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SAFETY SAVERS
INTRO
A fully installed manufacturer’s hands-free
car kit for your mobile phone could easily set you back in excess of £300, but
there’s plenty of affordable alternatives. Rick Maybury rounds up a selection
of sub-£100 outfits
COPY
There are many compelling reasons why you
should be getting a hands-free car kit for your mobile phone -- not least the
growing concerns over road-safety -- but a lot of people are put off by the
cost. Prices vary, but to have a manufacturers full-spec car kit installed in a
mid-market family saloon can run to several hundred pounds, however that option
simply doesn’t exist for a lot of mobile phone owners. Dedicated car kits are
available for fewer than half of the handsets on the market. This applies
principally to new models and phones that have not achieved the necessary critical
mass, for the phone maker, or accessory companies to develop dedicated kits
That needn’t be a problem, there are plenty
of specially configured ‘universal’ car kits for such phones and the good news
is a lot of them sell for less than £100. Moreover, most of them are designed
for DIY installation, in most cases they only take a few minutes to fit. with
some of them the only tool you’ll need is a screwdriver. Even if you opt for
one of the more sophisticated kits, the level of expertise required is no more
than that needed to fit a car radio, say.
Hands-free car kits come in a variety of
flavours. Personal kits are the most basic, they’re normally variations on
walk-and-talk outfits, that bypass the phone’s internal microphone and speaker,
using an extension mike and earphone or combined headset. Most of them come
with a car cord charger, to power the phone and charge the battery. Ideally the
outfit will also include some form of cradle or holder for the phone, though in
practice few do. A holder is important; it puts the phone within easy reach of
the driver, making it easier -- hence safer -- to answer calls. Second, it
raises the phone’s antenna above the car’s waistline, improving reception and
the quality of contact, and third, it stops the phone from rattling around on
the dashboard.
Simple hands-free car kits are next in terms
of cost and complexity. Typically they comprise a module containing a charger,
amplifier and speaker, and sometimes a microphone as well. The whole unit plugs
into the cigarette lighter socket. The speakers in these things tend to be
quite small and are normally only loud enough to use in efficiently
soundproofed vehicles. On the plus side but they are very easy to fit, and like
personal kits, can be easily moved from one vehicle to another.
Lastly there’s the full car kits. These
usually have a specially designed cradle, to hold the phone that also contains
an amplifier and charger unit, sometimes the speaker, or connections for an
external speaker, microphone and antenna. Full car kits tend to work better
too, larger speakers improve the soudn quality, and an outside antenna can have
a marked effect opn performance and line quality.
If you haven’t already got a hands-free kit
then there’s no excuse anymore, they’re cheap and easy to fit, it could save
you from a brush with the law, or save your life, or someone elses!
KONDOR EASY FIT, £99
The designers have clearly put a lot of
thought into this kit. The speakers in a lot of modular kits are barely
audible, and invariably squeaky little things, and the problem is compounded
when they’re mounted some distance from the driver, on the end of a cigarette
lighter plug, or underneath the cradle.
The amplifier, speaker and charger in this
new kit from Kondor are fitted inside a separate module, connected by cable to
the phone holder. That means it can be mounted closer to the driving position,
where it can do most good. The speaker box has a socket for the external
microphone, and an LED indicator, to show it’s working. The cradle for the
Nokia phone is quite compact and has a separate cable connection for an
external antenna. Our sample was quite a snug fit, but it felt secure; the
phone can only be easily removed by pressing a couple of buttons on the side.
The outfit comes with two mounting brackets (one for the speaker module, the
other for the cradle); the instructions are rather basic but most competent
DIYers should have no trouble figuring it out.
Being able to site the speaker box makes a
world of difference, it also helps that it’s a little larger than average. It
would have been helpful if the power cable had been longer, and non curly, as
it makes it difficult to mount the speaker on the driver’s right. Speech
quality is good, it’s not going to deafen anyone but volume levels are fine.
Audio quality at the other end was reported to be okay as well, though
sensitivity was just about adequate. A little trickier to install than most
other kits otherwise highly recommended.
KONDOR EASY FIT
Street Price £99
Type full
Features hands-free car kit with cradle,
speaker unit, external microphone and mounting kit
Phone fit most popular makes and models
IC VERDICT 85%
Features 5
Performance 4
Ease of use 4
Value for money 4
ORA CHARGE AND TALK, £45
This popular ‘personal’ hands-free kit has
been recently upgraded and now includes a lightweight earpiece with boom
microphone. This replaces the clumsy in-line mike featured on earlier versions.
It has been designed for ease of installation and the outfit comes with an
air-vent mounting bracket support, for the dashboard phone holder. The phone is
powered by a modified conventional charger cord, that plugs into the car’s
cigarette lighter socket.
Fitting the vent mount takes just a few
minutes. The holder blocks off the vent, if you don’t want to loose it, and
you’re not concerned about drilling holes in the dashboard, the holder can be
screwed directly to the fascia. The accessory connector on the end of the charge
cord plugs into the base of the phone, the headset lead is terminated in a
mini-jack, which plugs into a socket on the back of the charger module.
The headset is a flexible design, that can be
worn on the right or left ear, though right-eared users might find the
connecting cable stretched to its limit in some cars. It takes a moment or two
to figure out how its worn, and to adjust the microphone, but once in position
it’s quite comfortable. Contact with the user’s ear could have been better, but
it feels secure and doesn’t fall off if you turn or nod your head briskly.
Volume levels were adequate on the Nokia
phone we tried it with. It should be okay in most family saloons, though you
may have to strain to hear the caller in noisy vehicles. Audio quality is
generally good, treble response is quite pronounced, which helps with speech. The
microphone produces a crisp, clear sound, it’s not overly sensitive, so
background noise isn’t a problem, and it’s positioned far enough from the
user’s mouth, to avoid picking up heavy breathing. Overall a well thought out
kit, that’s easy to use and realistically priced. Performance is good and it’s
simple to install. Well worth considering if you want a little privacy.
ORA CHARGE AND TALK
Street Price £45
Type personal
Features hands-free car kit with car cord,
dashboard holder and air-vent mounting kits
Phone fit most popular makes and models
IC VERDICT 87%
Features 5
Performance 4
Ease of use 5
Value for money 4
NOVA PORTABLE HANDS-FREE CAR KIT £30
One of the smallest and cheapest hands-free
kits on the market, though you will have to budget for a holder or cradle as
the kit is very basic. The charger/speaker module plugs into the car’s
cigarette lighter socket, the speaker is on the left side, presumably it was
originally designed for left-hand drive vehicles, however, it’s a simple enough
matter to turn it around. The connecting curly lead to the phone emerges from
the rear of the unit, a pair of minijack sockets are used for the external
earphone and microphone, that are included with the outfit. The microphone
comes with a generous three metres of cable, and is fitted with a spring clip,
to hold it on to the sun visor or trim.
Volume levels are just about adequate for a
well-insulated family saloon; the sound is quite tinny but speech remains
intelligible. Received audio quality was described as sounding as though it was
coming from inside a bucket, and you need to speak up as the microphone isn’t
very sensitive but it should be possible to hold a conversation without too
much difficulty in most cars.
Minus points are the absence of a power on or
charge indicator and the lack of any phone holder is a pain, but that’s offset
by the very low price, average to good performance and compact design. Worth considering if you’re on a tight budget,
and you own a very quiet car
NOVA PORTABLE HANDS-FREE CAR KIT
Street Price £30
Type simple
Features hands-free kit with modular
speaker/charger and external microphone and earphone
Phone fit most Ericsson, Motorola TAC and
Nokia models
IC VERDICT 80%
Features 3
Performance 3
Ease of use 3
Value for money 4
NOVACELL ALL-IN-ONE HANDS-FREE £70
In this outfit the charger and speaker are
built into the cradle unit. It connects to the car’s electrical system via a
curly lead, terminated in a fused cigarette lighter plug. The kit also includes
an external microphone -- on the end of a 3-metre cable -- an earphone and a
simple hinged ‘clamshell’ mounting bracket, complete with fixing bolts. It’s
one of only two kits in this roundup to have an aerial connection, a definite
plus point, especially if you’re suffering from reception problems, or expect
to use the phone in areas of poor coverage. The microphone and earphone (and
optional external speaker), plug into minijack sockets on the base of the
cradle.
Installation is fairly straightforward, which
is just as well as the instructions supplied with out test sample appeared to
be for the Motorola version. The only point to watch out for is to ensure the
sound -- which comes from a small speaker in the base of the cradle -- is not
muffled by the dashboard or fascia. A red LED indicator shows when the unit is
connected to the power.
It takes a fair amount of pressure and a bit
of a knack to seat the Nokia 2110 phone and engage the accessory connector,
though it does become easier with use. It’s probably worth budgeting for the
external speaker unless your car happens to be unusually quiet. The actual
volume from the built in speaker is just about sufficient, but the speaker is
facing the wrong way and a lot of the sound is dissipated. The microphone could
do with being just a little more sensitive, though callers reported lower than
average amounts of background noise. Well worth considering.
NOVACELL ALL-IN-ONE HANDS-FREE
Street Price
£70 (£81.75 with optional speaker)
Type full
Features modular cradle charger with speaker,
supplied with external microphone, earphone and mounting kit, external speaker
optional
Phone fit most Ericsson, Motorola TAC and
Nokia models
IC VERDICT
85%
Features 4
Performance 4
Ease of use 4
Value for money 4
PLANTRONICS CLA132-EN £80
Where’s the phone holder? Without one the
phone will have to be left on a seat and suffer poor reception, or on the top
of the dashboard, where it will be vulnerable to damage, exposed to direct
sunlight, and the gaze of phone snatchers.
The rest of the components are quality
products. The charger cord is an old friend, with a good track record. We
haven’t see the headset before, though. It’s an unusual design, the boom
microphone attaches to the earphone with a simple clip, it can be pulled off,
and turned around, making it suitable for right or left ear operation. The
hook, which fits over the top of the ear, can be bent to shape, so that it’s
comfortable to wear, even for extended periods. It stays put too, though will
pull off, if the lead is snagged and you turn your head to the right, when
parking for example.
Audio quality in the earpiece is fair, volume
was quite good on the phones we tried it with, though it might be difficult to
hear in a noisy vehicle, or a car full of kids. The microphone boom ends up to
the side of the users mouth, sensitivity is about average and it doesn’t pick
up much in the way of background noise. Performance and build quality are
generally good but for the price, which we consider to be on the high side, we
would have expected some sort of mounting hardware.
PLANTRONICS CLA132-EN
Street Price £80
Type personal
Features combined
headset with car power-cord
Phone fit most
popular Ericsson, Motorola and Nokia models
IC VERDICT 75%
Features 4
Performance 4
Ease of use 3
Value for money 2
VIVOX VXT 20, £90
Claimed to be the first ‘stereo’ hands-free
car kit on the market, the Vivox VXT-20 is certainly different. But first,
let’s clear up the use of the word stereo. It refers to the way the kit pipes
the phones speaker output through the vehicle’s car stereo. It’s a clever idea,
it means the phone can be as loud as the stereo, and the sound can be adjusted,
using the system’s tone controls, however, since the phone output is mono, the
sound you hear will not be in stereo. Incidentally, this is one of the few
car-kits on the market to enable full-duplex operation, so there should be no
break-up of the signal if both people on the line try to talk at once.
If you’re wondering how a mobile phone can
connect to a car stereo, the answer lies in a cassette adaptor widget. Inside
the shell of a tape cassette there’s a small coil, that beams the phone’s audio
output signal to the car stereo’s tape head. This arrangement is actually an
option as the main unit -- mounted on top of a flexible goose-neck -- has a
built-in speaker, unfortunately it’s so small that it’s difficult to hear in
all but the quietest cars, hence the car stereo adaptor. The
speaker/interface/charger module plugs into the car’s cigarette lighter socket,
it has three sockets, one for the cable that goes to the phone, the second is
for the adaptor cassette, and number three is for an external microphone,
(earlier versions had the microphone built into the main unit). The outfit
actually includes two microphones, so the unit can be quickly swapped between
two vehicles, without having to remove the mike. The only thing that’s missing
is any sort of cradle or holder. Considering they only cost a few pounds this
seems like something of an oversight!
The microphone is reasonably directional,
received audio quality is reported to be just a little tinny, but that’s not
necessarily a bad thing as excess treble can help to make speech more
intelligible. The sound coming from the phone can be as good (or as bad) as
your car stereo. The only downside to this arrangement is that it ties up the
tape player. Apart from the missing
phone holder this is a most effective kit, and worth thinking about if you
don’t want a permanent installation, or move your phone from car to car.
VIVOX VXT 20
Street
Price £90
Type simple
Features stereo
sound, cassette tape interface, two external microphones
Phone
fit Ericsson, Nokia,
Motorola, Siemens
IC VERDICT
80%
Features 4
Performance 4
Ease of use 3
Value for money 4
CONTACTS
GRM Ltd/Nova phone (01253) 773177
Kondor Ltd., (01202) 481133
ORA Electronics, telephone (01296) 415445,
Plantronics Ltd., Telephone (01793) 842200
Vivox/Aerial King, telephone 0171-483 2281
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Ó R. Maybury 1997 1106
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