only company that can make ok looking headunits?

I bet it works pretty well though. :cool: Those alpines are decent head units to be fair and tend to have far better sound quality than other mainstream brands.

Wouldn't Becker be more of a premium brand? and cost far more?

bmstuff · 17-06-2014 10:50am

JohnBoy26 wrote: »

I bet it works pretty well though. :cool: Those alpines are decent hqead units to be fair and tend to have far better sound quality than other mainstream brands.

Wouldn't Becker be more of a premium brand? and cost far more?

Becker is more an oem supplier to car manufacturers
They have a few consumers products that look more or less oem and blend better Iin a dash because of their simplistic look. But usually they do not have half the features a good alpine headunit has. Some prefer the oem look.
Becker supplies ferrari, bmw etc. Not the most reliable units though.

JohnBoy26 · 17-06-2014 10:44pm

bmstuff wrote: »

Becker is more an oem supplier to car manufacturers
They have a few consumers products that look more or less oem and blend better Iin a dash because of their simplistic look. But usually they do not have half the features a good alpine headunit has. Some prefer the oem look.
Becker supplies ferrari, bmw etc. Not the most reliable units though.

Tbh I wouldn't be bothered about loosing the OEM look myself if it ment that I was getting more features and better sound quality. I know the OEM look is hard to beat aesthetically though

I must say though I've yet to be dissapointed by an alpine unit. I find the sound quality on their units to be fantastic and above that of other mainstream brands.

b.gud · 20-06-2014 1:37pm

Hey guys, have a similar question and figured I wouldn't bother starting a new thread, hope the OP doesn't mind

I recently got a 2008 Ford Focus and am looking to upgrade the stereo. I want a the stereo to have USB, aux and bluetooth input. The bluetooth is for both streaming music and taking/making calls.

I have been looking at some that have built in mics and some that come with external mics. Because the Focus is a double din unit and I want a single din unit I am planning on getting this adapter to allow me to install a single din unit. If I go for a head unit with an external mic I was planning on drilling a hole into the shelf below the head unit as this would mean that there are no cables running around the place and the mic isn't too noticeable.

The position I was planning on putting it in is the circled area below as it would be closet to me in the drivers seat. Has anyone any experience with these external mics and would that position be too far away from me?

To give you an idea of the position of the stereo in relation to the car check out the 2nd photo

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Buy wireless handsfree or Bluetooth car stereo

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