 Parrot Bluetooth Advanced Hands-Free Car Kit. Click image to enlarge |
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Parrot Bluetooth Advanced Hands-Free Car Kit
When it comes to equipping your vehicle with a hands-free Bluetooth device, the options are numerous. There are portable speaker-phone units like these from Sony or Parrot, There are also various headsets available from Blackberry and Sony. Also available are all-in-one systems like this one recently reviewed by Paul Williams. If you are lucky enough to have a factory installed system, they are in my opinion, the best. They generally have excellent sound quality for both incoming and outgoing calls and the connect/disconnect is usually instantaneous. For those not fortunate enough to have a factory installed system, Parrot has the solution for you.
    Parrot Bluetooth Advanced Hands-Free Car Kit. Click image to enlarge |
The MKi9200 is a hands-free built-in Bluetooth and audio system. It consists of an interface which is permanently wired into your existing audio system, a set of dual microphones, a wireless audio controller and a display unit.
Professional installation is not only recommended but required as there are no installation instructions or wiring diagrams included with the unit. I had my system installed at my local Best Buy. Certified audio specialist Nathan White, with his many years of experience, made the installation look easy. Nathan took the time to show the various installation options and locations for the controller, display unit and microphones. Time and costs vary, but for my 2006 Hyundai Santa Fe it was about 90 minutes and $100 for installation. Other costs that can be incurred are special plug and play harnesses which are required on some vehicles; they start at $60.
Once the unit is installed it’s paired to your phone, which was easy and only needed to be done once. The connect/disconnect was quick, although boot up time on the unit is about 20-30 seconds. When a call is received the audio from your factory system is muted, the callers name is announced (if it’s in your contact list) as well as being displayed on the screen. Calls are answered by voice command or by pressing the send key on the controller. When placing a call you can use voice commands or scroll through your contacts using the controller which will announce the contact as well as display it on the screen. Sound quality is limited to how good your factory audio system is and in my case it was terrific. Both incoming and outgoing calls were loud and clear and callers said the sound quality of my voice was excellent. The only minor issue I had was with the voice commands; occasionally it would dial the wrong number before I had a chance to confirm.
The audio capability of this system is also amazing. You can stream music from your phone wirelessly via Bluetooth or connect your iPod, USB drive, SD card or other MP3 player using the included cables. The audio quality was surprisingly good and again is limited by the quality of your factory system.
Parrot builds a high quality unit that performs as well as most factory installed systems, which is no surprise as they build some Bluetooth systems for various automotive manufactures in North America, Europe and Asia.
The MKi9200 retails for $329.99. For more information check out Parrot.com.
