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CAR KITS
INTRO
There’s no shortage of hands-free car kits on
the market, but how do the phone manufacturers own products compare with the
offerings from the accessory companies?
COPY
Over the past three and a half years we’ve tested
at least a couple of dozen hands-free car kits, but looking back we were a
little surprised to find that only a handful of them actually came from the original
phone manufacturers.
Part of the reason for that has been the relatively
slow response of phone companies to changes in buying patterns and the growing demand
for sensibly priced accessories. Back in the late eighties and early nineties most
mobile phones were sold though a relatively small network of specialist dealers;
the few optional hands-free car kits that were available were expensive and
usually only available for installation at approved fitting centres.
These days most mobile phones are sold in
high-street stores or mail order, often by dealers without installation
facilities; the issue of in-car operation rarely arises at the time of sale. That
means most car kits are a secondary purchase, made some time after the acquisition
of the handset; we suspect a lot of people never get around to thinking about
buying one, until they’ve had a couple of near-misses, grappling with the phone
whilst driving...
There are now hands-free kits for almost every
phone -- sometimes two or three -- ranging from basic DIY outfits to the manufacturer’s
own products. Figures are hard to come by but it’s fair to assume that DIY kits
now account for a sizeable chunk of the market. It goes without saying -- but
we’ll say it anyway -- that there’s a huge variation in price, quality and
performance.
However, for many phone users, unwilling to
take a chance or reluctant to install the equipment themselves, the natural
inclination is to have the original phone manufacturers outfit fitted to their
vehicle. Not only does this guarantee compatibility, it will not affect the
phone’s warranty; there’s also the reassurance of having it installed by a
qualified engineer, who should do a professional job, and be able to sort it
out, if it goes wrong.
Manufacturers car kits are also more likely
to make full use of a phone’s special features. In general they’re built to a
higher standard, and that’s usually reflected in the price, the question is,
are they worth the extra expense? To find out we’ve been trying out a selection
of car kits from four of the major manufacturers. The kits, from Ericsson,
Mitsubishi, Nokia and Panasonic are straightforward hands-free models without
boosters, so there’s no increase in the actual power output of the phone. Nevertheless
they all use outside antennas so they will normally perform better than an
unattached handset, inside a moving car.
Before we get started it’s worth bearing a couple
points in mind. All of the kits we’ve looked at are intended to be installed by
a trained engineer. None of them come with aerials, so you will have add that
to the cost. Prices vary, and some makes of car involve a lot more work than others,
but as a rough guide you can reckon on the fitting and aerial coming to between
£100 and £150 for a regular family saloon. You can add another £50 to £100 for more
exotic wheels. That’s not to say an averagely competent DIYer couldn’t do the
job themselves, but in most cases the instructions are not written for
beginners, and some aspects of the job -- safely connecting power cables, choosing
and aligning aerials and fitting radio mute switches -- require experience and
specialist knowledge. There’s also the dismantling and re-fitting of trim,
drilling holes and safety implications to consider. Our advice is, if you don’t
feel 100% confident about doing the job yourself, pay the experts do it for
you. This will also give you some redress if anything goes wrong, or the phone doesn’t
perform to expectations.
ERICSSON HF2600
Ericsson have several car kits, this is the
top-of-the-line outfit for 337 and 388 GSM models; a version for the recently
launched 318 will be launched shortly. The kit is superbly well built and very
complete, down to the last screw, Velcro sticky pads and cable tie. The outfit
includes a dash mount hook with detachable phone cradle, control box, speaker,
microphone, speaker and cabling. Optional car radio mute boxes are also
available; the simple mute adaptor (£18) automatically cuts sound to speakers,
the advanced model (£100), pipes audio from the phone through to the car stereo’s
front speakers.
Key features are full duplex operation -- for
smooth simultaneous two-way conversations -- and acoustic training, which
adapts the phone sound to suit conditions in the car and reduces line echo. The
kit also makes use of the phones noise reduction facility, to improve sound
quality.
Installation is fairly involved but all of
the cables -- except for the one attached to the speaker -- are a generous
length so there shouldn’t be any problems tucking wires well out of the way. It’s
an installer-friendly design with good provision for a tidy fitting. The phone
is a snug and secure fit in the cradle, removal is very simple. The hang-up
clip is quite stiff though, and a firm tug is needed to unhook it; hopefully
this should ease up with use.
Despite the speaker being quite small there’s
plenty of volume in reserve. Received speech quality is good and the microphone
is adequately sensitive. It will pick up the front passenger’s voice without
too much shouting, yet -- providing the acoustic tuning is properly carried out
-- it’s reasonably immune to road noise. Pricey but it’s a quality package and the
best car kit we’ve seen for Ericsson phones so far.
Typical price £293.73 (inc. VAT, ex. aerial and
installation)
Features Full
duplex operation, ‘custom’ sound, optional auto car radio mute modules (£18 and
£100, see text)
Ease of installation ****
Ease of use ****
Performance ****
Value for money ***
WHAT CELLPHONE VERDICT 88%
Contact: Ericsson Ltd., telephone (01483)
3033666
MITSUBISHI FA1505064
This is the cheapest car kit in this roundup
by a small margin, and designed to work with the MT-20 GSM phone. Part of the
reason for the low price is the integrated cradle/speaker, reminiscent of several
DIY car kits. In addition to the cradle there’s a small junction box, carrying
the power, microphone and optional external speaker connections. The Cradle
attaches to the car’s dashboard using a metal clip; all necessary fixings are
included. The phone is linked to the cradle by a curly lead, when it’s removed
the phone reverts to normal operation. The handset slots securely into the
cradle and can be removed just as easily; a thumbwheel on the side adjusts the volume
on the internal speaker, (mounted behind a grilled on the top of the cradle).
Were it not for the extremely brief
instructions this kit could be almost DIYable, even the microphone is held in
place by a simple spring clip, and the junction box can be attached with sticky
pads (screws are also provided). Our sample had a fault; a microswitch on the
inside of the cradle, which is supposed to register when the phone is inserted,
wasn’t working properly. This resulted in intermittent operation; this appears
to be a one-off, though we will be checking others to make sure.
The built-in loudspeaker is quite tinny and
not very loud, moreover the case tends to reverberate if the volume is set to
more than three-quarters full. An external speaker makes all the difference,
though volume levels are still fairly low, and it has a tough time making
itself heard in a noisy car. The microphone is very good, not too directional
and moderately sensitive. Transmitted speech quality was reported to be quite
good, received audio quality through the on-board speaker is a tad sibilant. Worth
considering but we recommended using it with an external speaker.
Typical price £149.99, optional speaker £30 (inc.
VAT, ex. aerial and installation)
Features all
in one cradle/speaker, car radio mute, ignition sense
Ease of installation ****
Ease of use ***
Performance **/***
(as is/with external speaker)
Value for money ***
WHAT CELLPHONE VERDICT 85%
Contact: Mitsubishi Electric, telephone
(01707) 276100
NOKIA CARK-11/0085003
There’s probably more accessory car kits for
Nokia phones than any other make, (with the possible exception of Motorola),
and some of them are very good indeed, so how does their own stack up against
the competition? This model, for the 2110, is off to a good start. Build
quality is excellent, all of the components are made to a very high standard,
and the fitting kit is unusually comprehensive.
The outfit contains a dash-mount cradle; it’s
a one-piece design with fixed contacts, so the phone can’t be picked up and
used for private conversations, without interrupting power and aerial
connections. An optional extension handset, without a display or keypad, is
available. The microphone, cradle and chunky little speaker all plug into a
control box, that can be mounted out of sight, behind the dash or under a
centre console. The socket for the holder on the control box is also marked ‘booster’,
though Nokia tell us they have no plans to market a signal booster in the UK at
present.
The control box and cradle both fix on to slide
brackets, securely screwed to the car body, which simplifies installation and
removal. The handset bracket has a wide range of adjustments, which also helps.
All of the leads are a good length so
there should be any problems routing cables out of sight.
There are no preliminaries, just slot the
phone into the holder and hands-free operation is automatically selected. Audio
from the speaker is quite punchy, it might run out of puff in a really noisy
car though. The microphone is quite directional and adequately sensitive,
though passengers might have to speak quite loudly in order to be heard. Speech
quality at both ends of the connection is good, some line echo is evident and
there’s some slight choppiness when both parties try to speak at once, but the
audio remains clear and intelligible.
It looses a couple of points for the fixed
handset, and we would have liked a little more volume but performance is good and
the price compares quite well with the better accessory kits.
Typical price £258.50 (inc. VAT, ex. aerial and installation)
Features car
radio mute
Ease of installation ****
Ease of use ****
Performance ***
Value for money ****
WHAT CELLPHONE VERDICT 82%
Contact: Nokia Mobile Phones, telephone (01480)
434343
PANASONIC
EB-HF400Z
Thus far Nokia have led the way when it comes
to exploiting the data handling capabilities of the GSM system but Panasonic
are closing the gap, and in one area at least, they’re taking the lead with the
ED-HF400Z hands-free car kit. This is the first we’ve come across with an purpose-designed
interface for a PCMCIA data card, for linking the phone to a laptop computer. This
means the phone can stay attached to the car-kit, benefiting from the unlimited
supply of power and improved reception from an external aerial. They’re
important considerations when making a GSM data connection, which can be touchy
at the best of times.
The kit is designed to work with the EB-G400
and the recently launched G350 phones. The loudspeaker is built into the control
box, which simplifies installation; the instructions are clear and easy to
follow, peppered with sensible advice for DIYers. It’s flexible too. The phone
cradle can either be bolted to the top of the box, or mounted separately; two hinged
mounting brackets are supplied, along with all necessary fixings, and unusually
abundant supplies of cable. Connections for ignition sense and car radio mute
are included, along with a mystery cable that appears to have no function at
all. The phone slots easily into the cradle, when it’s inserted hands-free mode
is automatically selected, when the phone is removed it reverts to normal operation,
for private calls.
The small loudspeaker is just about okay in a
small, quiet car but it struggles against road rumble and noisy occupants; Panasonic
have wisely included a socket for an external speaker. Received speech quality
is clear and intelligible, a tad strident maybe but the treble emphasis helps
cut through background noise. The microphone comes with a selection of mounting
clips, so there’s no excuse for not getting the location right. This needs to
be as close to the user’s head as possible, as it’s not terribly sensitive. Sound
quality at the other end of the line is clean, though a little on the quiet side,
so it helps to speak up.
Build quality and performance are both very
good; the accessory companies are going to find it hard to match the price.
However, the main selling feature for us has to be the data card connection,
which underlines Panasonic’s credentials in this increasingly important area of
mobile communications.
Typical price £186.50 (inc. VAT, ex. aerial and installation)
Features car
radio mute, ignition sense, interface PCMCIA data card, auto power off
Ease of installation *****
Ease of use ****
Performance ****
Value for money ****
WHAT CELLPHONE VERDICT 90%
Contact: Panasonic UK, telephone (01344)
862444
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Ó R. Maybury 1996 1106
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