Bluetooth for iPhone
**EDIT** Tapatalk is requiring me to enter a username so that I can upload pictures... I enter username but then it doesn't do anything... So, it's not letting me upload the photos. So, here is the review and I'll get the pictures in when I can.
Ok the writeup/review. Please be patient as I'm limited to Internet only via my cell phone at the moment. So if you spot any spelling errors or autocorrect issues, I apologize. That being said, lets get down to business.
So I jumped and bought the tenergy aux input Bluetooth adapter that Shawn posted about above. It wasn't very expensive and it seemed simple enough. My desire for Bluetooth isn't much, just the ability to stream music and use the phone. I already have the OEM aux which allows for music into the car, and honestly I'm happy with that. I would like to be able to voice dial and use the steering wheel controls for the phone though. So that all being said, I figured I would give this a try and see what it could do.
So, the product states that it converts any input into a Bluetooth portal of sorts. Good enough for me, after all the idea is simple. Put a Bluetooth receiver and a 3.5mm headphone output together into a little widget and it should work. Well as the picture advertised, here is said device.
Now the one thing that wasn't mentioned in the description (or at least I didn't notice it) was that this little thing needs to be charged. It was a small charging connection and takes about 3 hours to charge for about 11 hours of continual use. The cable is included and is about 2' long Not bad, but now you need another cord in the car as it isn't a widely used connection (micro USB would've been nice) and therefore no swapping for a shorter, more popular 6-8" cable. I used my car charger for my iPhone to accept the USB cable. So here's what you have for initial setup.
So here's how it looks in my car. As you all know, I chose an aux input mounting location for easy access. Between that, and my cigarette lighter use for the phone/tenergy power connections, the shifter area is quite cluttered. Seen below
But regardless, for testing purpose, it'll do. So, does it work? Well, hold the power button for 3 seconds and it turns on. Hold it for 10 and it goes into pairing mode. There are corresponding lights that blink on it and all works as the directions dictated. So pull up the iPhone menu and sure enough, there it is.
After syncing it, the iPhone confirmed a connection so now all I had to do was set the head unit to the aux port as seen below. Pic not needed, but you get one anyway.
I let it charge for a bit and proceeded to get OCD/frustrated about the clutter so I reduced the cables to a minimum to keep my cool. This is a much more acceptable solution, although it will still need charging every so often.
Once that was done and my blood pressure returned to normal, I kicked on iTunes and Pandora and sure enough they stream just fine. Quality is good, I did not hear any problems. I will admit, I didn't think to check video and look for an audio delay. But, other than that it works. I also decided to try the "Voxer" app that many of us used during the reunion. It's a walkie talkie app that Devlin and I used for driving up. I continued to use it as a quick, easy alternative to texting. But I digress. Being that Voxer has 2 way audio, it would not recognize the tenergy unit. I figured it might play through the car via the Bluetooth/tenergy and then use the phone's mic for audio input, but no such luck. Of course, this is the same deal as the phone. I half expected this and it does make sense as the unit has no microphone associated with it, but oh well. Was still hoping for some functionality. One other thing I wanted to check. Would it auto-connect when returning to the car? So, I left it all on/connected when I shut off the car. I went into the gym, worked out and when getting back to the car, I started her up. The tenergy? No joy... It needed to be turned on again (a press of the button on the side of the unit). Once it was manually turned back on, it reconnected without issue. Oddly enough it runs on it's internal battery, so I figured it should stay connected, but apparently when it loses connection it automatically powers down.
So in review, my professional opinion is that while this unit does work as advertised, I wouldn't recommend it. It is very simple and economic, but not practical for car use. My first thought was to add a USB power connection, and then plug that and the audio connection in behind the dash, just leave it all I'm there. But you need to be able to press that button all the time to power it up, so that doesn't work. You could leave it mounted somewhere discreet, and have the cables tuck under the carpet or into the panels nearby, but that's not good enough for me.
Honestly I think it's much better suited for home audio/computer use where you can leave it on a desk or home theater cabinet without worrying about having to hide the cables.
Of course, if you want the cheapest option for Bluetooth music streaming, this is it, and it does work. I can see stealthy ways to install it that still allow access for the button, but for me, it just doesn't do it.
Hope this review was helpful... My thumbs hurt.
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