Guide to choosing the right Parrot Car Kit

Parrot have always made great car kits, and as they aren’t tied to any handset manufacturers, they tend to offer the best compatibility with phones. It’s not just top end car kits either, Parrot cater for every type of phone user with 3 different style of car kit available; Portable Car Kits, Installed Hands Free Car Kits & Installed Hands Free & Music Car Kits.

If you’re in the market for a new car kit, browsing the wide range of car kits and Bluetooth car kits that are available can be a little overwhelming as there are just so many to choose from. This guide will make choosing a Parrot car kit much easier and talk you through the differences between the 3 different types of car kit.

What to look for:

When choosing a car kit there are a number of factors that you should take into consideration, for example, where it’s going to be positioned, how to power it, how easy it is to use and what features do you need it to have.

Often the easiest option to install is a kit that clips onto your sun visor, but as these normally draw power from your cigarette lighter, its always good to make sure that your car has one, can be accessed easily and is not somewhere that there is a danger of the cables interfering with your ability to drive the car.

Portable units are great for low/infrequent use, but heavy phone user will probably benefit from having a fully fitted kit as they often provide better sound quality. Portable kits will have their own built in speaker and installed kits are normally routed through the speakers in your car.

You don’t want to be distracted while you’re driving either, so flashing lights and small fiddly controls should be avoided. Larger buttons and a clear display will allow you to handle your calls easily and without having to take your eyes off the road.

Phones aren’t just phones any more. A lot of us now use them as our MP3 players and would enjoy being able to listen to our music in the car through the car stereo. An increasing number of car kits can now do this, but with varying degrees of success, so check which ways you can connect your phone to the kit and make sure that your phone is compatible.

Technical Info

I’ve listed some of the main features that you’ll want to look for below, and given a brief summary as to what they actually mean. I know there’s nothing worse than staring at a list of specifications to find that it’s all abbreviations and that you have no clue what they mean!

A2DP – This means Stereo Bluetooth. Most phones now support this as standard, and if the car kit does too, it means that you can stream your music to your car kit from your phone without any wires or adapters. A2DP works regardless of your phone, so you’ll be able to carry on using the car kit for music even if you change your phone. A2DP isn’t just restricted to mobile phones either. MP3 players such as the iPod touch also support A2DP.

AVRCP – This means Audio & Video Remote Control over a Bluetooth Connection. Not all phones support this profile, so check with your manufacturer to see if your phone supports it. If it does, it means that you can press buttons on the Car Kit to change track, play/pause or adjust the volume without having to touch your phone.

Automatic Phonebook Sync – As the name suggests, with automatic sync, the names and numbers stored in your phone are automatically transferred to the car kit every time your phone is connected. This allows the Car Kit to quickly and effectively retrieve callers details for TTS and Voice Dialling.

TTS / Voice Synthesis – This means Text to Speech. The Car Kit will ‘read out’ names and phone numbers stored in your phone. It doesn’t need training and reads them out in a fairly robotic voice, but is clear and easy to understand.

User Independent Voice Recognition – Recording voice tags to your phone is a thing of the past. Car Kits with this voice recognition software match the wave print of what you say against the names stored in your phone in a similar way to how TTS works. All this is done by the car kit and not by your phone, so even if your phone doesn’t support voice dialling, you can still call someone without having to touch your phone.

Portable Hands-free Kits

The Parrot Minikit Slim & Parrot Minikit Chic are exactly the same kit in terms of technology, they’re just styled a bit differently. As the name suggests, they’re exceptionally small and thin and are designed to be used on the sun visor in your car. They have a standard Mini USB charging port, which means you can charge them in the car, at home or using your PC. Controls are simple, an answer and an end key and a rotating dial to access the car kit’s menus and phone book. Unlike most portable car kits, the Minikit Slim and Minikit Chic both support automatic phone book synchronisation.

Installed Hands-free Systems

The Parrot CK3000 Bluetooth Car Kit has been around for a number of years and as a result of it’s ease of use and unrivalled compatibility, I’d expect it to be around for a few more years too. It’s incredibly simple to use, with similar controls to those found on the Minikit. As standard all Parrot Car Kits are connected to the stereo in your car for the best possible audio quality and quicker/easier installation. Software updates for the CK3000 are available regularly from the Parrot website and are done by sending the update to the kit over Bluetooth.

The Parrot Ck3100 LCD Bluetooth Car Kit is the CK3000’s big brother. It has the same controls but with the addition of an LCD display to show you the callers name and number as well as your phonebook entries. As with the CK3000, the CK3100 LCD connects to your car stereo and doesn’t need an external speaker.

Features list – Portable & Installed Hands-free Systems:

Features	Minikit Slim	CK3000 Evolution	CK3100 LCD
Kit Type	Portable	Installed	Installed
Screen Type	No Screen	No Screen	Monochrome LCD
Full Duplex
Echo Cancellation
Noise Reduction
Microphone	1 Built In	1 External	1 External
Sound Output	2W Vibrating Panel	Car Stereo	Car Stereo
Automatic Radio/Music Mute
Max Paired Devices	5	3	5
Upgradeable Software	Via USB	Via USB	Via Bluetooth
Automatic Phonebook Sync
User Independent Voice Dialling
Voice Tag Capacity	100	150 per phone	150 per phone
Phonebook Capacity (Per Phone)	1000	150	1000
Total Phonebook Capacity	2500	450	5000
Announced Caller ID
Photo Caller ID	NA
Phonebook Text-To-Speech
Easy Call Transfer to Phone
Stereo Bluetooth (A2DP)
Volume and Music Control (AVRCP)

Installed Hands-free Music Systems

There are three options available, the MKi9000, MKi9100 and the MKi9200. The main differences between them being the display screen that comes with them.  You can play music from your phone through any of the MKi Car Kits using Bluetooth or 3.5mm line in. The MKi range will synchronise with your phone book automatically and supports phone independent voice dialling. They come with a small remote that you can attach to your dash or steering wheel to control your music playback and calls.

Music is definitely at the heart of the MKi kits. As well as being able to stream music over a Bluetooth connection, each kit has an audio cable that can be used to connect a variety of audio sources to it. You can connect your Flash Drive or MP3 player to the USB Port, an MP3 or CD/DVD player to the 3.5mm headphone socket and an iPod or iPhone to the Apple Dock Connector. Devices connected via USB or Dock connector can usually be controlled fully using the remote control.

Regular software updates that improve compatibility with newer phones and MP3 Players are available regularly and free of charge from the Parrot website.

Parrot MKi9000 – This is the entry level music kit. It doesn’t come with a screen so it’s the perfect choice for people with large touchscreen phones.

Parrot MKi9100 – This has a discreet, removable OLED Screen that shows you the callers name and number, as well as information on the song that’s currently being played.

Parrot MKi9200 – This is the top end kit, it has a 2.4″ colour screen that has an SD memory card reader built into it. It can handle cards of up to 32GB, so depending on the size of your music library, you could transfer all of your music to a memory card and have it with you where ever you go. The colour screen is also used to show album art of the current track as well as photo caller ID.

Parrot RKi8400 – This is the latest addition to Parrot’s line up. It has all the same features as the MKi9200 with the addition of an FM Radio, and instead of being a kit that connects to your stereo, it’s a replacement head unit for your car. It fits into any standard size car stereo slot and is extremely simple to install. The front of the stereo can be removed, and behind it you’ll find storage space for your phone or MP3 player as well as the same audio cables that you’ll find on the MKi Kits.

Features list – Installed Hands-free Music Systems

Features	Parrot MKi9000	Parrot MKi9100	Parrot MKi9200	Parrot RKi8400
Screen Type	No Screen	OLED Monochrome	Colour TFT	Colour TFT
Full Duplex
Echo Cancellation
Noise Reduction
Microphone	Double External	Double External	Double External	Double External
Sound Output	Car Stereo	Car Stereo	Car Stereo	Car Stereo
Automatic Radio/Music Mute
Max Paired Devices	10	10	10	10
Upgradeable Software	Via USB	Via USB	Via USB	Via USB
Automatic Phonebook Sync
User Independent Voice Dialling
Phonebook Capacity (Per Phone)	2000	2000	2000	1000
Total Phonebook Capacity	8000	8000	8000	8000
Announced Caller ID
Photo Caller ID
Phonebook Text-To-Speech
Easy Call Transfer to Phone
Stereo Bluetooth (A2DP)
Volume and Music Control (AVRCP)
Audio Sources	Parrot MKi9000	Parrot MKi9100	Parrot MKi9200	Parrot RKi8400
iPod
iPhone
USB
3.5mm Line in
Bluetooth Stereo
SD Card
FM Radio
RCA Input
Audio Output:	Line Out Stereo	Line Out Stereo	Line Out Stereo	RCA Stereo

Once you’ve decided on your new car kit there some additional accessories that are worth looking into. The Parrot Unika is a control unit that will let you use your existing steering wheel controls to control the MKi Car Kits, eliminating the need for the remote and providing a completely integrated solution. Other accessories include Elan Mute cables for speedier installation, and Brodit ProClips and Brodit phone holders to keep your phone safe and accessible while you’re in the car.

You can find more information on these accessories on the following posts:

• How to make the most of your Fitted Car Kit
• Fully Integrate your Car Kit with the Parrot Unika
• Brodit Active Holders Vs Passive Holders

If you’ve got any questions or need any further help on deciding on a car kit use the comments form below.