@patchandcrew wrote:
I currently have a bluetooth speaker but its a bit primative and often drops and reconnects when using for map directions on my phone so not ideal. I have an earpiece as well which is ok. What I am looking for though, is a bluetooth which connects a call and stops the radio playing for the call duration. The speaker I have does have a jack connection which I have tried with my vehicle stereo but it didn't work through that and could not connect to my phone whilst it was plugged into the radio. My stereo is not bluetootth capable itself but has the jack point if I can find something that works with it.
I have seen some cheap and cheerful units on ebay but the specs never make it clear if they can do what I am hoping for. Can anyone recommend units which can do the job if there is such a thing ?
**I have asked friends whose own vehicles setup does what I am looking for but theirs are bluetooth stereos so they could not help with makes/models etc of separate units.
@patchandcrew Hmmm that's a tough one actually.
If you're looking to integrate radio and bluetooth, you might be better off getting a new head-unit with bluetooth built in. They can be quite cheap and often aren't too difficult to wire up (I've that in brackets for a reason lol)
As for myself, I drive a Peugeot 107, I have replaced the two front dash speaker and put two new ones in the back and now intend to put a new head-unit in.
For music, I always listen through Spotify on my phone so that was no problem. If i wanted radio, I just switch from AUX to FM
I bought this beauty here https://www.amazon.co.uk/Anker-SoundSync-Bluetooth-handsfree-compatible/dp/B0177T3OEU and stuck it to the right hand side of my steering wheel, allowing me to change songs with the side buttons, start and pause music and also trigger the "google" mode so i can ask google to phone someone (though the google doesn't often work well through it, it gets the job done).
The device has 2 leads, one for the AUX jack and one for a USB. I took a 3 port cigarette lighter and ran a usb cable down behind the actual cigarette lighter socket so that it was concealled which then connects to a USB hub to which I have connected the anker sound sync. For the AUX, I took the head unit off and ran the AUX down the back of it (so from the ANKER SOUND SYNC unit over the steering unit into the back of the radio) so there's basically no wires you can see at all.
One thing to note is that if you are getting any of these USB devices that run off the cigarette lighter on your car, they might catch interference from your cars alternator causing a whirring or high pitched whine when revving the engine. To counter this, you can buy a filter (I can link if you need it) often under £10 which sorts this out but will mean you'll have to hide this behind the head unit too. Its not big, imagine two 2 AA batteries on top of eachother.
As for the functionality of the item, it works well, music quality is really good, bass acutally sounds more "rounded" and less muffled with the filter on (I love my bass) but the music might be a teeny tiny bit quiter.
Positives:
I can jump in the car, turn it on, phone connects and play my music. If I get a call, I can press a button to answer and press the same button to end. It will automatically stop your phone playing music when you get a call (or the phone does it)
Negatives:
Doesn't automatically turn on when the car is turned on
The music app, eg, spotify has to be running on the phone first in the background
I know you said you listened to the radio so this might not be useful at all, but you can always download a radio app on your phone to listen to your radio stations via your 3G/4G.
Let me know if you've any questions 🙂 ))
Have an amazing day!
