iPhone Car Kit

Having owned the iPhone for a few months now, I thought it was about time that I got round to replacing my old Sony Ericsson HBH700 car kit, with one that works with the iPhone. not an easy task as I’m sure most iPhone users will agree.

Using the iPhone with a car kit is slightly trickier than other mobile phones, mainly due to its extremely limited Bluetooth Profiles. As the iPhone is only capable of streaming mono audio from voice calls over Bluetooth, advanced car kits that support voice dialling, music playback and phone book synchronisation would all be wasted with the iPhone 3G.

I’ve spent hours looking at the various Car Kit options available and currently, the best solution available is the MKi series from Parrot. The Mki series are currently the only car kits that are “Made for iPod” and “Works with iPhone” licensed.

There are 3 different kits available – the starter kit is the MKi9000, which as well as being a Bluetooth Car Kit, features a cable that connects to the dock connection at the base of your iPhone and allows you to play your music back through your car stereo. It comes with a small remote which can either be stuck to your dashboard, or attached to your steering wheel. The remote lets you answer and end calls and control your music playback and volume – all with out touching your iPhone.

The MKi9100 has all the same features but adds a small detachable 2 line OLED screen that shows caller ID and song information. Finally, the MKi9200 has a 2.4″ colour screen, with an SD memory card slot that you can use for playing back music stored on an SD memory card (up to 32GB).

I opted for the MKi9000 as the screen on the iPhone is more than adequate for showing information on songs playing and caller ID. I’ve fitted an iPhone 3G Brodit holder in my car. This allows me to leave the dock connector connected to it permanently – all I have to do now is simply drop my iPhone 3G into the cradle when I get into the car, the Bluetooth connects as soon as I start the ignition and as the iPhone is connected using the dock connector, my iPhone gets charged while I’m driving. Answering calls is as easy as it gets with the remote – easier in fact than trying to press “answer” on the iPhone as you’re bouncing through pot holes! There’s no need to unlock the handset to change the track you’re listening to either, a simple press of the remote and the song changes.

If you don’t want to go down the route of having a fully fitted car kit installed, but still want a car kit that will work with the iPhone 3G, there are a few options to consider. If you want to be able to listen to your music through your stereo as well as receive calls, then I’d look at the Venturi Mini.

The Venturi Mini plugs straight in to your cigarette lighter. It has a 3.5mm line in socket, so you can connect your iPhone to it using a 3.5 to 3.5mm audio cable and it will stream your music and calls through your car stereo using its in built FM transmitter. The Venturi Mini kit has a 2 line display that shows the frequency that you need to tune your stereo in to. The Venturi can also charge the iPhone, you just need to connect the two together using a USB cable. To save time and hassle when you get in the car, I’d opt for the Brodit holder again, this way you can leave the charger permanently hooked up, you’d just need to plug in the audio cable.

If you don’t need or want to play your music though your car kit, and you only want a simple handsfree car kit, then you shouldn’t encounter any problems using any of the other kits listed below, but its worth remembering that you will only be able to answer and end calls using these car kits .

Fully Fitted – Voice Only:

Nokia CK-7: A simple no frills kit from Nokia, audio quality is great as you’d expect from Nokia, and there are no issues pairing up or connecting. Call audio will come through an external speaker as standard, but with the right cables, can be upgraded to go through your car stereo.

Fully Fitted – Voice Only:

Nokia CK-100: The CK-100 is essentially the replacement for the CK-7. The main difference is that the CK-100 is an ISO powered car kit that can be powered using your car stereo, and calls will be played through your car stereo speakers without any extra cables. (As long as your car stereo has an ISO connection)

Fully Fitted – Voice Only:

Parrot CK3000: The CK3000 is the predecessor to the MKi series. It also uses ISO connections, so calls are routed through your car stereo. There are no issues with compatibility, but as an external speaker is not included with the kit, you’ll need to make sure your stereo has ISO connections – if it doesn’t you’ll need to get an ISO converter.

Simple Car Kit – Voice Only:

Clip & Talk: Small, portable and easy to use. Clips on to your sun visor and has its own internal battery so you can still use your cigarette lighter to charge your phone if needed. Call quality is good, and sound is routed through the built in speaker.

Simple Car Kit – Voice Only:

Motorola T505: The Motorola T505 does have a few features that you won’t be able to use with the iPhone 3G, but it does have a built in FM transmitter that will allow the audio from your calls to be routed through your car stereo. It does support streaming music from Bluetooth devices, but this won’t work with the iPhone 3G. Audio quality is excellent.

The kits listed above aren’t the only ones that will work with the iPhone, but are the ones that will have the better compatibility. As Bluetooth is a universal technology, pretty much any Bluetooth handsfree device will work with the iPhone, but the limitations on the phone itself mean that only the very basic features will work – Mono Audio and answering/ending/rejecting calls. Lets all hope that Apple decide to enable a few more Bluetooth Profiles in one of their next software updates for the iPhone!

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