Mobile Fun Blog

Choosing the best Jabra Car Kit

Saturday, November 27th, 2010

When it comes to portable car kits, there are two big names, Parrot and Jabra. Both of these companies have recently released new models, the Parrot MiniKit Smart and the Jabra Cruiser 2. I’m a big fan of both brands, but for different reasons. Parrot excel in compatibility, ease of use and voice control, where as Jabra tend to have a slightly wider feature set.

For this post though, I thought I’d take a look at the range of Jabra Bluetooth Car Kits. There are currently 4 available. The entry level Jabra SP200, the mid-range Jabra SP700 and the range-topping Jabra Cruiser and Jabra Cruiser 2. Each one has its strengths and is aimed at a different market, but which one is right for you?

Features at a glance:

Everyone looks for something different in a car kit and it’s not always easy to find the information that you need. The chart below shows all the key features on the car kits as well as battery life and charger info.

Feature	Jabra SP200	Jabra SP700	Jabra Cruiser	Jabra Cruiser 2
Hands Free Calling
Music Playback (A2DP)
Voice Dialling
Voice Prompts
Multipoint
Phonebook Sync/TTS
FM Transmitter
Music Controls (AVRCP)
Dual Microphone
Standby Time	23 Days	11 Days	13 Days	13 Days
Talk Time	10 Hours	14 Hours	10 Hours	14 Hours
Charger Type	Micro USB	Micro USB	Micro USB	Micro USB

Chosing your kit

If you just want a simple, no frills kit then the SP200 is a great option. It’s easily got the best battery life of the kits and has multipoint support. This allows you to connect two phones to the kit at the same time and no matter which phone rings, the call will be routed through the SP200. Ideal if you carry a work and personal mobile.

Jabra SP200 Bluetooth Speakerphone

If you’re looking for a bit more from your car kit, or want to be able to listen to your music through it, then any of the other three kits will do the job, but there are a few subtle differences between them.

Each of the kits has a built in FM transmitter that streams audio from the car kit to the stereo in your car. The FM transmitter works with both music and calls and can be turned off, audio will then be routed through an internal speaker instead.

Music Streaming with Jabra Car Kits

If you’re new to the concept of music streaming, the way that it works is that you connect the car kit to your phone using Bluetooth. When you start playing music on your phone, it will be transmitted to the car kit automatically. If the FM transmitter is turned off, your music will play using the built in loud speaker. The speaker is only mono though, so it won’t sound as great as it could.

If you turn on the FM transmitter, the kit will announce a frequency that you will then need to tune your car stereo into. As soon as it’s tuned in you’ll be able to hear your music in full stereo through your existing car speakers.

The Cruiser has something that the SP700 and Cruiser 2 don’t – Music controls. This means that if you are listening to music from your phone, you can play/pause/track skip without having to touch your phone. This is especially handy if you’ve left your phone in your bag or pocket.

Jabra Cruiser2 Bluetooth Speakerphone

The Cruiser 2 is the latest kit, but oddly lacks the music controls found on the original Cruiser, instead it has more advanced noise cancelling microphones and software. If music isn’t important to you, but audio clarity during calls is, then the Cruiser 2 will be your best bet. The SP700 is very similar to the Cruiser 2, but lacks the dual microphones and advanced noise cancellation, but at just over half the price it’s a great buy.

A couple of things to remember when using FM transmitters though. Firstly, FM isn’t secure. If you’re making a private phone call I’d recommend switching the FM transmitter off and using the internal speaker in the car kit. If you don’t other motorists might be able to hear the person you’re talking to if they’re tuned into the same frequency. It’s highly unlikely to happen, but it might.

The other thing to remember is that you may need to retune the kit as you drive around. You may find that a clear frequency at home is in use by a local radio station when you get to work – if it is, the sound quality will deteriorate and you won’t be able to hear either one clearly. It’s not a problem, just hit the FM button on the side of the kit and select a new frequency.

Best Jabra Car Kit:

My favourite of the bunch, and the one that I’d recommend every time is the original Jabra Cruiser. It’s the only kit to have music controls built in to it. The noise cancellation and dual mics work brilliantly and it’s incredibly easy to set up and use. With the Cruiser 2 now available, it may not be around for much longer – which would be a real shame as there is no other car kit at the moment that can do what this does.

Jabra Cruiser Bluetooth Speakerphone

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A guide to the best Professionally Installed Car Kits

Monday, September 7th, 2009

If you spend a reasonable amount of time in the car use your phone for calls, listening to music or for GPS Navigation while you’re driving, then a hands free car kit is essential.  Over recent years, the number of ‘self install’ or ‘plug and play’ car kits available has increased considerably, but while they may be a great low cost, portable solution, they can’t compete with the audio quality, ease of use and reliability of a fully installed car kit that is integrated with your vehicle.

In the earlier days of mobile phones, the King of the Car Kits was the Nokia CARK-91, almost every fleet car had one fitted but then along came Bluetooth, changing Car Kits forever. You no longer needed bulky cradles or holders attached to your dashboards, external aerials and speakers became unnecessary  and car kits started to get smarter.

Modern Bluetooth car kits can do much more than just play your calls through a speaker. Car kits can now route audio from your calls through your car stereo without the need for adapters or extra cables, play music from your phone through the stereo, store your phonebook, add voice dialling capabilities, connect to MP3 players and Sat Nav units and much more. Bluetooth car kits are more flexible too, they work with any make of handset, where as older car kits with cradles generally only work with just one manufacturer – THB car kits being the only exception to this.

To help make choosing the right professionally installed car kit a bit easier for you, I’ve been through our range of car kits and listed 5 of the best below.

Nokia CK-300

The Nokia CK-300 is a mid-range Bluetooth car kit from Nokia and with the right phone can be a very powerful accessory. All you see on your dashboard is a small remote control that has a rotating dial and 4 well spaced buttons which make it extremely easy to use. The CK-300 is designed to work best with Nokia S60 handsets (N-Series and E-Series). On it’s own, it can connect to your phone to answer and end calls, stream music in stereo over bluetooth and can also be connected to any music player that has a 3.5mm headphone socket.

Nokia CK-300 Bluetooth Car Kit

To really make the most of the kit though, you can download and install the Nokia Car Menu Application which will then make your phone an integral part of the car kit. You can use the remote control on the car kit to access pretty most of the main applications on your phone, including the phone book, email inbox, music library, Nokia Maps, call logs and settings. If your phone supports it, you can then get the car kit to read out text messages and emails while you’re driving using text to speech technology.

Installation of the car kit has been improved too. It no longer needs to be wired into the ignition of your car as a built in motion sensor will turn the kit on when the car is moving.  It’s a neater installation too as there is no external speaker on the CK-300 – it connects directly to the back of your car stereo and plays all audio through your existing speakers (Non ISO car stereos may require an extra cable). Nokia handsets with a 2mm charging port can be charged from the car kit as it has a 2mm charging cable, other handsets will need a separate car charger. If you want to know more about the CK-300 I covered this kit in detail on my post a couple of weeks ago when I wrote my guide to Nokia Car Kits.

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