Tip: The TX550 announces when you have a low battery and allows you to manually check the battery status when powered on: You can initiate a battery check when powered on by pressing both volume buttons while not on a call. Download Ebook Motorola Car Bluetooth Manual average of a 8.3. This manual is available in the following languages: Engels, Frans, Spaans. User manual Motorola Sonic Rider (94 pages) If you would like to connect your device to a Car Kit via Bluetooth follow the steps listed below. Turn on your device Page 8/24. With the MOTOROLA TX550 Bluetooth® Car Speakerphone, you can make and receive calls and play music from your phone while safely keeping your hands on the steering wheel. Simultaneously connect with two phones. † Hear a caller’s number and use your voice to answer or ignore calls. † Let voice prompts guide you in making connections. Give your wheel a hand with the Motorola Sonic Rider Bluetooth in-car speakerphone. A simple solution for driving responsibly, Sonic Rider lets you give voice commands to make and take calls and send text messages hands-free. Hear more of your call and less of the road through the powerful 2-watt speaker with echo and noise reduction. Motorola Sonic Rider Bluetooth In-Car Speakerphone, enjoy hands free calls and music in your vehicle with exceptional echo and noise reduction to block road sounds. This speakerphone tells you when you are connected, battery level, and if mute is on with audible voice prompts. Take calls from up to two phone lines at the same time, so more. Motorola Sonic Rider World class echo and noise reduction with one microphone, and powerful 2-watt speaker ensure you'll hear and be heard over road noise. More than 2x better talk time, than the leading competitor (45hours). This speakerphone tells you when you are connected, battery level, and if mute is on with audible voice prompts.

You might own an older car with an outdated stereo system and head unit to boot, and if your vehicle was manufactured before 2012, chances are good that an auxiliary input is all you have to go by when connecting your phone. It was only very recently that bottom-trim vehicles started introducing Bluetooth as an inbuilt feature of the head unit. Vehicles that lack this feature will, of course, have limited means of supporting wireless music or call playback, and this is where you’ll enlist the assistance of a Bluetooth in-car speakerphone.

These are nifty little devices that can usually be clipped onto your visor or dashboard, and as the name suggests, you’re supposed to connect your handset to it through Bluetooth. The speakerphone can then play the result straight from itself, or you can optionally use an attached FM transmitter to export the signal from the speakerphone to radio bandwidths that the car stereo picks up and plays back on the car speakers themselves. The latter option, while slightly more complicated, is attractive because it spares battery in the speakerphone while offering a better audio experience since the DAC in the head unit can perform cleaner conversions while the car speakers are likely much nicer than the tiny tin-can blaster in the speakerphone.

Fortunately, smartphones have pushed battery technology along rather nicely, and these little devices are much less demanding on the juicer overall, which brings impressive longevity to the table for the long haul. Even still, you can always plug them into a USB or 12V port in your car to keep them charged if need be.

When weighing out Bluetooth speakerphones, there aren’t many important features to look out for, but you can expect the following options to vary by product:

• The inclusion of an onboard FM transmitter
• Support for auxiliary or USB connections
• Multi-speaker setups
• Onboard AI that responds to command keywords, announces caller ID and more
• Ability to connect to multiple Bluetooth devices, including head units

Hey, let’s not keep you on the introduction all day. Read on for in-depth comparisons and a breakdown of the best Bluetooth in-car speakerphone models we found.

Best Bluetooth In-Car Speakerphone Comparison Table

Best Bluetooth In-Car Speakerphone Reviews

Jabra Freeway — Solid FM-Based Speakerphone

Manufacturer and Warranty

If you’ve never heard of Jabra before, we don’t fault you. They’re not as widely known as Motorola, but they specialize in the same basic idea: mobile and headset audio solutions for a variety of productivity needs. Their website conveys a clean-cut company that knows what it’s about, and if there’s one thing we love about little-heard-of brands, its an assertion of confidence and a place in the industry.

The Jabra Freeway comes with a one-year limited warranty, which applies to all of their mobile products, not strictly this one.

Appearance and Design

The device comes in a sealed carton box. The gadget makes quite an interesting first impression. The front panel is cradled in a velvety plastic that has a good feel to it. Although fingerprints stay on the velvet, they can be easily removed with the help of a regular cloth. The speaker has a fabric trim that, if necessary, can be vacuumed, and the fabric will look like new. On the right side of the gadget, there is a microUSB port, which is very convenient and so familiar to the users.

Control

The buttons have clear fonts and a soft, blue illumination that looks pretty natural and does not distract you from driving.

Overall, the gadget control is quite convenient and clear. The removable feet on the bottom of the speakerphone can be attached to the visor, so the multifunctional button will be right before the driver’s head. However, you will need to pull the visor down in order to reach all other buttons, which is not very convenient, because the farthest row contains the “microphone” and “volume” buttons that you might need to use while you are driving on the road.

The gadget’s “power” button is located next to the microUSB port, and once you press it, you will hear a pleasant female voice that starts guiding you through pairing of the phone and the headset. After connecting to an iPhone, the phone display indicates the speakerphone’s battery power level, which I really liked. And I was even more impressed with the possibility to get the information about the battery power level by using a voice command.

Performance and Features

This is one of those multi-speaker array devices, which incorporates multiple drivers to maximize output quality. This means that Jabra probably wasn’t just aiming at productivity-minded clients but also the ones who wanted halfway decent-sounding music, which we totally respect.

A convenient feature of this device, which is missing in some rival models, is its ability to connect two phones at a time.

Perhaps, this is one of the best Bluetooth in-car speakerphones, judging by the quality of voice transmission. Equipped with three speakers, this gadget really transmits the voice of the person on the other end of the line, and they can hear you perfectly too.

Verdict

• Inbuilt FM transmitter
• Inbuilt AI that responds to keyword commands
• Reasonable battery life

Jabra Tour — Driver Safety and Audio Fidelity First

Manufacturer and Warranty

Jabra is a trusted brand in the field of mobile and headset audio electronics, and for the large part, you can count on them to deliver a quality product that’s backed by a limited one-year warranty across all of their goods. You’re staring down a solid company that’s dedicated to speakerphone tech.

Appearance and Design

The set consisting of the speakerphone, the cigarette lighter adapter, and the cable comes in a conventional manufacturer box with a transparent-looking insert.

Having a modern design, the gadget should please plenty of customers and fit the interior of almost any car. The front panel is covered with a soft-to-touch velvety plastic. The device is easily mounted on the visor with the help of a wide aluminum clip.

In general, the device is very cute, and you can feel the high quality of the assembly. The idea of a round speaker in the center of the frame sounds pretty interesting. The only drawback is that the mesh is made of plastic and not metal.

Control

Mechanical volume buttons are easy to press and produce an audible click. The multifunction control button has a receiver symbol on it, as well as an illumination that is visible in the dark, but it does not distract the driver. You do not need to hit a certain spot: you can hit any spot around the multifunction button. This way you can answer a phone call, end it, dial the previous number or even switch to another line.

With the help of a separate button, you can turn on the voice control feature. Using the voice command, the driver will get a report from the device announcing the battery power level and the connection status.

Motorola Sonic Rider Bluetooth In Car Speakerphone User Manual User

On one end of the device, there is a switch for turning the device on and off. On the other end, there is a “microphone” button.

Voice prompts deserve our special attention. Once on, a pleasant female voice will tell you how to connect to the phone and inform you when this connection will be complete. And when you receive an incoming call, the device will announce the caller’s name, provided it is in your phone’s contact list.

Performance and Features

The focus of this speakerphone is sound quality that’s delivered through an extra large speaker and support for HD voice calls . There’s also a healthy layer of noise cancellation under the hood. Additionally, you have a truly hands-free experience with a voice control function that reads off inbound calling numbers and gives you a range of motion to send calls or control music with just your voice.

Two phones can be connected to this speakerphone at the same time, which is convenient for many users.

But I would like to pay extra attention to the automatic on and off feature. It works off the motion sensor and helps to significantly extend the battery power. For example, you got out of the car and left the device in the car powered on. Sometime later Tour senses that nothing is happening in the car and it turns off itself. But as soon as you return to the car and drive off, the device automatically turns on.

Verdict

• Great sound quality
• Inbuilt AI keyword commands for a wide spectrum of uses
• Good battery life
• Good price

VeoPulse B-PRO 2B — Best Speaker Quality

Manufacturer and Warranty

This device is manufactured by a little-known company VEOTECH registered in France. The production platform, apparently, is located in China. The company deals exclusively with the speakerphones and phone holders. Unfortunately, we could not find any more detailed information about the manufacturer. We only know that the VeoPulse B-PRO 2B device definitely deserves our attention.

In addition, they’re widely relied upon and offer a 30-day money-back guarantee on the B-PRO 2B, so you have some confidence to fall on there.

Performance and Features

It looks like a giant stereo speaker, doesn’t it? It definitely throws off some of that 90’s vibe and seems to draw inspiration from those kids on the sidewalk with a boombox on their shoulders, but maybe that’s just our imagination getting away from us. Relevantly, we’d like to turn your attention to the excellent quality of the audio, which doesn’t seem surprising given the appearance of the device. There doesn’t seem to be any sign of an FM transmitter built in, but if that’s the case, we’re not going to complain.

This device is extremely simple and convenient to use. Pairing with the phone occurs automatically, no special action is required on your part. You just need to make sure that Bluetooth is “on” on your phone.

Motorola Sonic Rider Bluetooth In Car Speakerphone User Manual Instructions

Working with the device after connecting it to the phone is as convenient. You can accept or reject incoming calls with simple voice commands like “Yes” or “No”. By activating voice commands in your phone (via Siri or Google OK), you can make calls to the people from your contact list.

The device is equipped with quite a powerful battery that lasts for 24 hours of continuous talk time. It’s hard to say how long it lasts in a stand by mode. But there is a convenient feature that can significantly extend this time. The gadget automatically turns off when you leave the car and automatically turns on when you come back.

Verdict

• Excellent speaker
• 30-day money-back guarantee with 24/7 customer service, or so the broken English on their listing says as much

• It’s an expensive Bluetooth speaker if you don’t honestly need the speaker quality as there’s little else offered under the hood here

Motorola Sonic Rider — The Whole Package from a Trusted Brand

Manufacturer and Warranty

Motorola is a widely known and trusted brand in the field of mobile audio solutions, particularly when it comes to communication technologies such as phones and headsets. You can certainly trust their products, and with the Sonic Rider in particular, there’s a one-year warranty to back up your investment.

Performance and Features

For starters, it’s a stylish little piece of tech. There’s a clip included to hook it straight on your visor, and it purports to deliver exceptional noise reduction and echo resistance . Its emphasis on blocking out road sounds among other common ambience of a drive could prove quite beneficial for those who have to put up with complaints about whirring, whooshing and other disturbances that are common with calling while driving. You also have voice commands on the Sonic Rider, so while there are physical keys available to you, you don’t need them.

Sonic Rider supports simultaneous pairing with two phones. If you connected two phones to the device once, in the future, as soon as they are used in the car, the device will automatically connect to them.

Verdict

• Great sound quality paired with echo resistance and noise cancellation
• Stylish design
• Voice commands included
• One-year warranty

• Reliability takes a hit on the point that the Sonic Rider tends to die early on

SuperTooth Buddy — Trusted All-Around Performance

Manufacturer and Warranty

This is another device by a little-known manufacturer on our list. After a fruitless search for any information, we have found out that this manufacturer is located in the Philippines and it produces only speakerphones and other similar devices. Unfortunately, there is no warranty information in any sources. However, the device itself has all modern features and, judging by the customers’ feedback, it malfunctions quite rarely. Therefore, we have included this gadget in our list of the best Bluetooth in-car speakerphones.

Performance and Features

The Buddy is a simple device with a stylish chassis and physical keys to boot. It meets basic expectations while also delivering on multi-device connectivity through Bluetooth , which is a plus for those who want to corral music and calls from two phones at once. It comes with a large clip and features the speaker on the left side of the unit, facing the driver if placed around the center console.

In general, this is a standard speakerphone at an average price with a familiar set of modern features. It has no outstanding advantages or drawbacks. Its closest competitor in this price category is the Motorola Sonic Rider. Some choose gadgets by Motorola because they rely on the reputation of the manufacturer. And others prefer SuperTooth because they are fascinated by its small size and attractive appearance.

Verdict

• Good sound quality and battery life
• Simply reliable; it just works
• Stylish chassis

2018 Avantree CK11 — Best Value

Manufacturer and Warranty

Unlike some lesser-known brand names on our list, Avantree has a website of their own where you can hone your confidence in their offerings and view policies as needed. It looks clean-cut if a little cheery, but they do focus on audio headset and wireless solutions, which helps explain the excellent ratings they get.

We didn’t see anything that directly mentioned the warranty specifications, but they do offer coverage; it just might vary by product since each one evidently needs to be registered on their site before you find out what it’s worth.

Performance and Features

Can we take a moment to appreciate that Avantree used a Galaxy S5 in one of its data sheets on this speakerphone? Ah, long live that wonderful device. Anyway, speaking of Android devices: This speakerphone supports “OK, Google” and Siri AIs alike , meaning you should have some seriously nice voice control over this thing.

The speaker is rather powerful but not noted for its quality, which is perfectly fine because the rest of the unit is great for the price. The battery life is mighty fine, too, and there’s a plethora of neat little features tacked on like a motion sensor that helps the speakerphone determine whether you’re present to use it or not.

Verdict

• Excellent value and affordable price
• It simply works without a hitch
• Good audio quality
• Excellent battery life
• Compatible with Siri and OK Google on Apple and Android devices for voice commands
• Turns itself off when it detects that the user is no longer present

SOAIY S-32 — Best-Looking Speakerphone

Manufacturer and Warranty

The gadget is produced by SOAIY Group, the Chinese company that is not widely known in the United States, but it is among the most influential manufacturers of the electronics in China. Founded in 1996, today this company has an impressive amount of employees and supplies its products to the North and South America, Europe, and Southeast Asia. The main focus of the company is production of the portable audio equipment. And SOAIY S-32, in our opinion, is one of its best products.

Performance and Features

Is it a mouse? It kind of looks like a mouse, doesn’t it? You’d probably think that you could hook it up to a PC and brown web pages with it, but on closer inspection, it’s a Bluetooth speakerphone — seriously, who makes articles about those anyway?

There’s actually one small caveat: The volume on receiving audio is fine, but sending it out on a call makes you sound a little distant.

Verdict

• Awesome aesthetic
• Good all-around quality
• Great battery life
• Compatible with Siri and OK Google on Apple and Android devices for voice commands
• Excellent price point

• Microphone is weak even at full volume
• No word on warranty

Aivake Bluetooth Car Speaker — Low Cost, High Performance

Manufacturer and Warranty

Aivake Direct is, well, exactly what it sounds like: a manufacturer way out there in the world with no web presence to show for their awesomeness. They deliver good products nonetheless, but as expected of a “direct” brand, a warranty doesn’t seem to be a part of the products they deliver.

Performance and Features

With background noise reduction and an echo-resistant design , you’re promised clear call quality that goes in both directions. There’s also a motion sensor included that shuts off the device when you’ve left the vehicle and disconnected your handset, which saves on battery and helps drag out the battery life some. You can hook up two Bluetooth devices at once to receive and manage multiple signals for you.

Verdict

• Good audio quality all-around with echo resistance and noise cancellation
• Motion-based auto shutoff to save battery
• Can connect to two phones at once

• No word on warranty
• Microphone is sometimes too quiet, and the connection tends to drop out every so often

APEKX Bluetooth Car Speaker — Cheapest Speakerphone

Manufacturer and Warranty

This is a direct manufacturer that operates through sales platforms, so no website for you. However, they do deliver on their promises and make a good product to meet your needs.

They even discuss their warranty in plain site, a rarity to be sure. That warranty, if you’re wondering, is a wholesome one year with 30 days to return the item for a full refund, no questions asked. Sounds good to us!

Performance and Features

Let’s start with the battery: It’s decent at around 15 hours of active usage . This is rather impressive considering how slim the form factor is, which is almost paper-like and could blend straight into your visor without being noticed. We have to commend the minimalistic approach here.

However, there’s very little else to discuss other than the one-touch answering function, which is slightly disappointing since you need a free hand from the wheel, turn signal and other functions to take a call. It’s not a huge deal though.

Verdict

• Superbly low price
• Super-compact design that slug fits against your visor
• Great battery life for the price and form factor

Motorola T505 — Best FM-Based Speakerphone

Manufacturer

Motorola has been around since 1928, breaking down significant walls in technology and having a prominent hand in the development of cellular phones among other devices over the nearly-century since its inception. Put simply, they’re trusted to deliver a good product, especially when it comes to mobile solutions — their specialty.

Design and Appearance

The appearance of the T505 is not something remarkable. This is a small sleek gray block, made, however, of a pretty high-quality plastic and it is well assembled. In the upper part, there is a clip that attaches the gadget to the visor. At the bottom, there is a microphone, and the port for charging is located in the back. That’s all.

On the other hand, who said that this type of device should leave the driver and his passengers speechless? Its main function is to make phone conversations behind the wheel safe and not to distract the driver from the road. And, in our opinion, the T505 does an excellent job in this regard.

Control and Function Features

The buttons on the device provide a simple and intuitive control. If needed, a female voice of T505 will announce the last dialed number as well as whether the caller has been connected or disconnected.

Pairing with the phone occurs upon pressing the multifunction button. Unlike most other similar devices, this gadget does not connect to two phones at a time.

A full charge of the battery provides 18 hours of talk time, which is neither good nor bad, but rather average; the leader in this field is Motorola Sonic Rider. Its battery provides 45 hours of talk time. Charging is from the miniUSB port.

Verdict

• Small and clips easily on your visor or dashboard
• Reliable and widely trusted, and comes from a well-known quality brand
• Inbuilt FM transmitter
• Inexpensive

• No word on warranty or return policies with this specific product

Bluetooth In-Car Speakerphone Buyer’s Guide

Bluetooth

This is a wireless connection standard that uses a low-range, low-power radio to allow communication between devices. Bluetooth in standard in all smartphones and tablets today, and nearly all newer vehicle models include some form of Bluetooth support in the head unit. Bluetooth is typically used to wirelessly connect a media device such as your smartphone to a headset or speakers in order to play music or talk to people through a walkie-talkie.

Auxiliary

This is a wired connection standard that uses a 3.5mm auxiliary jack to allow communication between devices. This standard is typically used to connect earphones and headphones to a phone, tablet or MP3 player, or to hook speakers into your computer or TV. In cars, it can be used to connect your phone and other devices to the head unit, which then takes audio data and converts it for the speakers to play back.

USB

Some head units allow you to connect your phone, tablet or other media device to the USB port in order to fetch and send data. USB isn’t as commonly used as auxiliary or Bluetooth because it’s more of a general data transfer medium while auxiliary is designed to handle audio, which is predominantly what you’ll transfer between your phone and the head unit.

Head Unit

This is the media console in the middle of the center dash, usually decked out with a screen that shows time and the current audio that’s playing on the speakers. This comes with functions for controlling music, radio stations and Bluetooth calls, and you can adjust the volume or access an equalizer from the head unit to control how audio output is handled. More recent head units will include 7-inch touchscreens with Android Auto or Apple CarPlay and support Android or iOS apps such as Spotify, YouTube and Maps, eliminating the need to use your phone while driving.

Bluetooth In-Car Speakerphone FAQ

Are there any differences between Bluetooth and auxiliary connections?

In the context of Bluetooth speakerphones, no. This is because the speakerphone that you’ll buy more than likely doesn’t communicate with the head unit via Bluetooth or auxiliary, instead relying on FM transmissions. Auxiliary is only useful in purely wired (lossless) connections since any form of wireless transmission instantly truncates audio quality.

Even if the speakerphone can connect directly to the car via a 3.5mm cable, the fact remains that your phone is connecting to the speakerphone with Bluetooth, which instantly negates the benefit of any wired connection following thereafter.

What’s the point of a separate Bluetooth speakerphone?

Well, think about the folks who don’t have a Bluetooth-ready head unit. They need some way to connect their phone to the car stereo system in order to experience hands-free calling on the road, and this is more important when you consider driving laws in some states. This is where Bluetooth speakerphones become useful. True to their name, they don’t just provide a means of connecting to the head unit as they also feature inbuilt speakers that offer playback straight from the device itself.

Those that connect to the head unit often do so through an FM transmitter that the car radio picks up and plays at a predetermined frequency, which allows you to use the actual radio to receive your call audio and play it through the speakers.

In a car that already has a Bluetooth head unit, these aren’t as important but still serve a purpose. For example, maybe you want to keep playing music when you take a call ; in this case, you could broadcast the call through the Bluetooth speakerphone and completely bypass the head unit and car speakers.

Don’t worry about the battery life: Since their only task is to convey audio through Bluetooth and play it through an onboard speaker, the drain is light, allowing for over 10 hours of active usage and month-long standby times.

In what cases would a Bluetooth speakerphone be worthwhile?

The following cases are classic examples of when you’d need such a device:

• Your car head unit doesn’t support Bluetooth
• Your car speakers don’t work
• You want to keep the car speakers’ audio separate from call audio
• You don’t want to connect to a new head unit each time you enter a new vehicle

How do you set up a Bluetooth speakerphone?

There are two ways of doing this, and it depends on whether you want to play the audio through the car speakers or the speakerphone itself.

Playing it through the speakerphone is straightforward. Just attach the two devices through Bluetooth as you would with headphones or a household speaker system, and you’re good to go.

If you’re more privy to using your car speakers, the process is a little more tricky. You’d connect your phone to the speakerphone via Bluetooth as usual, but the speakerphone then needs to broadcast the data on an FM channel that the car radio picks up and plays. Bluetooth speakerphones usually incorporate an onboard FM transmitter that broadcasts at a chosen or preset frequency, and you have to tune the FM radio in the car to match that frequency. The radio grabs the signal straight from the speakerphone and outputs the audio through the car speakers as if it were a radio station.

If you happen to pick up a speakerphone that doesn’t include the FM transmitter, that’s okay: You can buy one separately and plug it into your car’s 12V port, then tether it to the speakerphone with an auxiliary cable. Your phone sends the call or music data to the speakerphone over Bluetooth, the speakerphone sends it via auxiliary to the transmitter, and the transmitter sends it out via FM transmission, which the car radio then procures. Pretty cool, right?

Conclusion

Failing all else, yes: You can use a Bluetooth speakerphone as simply another speaker to play music or calls from. The emphasis with these devices is portability and productivity as opposed to quality audio boomers that are often bulky, expensive and feature shorter battery life in to provide awesome audio.

Going forward, there’s not much to predict here. Bluetooth isn’t going anywhere as a connection standard, and there’s probably not a mile-wise demand to push Bluetooth speakerphones forward. They do what they do, and for most, it’s more than adequate. The uncertainty lies more in whether the prolific inclusion of Bluetooth in-vehicle head units will result in the market for Bluetooth speakerphones dropping off. There will always be a use for them if, say, your car speakers drop out or the head unit takes a seat, but we think more people would end up just replacing their car speakers or head unit instead.

Whatever happens, just don’t drive distracted for goodness’ sake, okay?

• 136

Stay connected and get updates
without having to take your eyes off the road.

Car Speakerphones

Speedy conversations now available. Connect to all kinds of devices, phones, laptops, MP3 players, you name it—our accessories play well with others.

Motorola Sonic Rider Bluetooth In-car Speakerphone Manual