Bluetooth Car Stereos and My Mobile

A few weeks ago my car was broken into and the car stereo stolen. Pain, insurance etc. It annoyed me at the time and seemed so useless. The theives got away, although left part of the stereo behind in the dash. The radio not even worth the price of the smashed glass. In the end I have a new car stereo, like the last one not the worlds flashest. What blew me away is technological progress in two years since the last one (an Alpine) was installed.

I installed a Sony Mex-BT2500 which is meaningless to anyone. What’s cool is it is bluetooth enabled. So right out of the box it synchs with my cellphone and I get all those new BMW / Lexus type features that a 17 year old car (even Porsche’s) don’t have. The reviews are so-so on the outbound sound quality and complain that you can’t dial out from the radio. Not an issue for me. All key numbers are on speed dial and Mobivox solves the rest. As for sound… it will only ever work in a Targa when going slow round town. It’s not a quiet car.

Before I left the parking lot I’d paired the latest Nokia N81 8gb (more about that later which I’ve been testing) with the new stereo. Held down a key and voice dialed via the car stereo home to let them know what I was up to. Worked perfectly. When I got home I found just shifting the source to BT Audio meant the N81 and its wonderful music capabilities were just streaming thorough the stereo. All 8gb of music. Why did I even need the inbuilt CD player? A call came in, the music paused and I kept driving.

What really grabbed me was this less than $200 stereo had just created n times more value for my music phone. In fact it changed how I’ve been feeling about it. It’s given it a new outlet for use and an environment where “stereo” means something. Other than on Bart I seldom pack a set of stereo headphones with me. I’ve got a great set of Shure’s; so the music capabilities don’t get the use they could. So till now I revert to the iPod on planes etc. I think that just changed. I carry the phone everywhere. It now has a relationship with my car without me doing anything more. That’s a big deal.

I felt even better when I went out again in the car and the radio was still set to bluetooth audio and I pressed play on the phone and it just started playing again. I had to make another call just to prove that this was all working seamlessly. Can even hang up the phone from the stereo’s new remote control.

When I look at the price of spiffy bluetooth headsets (over $100) this was a bargain and nice upgrade for the car. It was the only model at this price at Best Buy that offered anything like this capability. It was demoed badly by Best Buy, it’s not merchandised in the phone section etc. Still being first or early in this category even if less profitable is a smart move for Sony. Every one that rides in my car will learn about it quickly. This time next year (July 2008) when the law requires handsfree more and more drivers will be attracted to this as a solution.

Oh did I say it will remember up to 8 different bluetooth phones. That means each driver of the car can get in and go…… and in the future bring the music they want with them. Make no mistake the mobile phone is going to kill the ipod and more rapidly than it is killing the camera.

Now I want to know how I upgrade my 3 year old Audi to the same capabilities. What I want is a Cassette insert that will have both an inbuild mic and enable music streaming from my phone. I already use a cassette with a cord to plug in ipods etc there. It’s the only “cheap” way I can see to get the same although slightly less integrated Bluetooth experience. No doubt available soon in a store near you for about 75 bucks.

I used to wonder why car’s didn’t just synch with the house WiFi when they arrived in the garage. It’s pointless. The data that matters is all in the phone and it is always in synch.

Sony MEX-BT2500 In-dash car stereo reviews - CNET Reviews

Bluetooth calling
As the Bluetooth functionality is the main selling point of the MEX-BT2500, ease of pairing and strength of Bluetooth connection are key factors in its performance. We had no difficulty in pairing our Nokia 5700 music phone to the system.