Parrot PF410008 MINIKIT NEO Hands-Free Bluetooth Car Kit - Retail Packaging - Black

I had been using the BlueAnt S4 for a number of years when the BlueAnt first came out with it. As of late, the unit had become laggy and not reliable. Maybe it was because of the Texas heat it was in finally did a number on it.

In comes the Parrot Neo Minikit. I received an email from Parrot and took a little deeper look into the handsfree. The "gotta-have" feature that I got from the descriptions were like the BlueAnt S4, truly handsfree, meaning you need to speak a "magic word" to activate the handsfree on the Neo. The other feature that I absolutely loved was the deep sleep mode, where the unit turns itself on when the car vibrates. In this case, when a car door gets closed. The BlueAnt S4 had a setting you had to manually switch to, which was the battery saver mode, which would connect to your phone when it was nearby to connect.

Ok this is the cream on the top :). The Neo has both an iPhone and Android app to accompany the Neo. I personally use Android so I am giving my view from this device. The feature that I love and now my 4 year old loves is that when we go to school, I put her into her car seat in the morning. Then I close the door. Sometimes, if I close it hard enough, the unit will turn on. Otherwise, it will turn on when I sit in the drivers seat and close the door. This feature, available in the Minikit app, allows you to record your own sound to use when the unit turns on from the deep sleep mode. I personally recorded "HI **my child's name**" and she absolutely thinks its the coolest thing since ice cream! LOL. And I have to admit, even I smile everytime the unit turns on and says hi to my child even if she isn't in the car with me. I don't think another device can make me more happier at this point. :)

Now does this Neo have any negatives?? Of course, but not really enough for me to stop using it. For one, the battery life is not as good as the BlueAnt S4, but I think it's because of the size of the unit or battery in the unit. Because comparing the sizes of each unit, the Neo is a third of the size of the BlueAnt S4. The other thing is the clip. Where the BlueAnt S4 has the powerful magnets and two different size clips depending on your visor, the Neo's clip is incorporated into the unit itself. So that means in certain cars may be a tighter fit.

Pairing is a breeze. I use a HTC Sensation 4G running Jelly Bean and it pairs up fast. No code needed in my case. I also want to point out that the Neo can pair with your device even easier, through NFC if your device has it of course. I haven't tried that yet, the only NFC device I have is my Nexus 7, in which doesn't really need a bt handsfree, even though I do have tom tom installed on it lol.

Now how does it sound? Compared to the BlueAnt S4, this is a leap clearer. Not sure what they used as speakers, but the sound is clear as day compared to the S4, where the S4 sounded like a walkie talkie and this sounded like a phone's handset.

Would I recommend this unit? Yes! It utilizes features that I use everyday and now every time I get into my truck, I smile because of it. What other device can put a smile on your face like that? :)

Seems like a solid product. However, when it is attached to my visor I cannot access any of the control buttons. My visor might be too thick (complete guess) and the design does not allow for any adjustment of the clip. I cannot press either button to make a call (hands free?).

I sent 2 emails to support and after ten days of waiting with no reply, I am returning the item.

Just an FYI...I drive an older Lexus with what appears to be too thick visors. My wife also drives an older Lexus and her Motorola Roadster works great and she has easy access to all the controls even with thick visors.

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This tiny speakerphone is amazing. I was surprised just how easy it was to use and how well it responds. The buttons are intuitive and easy to push. The pairing was as simple as can be. The mini kit did it all, including downloading my phone book. People I call have no problem hearing me and it keeps out the background noise.

Out of the box it does it's job well without changing settings. Iif you want to use the more powerful features, you need to access the menu and set it up further. Piece of cake.

Particularly good:

-Background noise canceling.

-Voice clarity at both ends

-Ease of set-up

-Volume

-Looks

-ease of use...my wife uses it without troubles. THAT is saying something.

-Instant connect feature works really well.

Good:

-Voice recognition (better than my phone)

-Documentation

-Form factor

Bad:

-Nothing to speak of, although there's little choice of how you mount it.

TAKE NOTE:

Be aware this does not fit "fat" visors. I knew this before purchasing it for my wife's Tiburon so I checked first. It does not fit my Chevy Colorado, but I didn't get it for that. Parrot makes another miniKit with the same features that has a larger clip style mount.

I have not tried the bluetooth to radio function. But I can tell you that playing music through the speaker of the MiniKit is as you would expect from any small speaker without base. It's best for voices.

I would not hesitate to buy this again. In fact I'm going to purchase the other MiniKit model for my truck

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2006 Toyota 4Runner and does not work when attached to visor. Buttons are blocked because visor is too thick so magic words still work but no way to hangup or use buttons in any way. Otherwise seems to work great.

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Having a series of iPhones I found that the phones do not have the kind of voice command system that will work through a normal hands free device. So I got an original Parrot Minikit because it downloads your phone contacts into its memory and then functions like a regular voice activated hands free device. It left a lot to be desired. The clip was substandard and kept coming loose. It had no switch and no visible indicator that it was on or off. The Minikit Neo solves most of those problems. The new hinge clip is excellent. The Minikit Neo goes to sleep after five minutes and turns off after ten. It is supposed to come on with any movement of the car such as entering and it does most of the time but not always. It does have an on/off switch but has no light indication that it is on or off. While there are audible clues that it is activating they are easy to miss. That said the Neo is a wonderful improvement over the old Minikit. If you are an iPhone user I highly recommend it for your use. Someday Parrot will get it all right but this is the best there is for iPhone if you want true hands free voice activation in your vehicle.

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