The 10-in-1 Silicone Case Pack for BlackBerry Bold 9900 is perfect if you want to change around your case to match your outfit or mood, or if you just can’t decide on which singular Blackberry 9900 case to buy in the first place!

Made from a high quality flexible silicone, these cases really improve the feel of your BlackBerry Bold 9900 and also increase the grip. Just because the case is thin it doesn’t mean you’re losing out on protection and the weight of the case is negligible and not at all bulky.

Designed specifically for the BlackBerry Bold 9900, all the cut outs for the ports and buttons, camera etc are made to measure. Now you just have to decide which colour to use on which occasion.

Still unsure if these are right for you? I would hate to confuse you but there are plenty more Blackberry 9900 Cases and Screen Protectors in our range along with other great Blackberry 9900 Accessories.

You'll notice that with the telescope fitted on the Nokia N95-1, it actually looks like something from a Hitman Game!

Contrary to my expectations, setting up the lens on the phone was pretty easy. In minutes of receiving the lens, I was able get it all set-up and ready to shoot.

Zooming is easily done with manipulation of the lens and focussing is just as simple – you need not worry if the image isn’t perfect, as the in-built AutoFocus of your camera phone will set it right. The lens is durable and is excellent bang for buck – I mean at 15 pounds it is quite a steal.

Check out other great mobile phone telescopes for specific phones:

• Mobile Phone Telescope for iPhone 4
• Mobile Telescope and Case for iPad 2
• Mobile Phone Telescope for Nokia N97
• Mobile Phone Telescope for Sony Ericsson K850i
• Mobile Phone Telescope for Sony Ericsson Xperia X10
• Universal Mobile Phone Telescope (the featured product in this article)

Thanks to Dilin Anand of Shaasthra.com for this guest blog post.

The a-Jays Four Heavy Bass Impact Earphones are, as the name suggests, bass-heavy in-ear headphones for iOS devices, namely the iPod, iPad and iPhone. As well as being headphones, they also include an inline volume control and microphone, similar to the earphones included with the iPhone 4.

a-Jays Four Heavy Bass Impact Hands-free for iPhone and iPod Touch

They’ve got excellent reviews from our customers, so I thought that I’d give them a go and see if they’re a worthwhile upgrade over the Apple earphones.

Let’s have a look at the listed features and specifications for the a-Jays Four, then get into the meat of this review.

Features

• Superb sound quality from 8.6mm dynamic driver
• Flat, tangle free cable
• In-line iPhone remote and mic
• L-shaped plug design for more convenient fit
• Includes replacement buds for the perfect fit

Specifications

• Driver: 8.6mm dynamic driver
• Isolation: Jays sound isolating system
• Sensitivity: 96dB SPL @ 1kHz
• Impedance: 16 Ohm @ 1kHz
• Frequency response: 20Hz – 21kHz
• Cord length: 115cm (45in)
• Weight: 14g (0.49oz)
• Plug: Silver-plated 3.5mm stereo plug

OK, let’s begin the review proper.

Box and Packaging

As you can see, the box is quite a stylish one, with a nice shot of the a-Jays on the front and some specifications on the back. You can also see on the back that the box includes four pairs of replacement silicone sleeves in various sizes, a welcome inclusion.

a-Jays Four Heavy Bass Impact

Physical Features

As you can see, the a-Jays Fours have a distinct visual appearance.

We’ll start with the plug, which you can see on the right hand side of the photo. The plug moulding is heavily reinforced and L shaped, allowing it to rotate freely in the socket without becoming twisted or frayed over time. The plug itself is like the iPhone’s,  incorporating an extra band in order to transmit the microphone pickup and the buttons.

The flat, tagliatelli shaped cable is designed to resist tangles, although the key word there is resist, not eliminate… tangled cables have been a problem since Victorian boat towing cables, and it seems unlikely the fight has been won now! Still, it’s a nice classy touch very much in keeping with the Four’s appeal.

The cable is matte black, with the words ‘a-JAYS Four’ written near the earbuds themselves. The cable is otherwise free of decoration, and is slightly longer than the iPhone 4′s earbud cable.

a-Jays Four Heavy Bass Impact

The cable is not free of addition functionality, however. The Four sports an inline remote control with three buttons in a line and an integrated microphone on the back. Of the three buttons, the two at the top and bottom are volume control buttons (no prizes for guessing which does which) that will also fast forward or rewind when pressed down. The middle button is a jack-of-all-trades; one click pauses, two clicks skips, and three clicks skips back. If you press down on the middle button, it activates voice commands.

a-Jays Four Heavy Bass Impact

The buds themselves continue the look of the product, being mostly flat and coloured matte black. These are designed to rest directly in your ear canal, with the silicone sleeves resting deeper than simple spherical earbuds like those included with the iPhone.

This allows for more aural precision, and also means you can listen to your music at a lower volume level. These type of headphones typically block out much more sound than their counterparts, again decreasing the volume required and increasing the level of aural immersion.

It’s also worth noting that typically this type are easier to keep in your ears, particularly with five sizes to choose from. However, the deep fit is not one that all people enjoy, and it’s generally worth having a go to see how you feel about it.

That is just about all of the physical features, so we’ll move on now to our testing.

Testing

To test these headphones, I tried them out for a few days in as many situations as possible. These included:

• Calls, over the phone as well as Skype
• Music, including genres such as K-Pop, DnB, Metal, Electronica, Rock, Classical and Jazz
• Games, most notably Battlefield Bad Company 2 and Beat Hazard
• Films, specifically the Watchmen and YouTube clips

I will be looking for their aural perforamance and precision in each of these areas, as well as their overall comfort and ease of use.

Results

Calls

Calling is perhaps the easiest test of a headset’s abilities, but as a complete hands free device it’s essential to ensure this base is covered. As I expected, the Fours performed admirably as a hands free headset, with excellent audio quality throughout.

I could hear my test participant with good clarity, and had no problem understanding him even in a very noisy environment. The sound-blocking properties of the Fours were quite intense, and it must be said I was a bit worried about them blocking out an oncoming car — remember to stay safe and take these headphones off when you’re crossing the road!

On the other end, my test participant reported that the integrated microphone was performing quite well, at least the equal of the Apple-made headset.

On the voice communications front, the a-Jays performed quite well, and I’d comfortably use it even for important calls.

Music

Musical performance is probably the biggest reason that you’d invest in a set of good in-ear headphones, and the a-Jays Fours don’t disappoint on this front. In each genre of music that I tried, I was continually impressed by their performance, from bass-heavy DnB and Electronica tracks to Classical and Jazz numbers that hit in the mid and high ranges.

The aural blanket that ensconces your ears when wearing these earphones is quite impressive, and certainly allows you to pick out individual notes in tracks that you hadn’t noticed before.

The bass response is good, comparable to a mid-range pair of full-size earphones, as you’d expect from the ‘Heavy Bass Impact’ part of the name, but I honestly expected even better performance given their prominence in the title. I suppose that’s the downside of using smaller drivers; you can’t really move that much air around.

Still, these were by far the best sounding in-ear headphones that I’ve tried, although I must qualify that by saying I haven’t heard a $1000 set of in-ear headphones yet, so I can’t really speak to how they compare with the very upper tiers. As compared to the iPhone 4 headphone that these will replace for many, this is definitely an upgrade.

Games

I’m a keen gamer so the performance of these headphones on the games front was quite important to me. I loaded up my favourite iPhone title, last year’s Battlefield Bad Company 2. Like the PC and console game of the same name, Bad Company 2 is a modern-day shooter that features an excellent sound engine and good sound effects, so I thought it a fitting test of the Four’s abilities.

In-game, I had no complaints with the Four, although I did notice more clearly how terrible the voice acting was. The music piped through just fine, and the weapon sounds were comparable to their console counterparts. While the sound system as whole wasn’t quite as good as it was on the PC, this is more downs to the limitations of the platform rather than any failure on the part of the headphones.

I also loaded up Beat Hazard, a game in which you dodge and destroy incoming orbital debris, enemies and powerful boss ships, all of which are controlled and trigged by the music you choose to play with. Unfortunately Beat Hazard has yet to make its way to the iPhone, so I played this one on PC.

It was a great experience whilst wearing the a-Jays Fours, and made for a much more immersive and gratifying experience than playing on speakers. I finished the game convinced of two things — the Fours were impressive as anything, and Beat Hazard should really be made for iPad.

Films

A final consideration for the a-Jays are their performance in films. I’m a fan of action-type titles, so I loaded up The Watchmen and watched that on my iPhone. Usually I find that watching films on the iPhone is a bit tiresome (mostly due to the small screen), but the extra audio definition really helped. Where for most reviews I stop somewhere around the ten minute mark, this one I made it all the way through, although I ended staying up far later than I’d hoped!

All in all, the good mid to low-range performance of the headset translated into a very good film-going experience; as I’ve mentioned before the sound blockage was also a contributing factor. I also happened to watch a few YouTube clips with the headphones and found they performed well too, although I was coming to expect that by now.

Comfort

As with most in-ear headphones, your comfort levels will vary with how well the buds fit inside your ears. Thanks to the five pairs of silicone sleeves that are provided in varying sizes, this shouldn’t be a problem. I found them quite comfortable, although again it’s worth mentioning that having them lodged so deeply in your ears can be an odd feeling at first, and one that some people won’t necessarily enjoy.

Ease of Use

As this headset is entirely plug and play, the only potential ease of use issue concerns the buttons on the inline remote. While perhaps too much is pinned on the center button, with four different actions possible depending on the number and length of presses, overall the scheme is quite easy to use.

Cost

The cost of the a-Jays Four is £50, so these are in the higher ranges of a reasonable set of in-ear headphones (I’m not including custom fitted £1000 in ear headphones in that classification).

I feel this price is pretty reasonable, as the level of audio quality delivered for the price is substantial. It’s worth noting that the a-Jays range also includes a-Jays One, a-Jays Two, and a-Jays Three, which are each available for a lower price, at £20, £30 and £40, respectively. I haven’t had as much hands on time with these, but they seem to deliver comparable fractions of sound quality, with the £20 a-Jays One being the best value.

Conclusion

As compared to the iPhone 4 headphones these will be replacing for many, the a-Jays Fours are definitely a worthwhile step up. If you’re looking to combine the convenience of in-ear headphones with the aural quality of a good headset, then the a-Jays Fours are an excellent option. They are an improvement upon the in-ear headphones included with the iPhone 4 in every way, and I think that’s worth the price.

If you’re looking for a similarly high quality audio without the inline remote and microphone, then the a-Jays Three are what you’re looking for. For budget buyers, the a-Jays Ones represent the best value.

I liked

• Excellent aural quality
• Polished, professional look
• Solid in-line remote and mic

Cons

• Heavy Bass Impact is a bit misleading
• Relatively expensive for in-ear headphones

Signoff

I hope you found this review useful, as always feel free to contact me or get more information on these products via the links below. Thanks!

Product Links

• a-Jays One Heavy Bass Impact
• a-Jays Two Heavy Bass Impact
• a-Jays Three Heavy Bass Impact
• a-Jays Four Heavy Bass Impact

 

Contact Us

• Reach us on our Facebook page at Love Your Mobile
• Talk to us on the Mobile Fun Twitter
• Reach me personally on Google Plus

Guess Who?

The Galaxy S2 or Samsung  Galaxy i9100 not only solves these problems above, but adds a whole new arsenal of features.  This ultra-slim phone comes with an upgraded Super AMOLED Plus Capacitive Touch Screen and is based on Samsungs Exynos chipset. Powered by a 1.2GHz dual core RISC processor with a wholesome 1 GB of RAM, this handset can churn out 1080p HD video at 30fps.  It then allows you to view this video on a TV and get full surround sound through Stereo Bluetooth v3.  Add all this to the 2MP secondary camera, NFC support, GPU acceleration, 16/32 GB internal storage, and full flash support and this handset really blows its competitors out the water.  Even more impressive Samsung managed to fit all this into a 8.5mm thick device that tips the scales at just 116gms. Amazing!

SIM Free Samsung Galaxy S2

Display

The Super AMOLED Plus display is just that – super! Comparing with the Galaxy S the new organic LED display is larger by 15%, has better contrast, has more accurate colours, and increased sharpness. Saturation can be customised by the user as well: Samsung has offered 3 presets for this. In short, this is by far the best display in the smartphone market rivalled only by the retina display of the iPhone 4. Considering this, it would be wise to have a good Samsung Galaxy S2 screen protector to protect the screen from scratches and dust.

Keys and Buttons

There are 3 main keys and buttons: a capacitive menu key, a capacitive back key and a conventional button for the home key. Upon a long press the Menu key handles Google search, while the Home key shows the task switcher: voice commands are activated by clicking the home key twice. The left edge of the handset has the rocker for the volume control which doubles as the camera zoom. Sadly there is no dedicated camera shutter button.

TouchWiz 4.0 UI

The Galaxy droids cool UI just got even better thanks to TouchWiz 4.0. Unlocking the phone is now possible by swiping through to any direction. There a lot of cosmetic changes to the handset including new live wallpapers, an updated notification area and a different design for the widgets. Gesture commands are also built in with TouchWiz 4.0 – like flipping the handset over to silence a call.

Cool Voice Commands

The Galaxy S2 has voice commands but this isn’t the regular Google crop. Instead, they’ve used a 3rd party app for the feature which has become more popular than the Google service itself.

Gallery and file browser

The Galaxy S2 uses the standard Android gallery that comes built in with the OS.  The gallery automatically searches for all photos and videos on your phone and displays them. It can also be set to sync with Picasa and comes with a built-in Image editor and a Video editor to do some basic touch-ups and mixing. The video player which comes pre-installed is the standard Touchwiz video player featuring support for an impressive variety of codecs. In fact the Galaxy S2 has one of the richest video support systems, coming just second to the Nokia N900.

Imaging

The Samsung Galaxy S2 sports an 8MP auto-focus camera. It comes with an LED flash also but lacks a physical shutter button. The camera application contains an array of features from digital image stabilisation, smile detection, auto focus, scene modes, special effects and geotagging to manual controls for ISO and the metering mode. This means that when you buy a Samsung Galaxy S2 case make sure it has a cut-out for the camera.

Video

Video recording is awesome with the device easily handling full HD recording: what’s more it can capture in both 720p and 1080p. It also comes with continuous auto-focus giving you sharper and more impressive videos.

The Samsung i9100 comes pre-loaded with a great web browser – but doing your own test run is advised to suit your style of browsing. Certain other features that you ought to check out are the built-in Polaris Office package, and the memo/calendar app. The default mapping app is Google Maps as expected but if you need any other apps, just browse around the Android market.

Cons

Even though the Samsung Galaxy S2 is an impressive handset, it does have a few minor cons including: a fully Plastic body, no dedicated camera key and the microSD not being hot swappable.

The problem with these ultra-slim touch screen phones is that they’re extremely fragile. The thin body and even thinner bezel can do a bad job at absorbing shocks if the handset is dropped. However, you can protect from this with some quality Samsung i9100 accessories.

Here’s a video review of the unlocked Samsung Galaxy S2 by Engadget.

Thanks to Dilin Anand of Symbian Oasis for this Guest Blog Post

The first stall that drew our attention at was for PODSTA UK, who had a bright array of rather funky-looking universal mobile phone desk stands compatible with most devices!  Here’s a pic we took:

The PODSTA launched last week in a range of colours, and is compatible with most smartphones and devices of a similar size – with a larger PODSTA iPad/ iPad 2 stand apparently on its way soon.

What we liked

• Small and portable, so easy to slip into a handbag, pocket or briefcase
• Soft and squeezable, which makes holding them quite a tactile and comforting experience – and there’s no danger of the PODSTA breaking if you drop it, and its child-friendly
• Compatible with most smartphones
• Works in portrait and landscape modes
• The texture of the holder has quite a bit of grip, which means you can use it on the train or as a car holder
• Low cost and simple

Here’s their video, for more info:

Our Blogger Liaison Executive Laura has been road-testing it this week and adores it (we suspect mostly because it’s pink!)

Here’s what she had to say:

“So far i’ve found the Podsta to be an excellent little phone holder.  I can just drop it in my bag to take it anywhere and the fact that I can sit it upright on my desk makes Facetime and reading messages easier.”

So it sounds like she’s a convert!  We’re keen to get your views on new products – should we stock these? Would you buy one?  Feel free to drop me a line and let me know!

In the meantime, we have tons of iPhone accessories and iPad 2 accessories available on the main site.

I firstly went looking for a Xoom Case, so after browsing the Motorola Xoom Cases category, the Veggie Leather Style Pull-Tab Motorola XOOM Case from Tuff-Luv caught my eye.

Suitable For Vegetarians

Apart from the excellent protection that this case will give you, what stands out for me is that the case is made for the vegetarian market from leather style material as an alternative to the more standard cases manufactured from Napa leather. The lifetime warranty on this product proves that the artificial material does not mean that standards slip when protecting your Motorola Xoom.

Whilst we’re on the subject of protection, and still filtering through the great range of Motorola Xoom Accessories on Gearzap, I thought that I might have a look at the Xoom Screen Protector range. With products from brands such as InvisibleSHIELD to choose from, I actually looked at the Motorola XOOM MFX Screen Protector.

Motorola XOOM MFX Screen Protector

With long lasting protection against dust, this highly transparent film provides added screen contrast and brilliant colours. The super thin writing surface takes nothing away from the feel of using the Xoom and the screen protector can be easily removed, cleaned and reinstalled in seconds.

Here are my opinions… I hope they help:

Best iPad Book Case -

Tuff-Luv Napa Leather Folio for Apple iPad – Black

Tuff-Luv Napa Leather Folio for Apple iPad - Black

A good looking, sturdy case and amazing value for such a high quality napa leather. The detailed look of the press-studs on the front of the case doubles as the support for the stand, which I must say is very solid. This also offers several viewing angles because any one of the five press-studs can be used. The only problem I envisage with this case is that if it gets dropped directly on to either of the two exposed corners very little protection will be offered, but I guess the chance of it falling exactly on to a corner is slim.

Main User: Trendy Commuter

Best iPad Case For Business -

Piel Frama iPad Case – Black

Piel Frama iPad Case - Black

As soon as I got this out of the box I could smell the quality, this is no exaggeration.  The feel of the leather is top notch and there is also not a stitch on this handmade case that is even slightly out. All sides are covered from damage and the padding is just right, not giving the case too much bulk. I was very please to see a leather chamois on top of the case when I opened the premium packaging, adding a real ‘first-class’ feel to this case. The price may seem high to some people, but it is well worth every penny if you are after quality. The only down side is that stand is a little flimsy and will fall over if the user is heavy handed.

Main User: High flying Managing Director

Toughest iPad Case –

OtterBox iPad Defender Case

OtterBox iPad Defender Case

The Terminator! I had great fun putting this case together, it reminded me of a Transformers film. Once I had completed this task it was obvious that nothing was going to break or penetrate this case. Its rubber anti-shock exterior encases a solid hardened plastic shell. Every part of your iPad is protected including buttons and charging ports. All ports are still easily accessible by removing the silicone plugs. The stand is also very strong and robust, this also doubles as extra protection for the screen as it clips around the front while in transit, a screen protector is also included to prevent scratches while in use. There is a quirky little window on the reverse which has been cut to show the Apple logo and covered with a transparent membrane. The only flaw to this case is that it does add bulk, which is a small price to pay for maximum protection.

Main User: Quantity surveyor/Foreman

Best iPad Silicone Case –

Macally mSuit silicone protective case for ipad – Black

Macally mSuit silicone protective case for ipad - Black

Definitely the best silicone case I have found. I doesn’t feel cheap and it seems highly unlikely to rip, as I have seen others do in the past. It obviously add very little weight to the device which is great, it also has just enough profile to keep the screen from up from any surface should it be laid screen down. The back has a ribbed surface which offers a really high level of grip. There is also no need to remove the case or pull out any plugs for charging or inserting headphones as all holes (even speakers) are pre cut, however should you wish to remove the case it will only take a couple of seconds. I don’t think this case will help for a serious drop on to concrete for instance, but it certainly will help against minor bumps or falls.

Main User: Casual home/office user

Best Travel Case For iPad –

Cool Bananas BulletProof Hardcover iPad Case – Black

Cool Bananas BulletProof Hardcover iPad Case - Black

Another well made protective carry case from Cool Bananas.  This offers ultimate protection while in transit. Underneath the ballistic nylon outer-layer lies the incredible protection material of Ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA), which provides an anti crush barrier between the outside world and your  iPad. On the inside of the case is a layer of shock absorbing memory foam which will prevent any shocks from bumps or drops. Even the zip seems well made and thought out as the inner lining also protects the iPad from the zip itself. It is a shame that the iPad has to be removed from the case for proper use, so it really can only be used for transport, but if that is what you need it for this case is great! Quick Tip: I found that placing the iPad in the case face down made it lass likely to fall out on opening if not on a flat surface.

Main User: Field Sales Agent

Whilst walking around MWC I saw some unusual HTC cases and accessories and was not 100% sure what phone they were for, but the odd shaped indent leaves me with no doubt now it is definitely for the HTC Incredible S.

There were a couple of HTC Incredible S cases what really drew me to a new case in particular is that it had a style never seen with an official HTC case before, we are used to TPU and leather ones, but this was something quite different.  It had a funky design, and seemed to be made up of two distinct materials TPU round the sides (we assume for easy phone entering and exiting of the case) and a tough polycarbonate back for protection.

Having been a long time HTC user, but generally just an all round cool guy – I hope to see more HTC cases like this.  Yes sure the leather and TPU cases are adequate, but I want to add some funk to my phone – so roll on these call cases, so hopefully this HTC Incredible S Case is the start of something new and different from HTC.

Even the standard TPU cases seem to be getting an upgrade, up to now they have been the same colour (a clear with a black tint), we saw them in different colours! (Again they look like they are for the Incredible S)

The other thing I spotted was an official desktop, and looking at where the charging port is and the size I would guess this too is for the Incredible S.  It has been a while since we’ve seen an official dock (remember the CR G300?), but this is smaller and is definitely less in your face.  In fact it looks a bit like the official Galaxy S deskstand.  As a fan of deskstands I again see this as really positive.

Keep an eye out on our HTC Incredible S Accessories page – we’ll be adding lots more as they are released and confirmed.

I'm more grateful to this little device than ever.

It has always been good for taking and receiving calls, but this week it came into it’s own. I have now had two different hire cars, and had to use my wife’s car once as well. The handsfree kit is great as I can move from car to car, and just take it with me. It clips onto the visor of whichever car I’m in and away we go. Pairing with my phone is simple and works straight away, and even when my wife was in the car with me, due to the multipoint technology her phone paired to it too, at the same time.

I think it was a bargain when I first bought it, and I love it all the more now. I am a big supporter of the law regarding driving whilst talking on the phone, and owning this car kit has allowed me to stay legal whilst changing from car to car, thank you Clip and Talk.

See what 621 of our customers think by reading the Clip and Talk  reviews and why they awarded it 4.5/5 stars

If you’re looking to buy a car kit, then a Parrot Car Kit is the way to go. Over the last few years, Parrot have grown from a relatively unheard of company to one that produces excellent car kits that even the big names in mobiles, such as Nokia, can’t compete with.

Parrot Car Kits come in two options, fitted and portable. Fitted car kits are hard wired into your car (normally through the stereo) and portable car kits clip on to your sun visor and rely on an internal battery for power.

This post will run through each of the current Parrot Car Kits and highlight some of their Pro’s and Con’s to help you decide on which Parrot Car Kit you should go for.

Portable Parrot Car Kits

Parrot MINIKIT SLIM Bluetooth Car Kit

If you don’t want to go to the expense of having a fully fitted kit, then the Parrot MiniKit slim is a great choice – regardless of whether you have a smart phone or a standard feature phone.  The Parrot MiniKit Slim has all the basic features of the fitted kits, but without support for streaming music. It will automatically synchronise with your phone book, allowing you to dial a contact just by saying their name. You don’t have to mess around recording voice tags as the Text to Speech software will automatically match your voice print to a name in your phone book.

The kit is designed to be mounted on your sun visor and controls are kept to a minimum – two dedicated buttons to answer/end calls and a dial to increase the volume and navigate the system menus.

Battery life on the MiniKit Slim is excellent, offering up to 20 days of standby time and 15 hours of talk time.

Parrot MINIKIT SLIM Bluetooth Car Kit

Parrot MINIKIT Smart

The MiniKit Smart is the latest plug and play Parrot Car Kit. It’s been designed purely for larger smartphones, so standard sized handsets won’t really work all that well with it. Instead of clipping to your sunvisor, the MiniKit slim uses a suction pad to fix to your windscreen and combines a holder and handsfree kit. It’s receiving mixed reviews as it’s designed to hold your phone in landscape mode – perfect for sat nav, but not all smart phones can be used in landscape mode for calling and accessing the phonebook (mainly iPhones).

Parrot MINIKIT Smart

Feature wise it has everything that the MiniKit Slim has, as well as support for music streaming – although the mono speaker won’t really do your songs justice. Controls are just as simple as they are on the MiniKit Slim, but if you’re using it in portrait mode they can be a bit fiddly. The MiniKit Smart uses advanced noise reduction and a reasonably powerful (for a car kit) 2w speaker to make sure instructions are heard, but if I’m being totally honest, for the price, you’d be better off either paying the extra £10 for the Parrot MKi9000 or choosing the Jabra Cruiser and a dedicated Car Holder.

Installed Parrot Car Kits

Parrot CK3100 Advanced Bluetooth Car Kit

The Parrot CK3100 has been around for a long time now, but it’s still a firm favourite, particularly among fleet managers. In terms of features it’s pretty simple – handsfree calling with voice dial and phone book synchronisation. It has a clear LCD display that shows you the name/number of callers and allows you to scroll through your address book without having to touch your phone. Installation is pretty straight forward as the CK3100 connects using the standard ISO connections on the back of your car radio – although not all cars use ISO, so make sure you check before you buy as you may well need some additional cables.

As with all of the Parrot Car Kits, the CK3100 doesn’t use an external speaker in the passenger footwell, instead, all audio is routed through your car stereo speakers. This gives you much more control over volume levels and callers are much clearer and easier to understand.

Parrot CK3100 Advanced Bluetooth Car Kit

Parrot MKi9000 Bluetooth Car Kit

The MKi range of car kits are all based around the same basic model – the MKi9000, the only difference is the screen that ships with the kit. In the case of the MKi9000 there is no screen, but that doesn’t hamper it’s performance, especially if you’re using it with a large screen smartphone. In fact, the MKi9000 is our top selling Parrot Car Kit.

The main difference between the MKi range of kits and the CK3100 are their music capabilities. In addition to being able to handle calls, the MKi kits do a brilliant job of streaming music from your phone, MP3 player or USB flash drive through your existing Car Stereo. Controlling the Car Kit is done through a small remote that can either stick to your dashboard or attach to your steering wheel.

Each MKi kit has a connectivity cable that has a 3.5mm line in, USB port and Apple Dock connector. This allows you to connect pretty much any audio source to the kit and enjoy the sound through your car stereo. If you connect an iPod or iPhone using the Dock connector you can also use the remote to control your music playback. Every Parrot Car Kit is easily updated. Frequent software updates are available free of charge from the Parrot website and will often improve compatibility/usability.

The Parrot MKi9000 has phonebook synchronisation and advanced speech recognition built in. This allows the MKi9000 to automatically retrieve all your contacts from your phone and transfer them to it’s own internal memory. Pressing the Answer key on the remote will activate the voice dialling and you just say the name of who you want to call. No messing around recording voice tags, just say thej name and it’ll dial the number.

Parrot MKi9000 Bluetooth Car Kit

If you do have an iPhone 3GS or iPhone 4, you have two options when it comes to voice dialling. You can either use the voice features of the MKi9000, or you can use the Voice Control features built into the iPhone by disabling phonebook synchronisation in the Bluetooth settings on your iPhone. I’ve chosen to use the Voice Control features on the phone purely because it allows voice control of the iPod app as well as calling. Instead of fiddling with the remote, I can just hit the answer button and say “play” and it will start playing music back – either over a bluetooth connection or through the Dock Connector. Voice Control on iPhone even allows you to tell the phone to play a particular album, playlist or artist, so if you have an iPhone and decide on a Parrot MKi Car Kit, I’d strongly recommend turning off phonebook sync.

Parrot MKi9100 Bluetooth Car Kit

There are very few differences between the MKi9000 and the MKi9100, other than the display screen. If you use a standard feature phone like the Nokia 6700 or choose not to have a car holder then this will be a much better choice. The high contrast LCD screen will show you the name and number of the caller, allows you to see the contacts in your phone book as well as see the settings for the car kit – you can still access all these on the MKi9000, but with out the screen all your options are read out to you.

Parrot MKi9100 Bluetooth Car Kit

If the idea of a screen sitting on your dashboard makes you nervous, don’t worry, it’s detachable and can be taken with you when you leave the car. In terms of features and usability, it’s very similar to the CK3100, but with music support. The MKi9100 is still worth choosing even if you don’t plan on using it for music. The £25 difference in price is minimal when you take into account the extra features that you get – easy software updates, removable screen and better phonebook sync & voice dialling.

Parrot MKi9200 Bluetooth Car Kit

The MKi9200 is significantly different to the MKi9100 and MKi9000. Most obvious is of course the screen. It comes with a 2.4 inch colour screen that will not only show names and numbers of callers, but also their photo and during music playback, album art is displayed (if present on your phone). The screen also has an SD card reader built into it. This means that instead of storing your music on your phone or USB stick, you can put all your music on an SD card (max 32GB) and have it in the car permanently.

Parrot MKi9200 Bluetooth Car Kit

Controlling the car kit is done using the same remote that comes with the other two kits, but with the bigger display, navigating the menu’s is a little bit quicker and easier. If you have use your smart phone or an iPod as your music source in the car then you may not need the extra features that you get with the MKi9200 as the MKi9000 will be more than adequate.

Parrot Unika Steering Wheel Interface for MKi Car Kits

The Unika isn’t a car kit, but a rather clever accessory that works with the MKi range of car kits to fully integrate it into your car. It allows your existing steering wheel stereo controls to operate the car kit and completely eliminates the need for the remote control. Installation is a little fiddlier, so we’d recommend having it fitted by a professional installer. You don’t need to have dedicated telephone controls on your steering wheel, as the Unika will use a combination of key presses to activate the kit. In a Ford Focus for example, pressing ‘Rewind’ then ‘Forward’ will start music playback, pressing the SRC button will answer calls and confirm menu choices and a double press of the SRC button will activate voice dialling.

To check compatibility with your car, head over to the Parrot Unika Support Pages and enter details of your Car and Parrot Car Kit.

Parrot Unika Steering Wheel Interface

Parrot Head Units

Head Unit Car Kits haven’t ever proven to be all that popular, even though the idea behind them makes perfect sense. Installation is so much easier than fitting a regular kit, not only because of the reduced wiring, but the fact that you don’t have to find space behind your dashboard to hide the control box. Parrot currently only have the RKi8400 available, and the newly announced Parrot Asteroid should be available very soon.

Parrot RKi8400 Bluetooth Car Kit

It was launched at the same time as the MKi range of kits, but the RKi8400 isn’t proving as popular as Parrot would have hoped – although that’s probably due to most cars now having a non standard sized radio in them, rather than poor performance. The RKi8400 is essentially the same as the Parrot MKi9200, as it has the same 2.4inch colour screen, multiple ways to connect your iPod, MP3 player or USB stick and an SD Card Reader. The front of the stereo pops off, not only for security reasons, but also to expose a storage area where you can leave your iPod or MP3 player connected.

Parrot RKi8400 Bluetooth Car Kit

As with the MKi Kits the RKi8400 will synchronise with your phone to give you access to your phone book and voice dialling, as well as having a full keypad on the head unit itself. The replacement for the RKI8400 has just been announced, but no launch date has been given yet. The basic idea is the same, but the Parrot Asteroid will be running the Android operating system in an attempt to make media management even easier. We’ll post more details on the Asteroid as we get them.

If you’ve got any questions about any of the kits mentioned here, feel free to ask them in the comments below. For full details on any of them, head over to the Parrot Car Kits page on the Mobile Fun site.