SUMMARY:=========
[I am using the Supertooth HD with a Nokia Lumia 900]
If you search my reviews, I bought and returned the Supertooth Buddy (the little brother version of this). So far, the Supertooth HD has not exhibited any of the annoyances of its little brother. Currently, this is a 5-star device and I will update my review as needed.
What makes the perfect car bluetooth speakerphone? (ie. The Supertooth HD does all of this!]
==============My 14 Most Important Criteria Items============
1. It should have caller-id that speaks the name of the caller
2. It should automatically turn on/off as you are away from the car
3. It should have ample volume while driving at highway speeds
4. You should only have to press a single and easily accessible button to answer or place a call
5. It should make use of your phone's built-in voice recognition system (if your phone has this)
6. It should be easy to pair and auto-download your phone's contacts
7. It should reconnect easily when you are in the car
8. Callers should be able to hear you clearly at highway speeds
9. The charging port should not be obstructed when the device is installed on a sunvisor
10. It should have a long battery life
11. It should be reliable whether it is -40 degrees in Fargo or the internal car temperature reaches 140 degrees in Texas
12. It should have good documentation or manufacturer's website and/or responsive customer support
13. It should be usable whether the sun visor is flipped down or up
14. It should be reasonably priced
How does the Supertooth HD stack up?
=====================================
A. [Update: 8/2012 We've had a number of 103+ degree days so far in Texas this summer of 2012 and my Supertooth HD is still working great!, so I can state that the Supertooth HD meets the bar on essentially all 14 of the criteria listed above now. Also, recently they completely overhauled their website and they NOW have the user manual online. Lastly, they do respond to emails sent do contact(at)supertooth(dot)net. I specifically told them that some people's HD bluetooth stays connected while it is in their garage or close to their apartment and they stated there was no way to adjust the sensitivity of their bluetooth. Well, at least their customer support was responsive enough to at least tell me that and hear the feedback. (Back in 2011 they had emailed me the user manual when I asked for it)
B. I've owned the Motorola T505 and it does not have spoken-name caller id, doesn't turn off or on automatically, the volume is not loud enough at highway speeds (or heck, even idling), and it is difficult to press the small answer or call button.
C. The Supertooth BUDDY that I returned does not have ANY form of caller id (it just rings), the bluetooth would never turn off when I was in the house, and it wouldn't always reconnect reliably. I also had one strange charging issue before I returned it.
D. I've owned TWO of the Motorola T325 which was almost the perfect device, but horrible reliability. Two broke and they were returned to Amazon. I suppose they simply couldn't handle the Texas heat. They would connect/disconnect constantly and or wouldn't hang up or wouldn't place a call or wouldn't turn on.
E. The Jabra Freeway is almost twice the price of this (I've never used one), but the reviews so far aren't all 5-stars, so I decided to take one for the team and try the Supertooth HD.
F. I purposely purchased the Jabra Cruiser2 (similarly priced to this) for my wife, so we could decide which one we liked better in 30 days. So far the Supertooth HD is ahead because the Cruiser2 doesn't seem to automatically turn on (you have to remember to press the 'phone' button to make it reconnect, though it does connect very quickly) and caller-id wouldn't work for my name, even though it worked for other spoken names. So the Cruiser2 is losing in #1 and #2 in the list above and fails in #13. The Supertooth Buddy and HD are the only genius devices that use magnets that allow you to quickly move the device to the front or back of the sunvisor for when it is flipped down or up.
Usage Notes:
=============
Here's what I've figured out on my own [their website NOW has the user manual online]:
Saying "Voice-dial" is the same thing as hitting the voice-recognition button on your phone. You say voice-dial and then it loads your phone's personal voice-recognition system and everything works normally from there. With my Windows Phone, I can listen to as well as dictate text messages from the bluetooth speakerphone it's pretty fantastic!
Beyond that you have to specially add an extra phone entry to your important contacts, so that even if your phone does not have voice-recognition dialing, the Supertooth HD gives you voice dial with a number of preset entries like Call Home, Contact 1-9 and Voicemail. For example, for my wife, I added ".6Home" as an extra name with her phone number. When I press the HD's big button, I say, Call Home and it finds the .6Home entry in my phonebook and automatically dials her, without using my phone's native voice dialing. You can add ".8Voicemail" and that will call your voicemail. This is all explained in the small little instruction booklet that they provide.
Now even if you don't have a fancy smartphone, you receive 6 months free of Dial2Do which is basically a special phone number that you call that allows you to send text messages, emails, Facebook status', tweets by voice. You have to previously register the numbers or addresses on their website, etc). One trick I learned is that this special phone number (and the special button) is programmed as ".0Assistant" So if your Dial2Do subscription has expired, you can then program that button to dial any number you want, such as voicemail, etc. Just add a phone entry in your phonebook with the name ".0Assistant" then any phone number you want it to dial. Now whenever you press the "Hands Free Assistant" button, it will automatically dial that phone number, for me it dials my voicemail.
IN CLOSING:
============
The Supertooth HD almost meets the bar on becoming the perfect car bluetooth speakerphone and for the price and 6-month trial of Dial2Do, it is definitely a great buy.
I will update this review as the days pass if I encounter any reliability issues or any other annoyances.
[Updated 12-12-2011]
This is still a reliable 5-star device for me. I've only had to charge it once and battery life seems excellent. It connects as soon as I open the car door every single time and announces it. Also, it properly disconnects when I arrive home, unlike the Supertooth BUDDY that I returned and my wife's Jabra Cruiser2 which frustrated her so much, she made me get her old favorite, the Motorola T325 (half the price of the Supertooth HD right now).
To recap, the Supertooth HD is the current winner in my list of 14 Criteria Items I've listed above. The only device that comes remotely close is the Motorola T325, which is half the price, BUT not reliable during a hot Texas summer. When you also factor in price along with my list of 14 Criteria Items, then the Jabra Freeway, Jabra Cruiser2, Motorola Roadster and Supertooth BUDDY all pale in comparison.
For half the price though, the Motorola T325 is a very strong contender for fair weather users.
I know it's a real long address but it's a link through my ISP to the download from France. Rest assured as I ran it through Virus Total scans for virus and website issues, the link and website ran completely clean, but you can do the same again if you want to also. The Manual answers many questions in pretty good English, but remember who wrote it, not native English speakers. But it has more info than any other source for sure.
I think that it's easy to get confused about using the Hands Free Assistant. I am presently just not using it as the routine features of the phone work great to accomplish everything including voice dialing. One big help is to make your phone address book entries very very easy for the Supertooth to recognize after it transfers your phone book to the unit. So beforehand, remove any abbreviations etc. in your phone book and make the names real easy and distinct and you'll get more successful dial ups. I might use the Assistant in the future, but personally I think sending texts while driving is a little scary as the concentration demand is greater. But I bet others think it's slick and will adapt and get used to short quick messaging that is not as demanding while driving. Good luck and be safe out there! Be sure to read Dean's review too, its great. This baby is a winner, and is getting lots of positive recognition, awards etc.
Oops, looks like Amazon took out my link, so I suggest you just email contact@supertooth.net and ask for the HD full Operating Manual they can send you. If you cannot, feel free to email me and I'll try to send it your way, best wishes.I have a 2005 Quest that doesn't have built in Bluetooth so I saw this on Motorweek and had to get it. I've been using it for about a month, here's my impressions so far:
Easy connect to my Android phone (Samsung Galaxy S)
Connects when I get next to my car
Stays connected when I have been over 25 feet from car; in my house I have to go to the far corner to get it to disconnect
If you turn off the bluetooth on your phone so as to disconnect the device, it shuts off. Otherwise it stays on an reconnects automatically.
I use drive safely text reader which works well with the device
Very loud speaker, no need to leave it on full blast unless you have a lot of cabin noise or are deaf
Can't "voice dial" from my phone not sure why as I can from my ear bluetooth
Text and e-mail service requires registraion, since I use DriveSafeLY, I don't use it but may in the future. I'll update in this case.
I used it on a trip from El Paso to Las Vegas and back, no issues. Good sound, solid feeling device. Four stars due to the Voice dial issue, if I can get that working, 5 stars.
**UPDATE**
As promised, I upped it to 5 stars after figuring out the voice dial thing (it was my phone, not the device). Also, noticed that it kept re-connecting while in my house so to overcome this issue, I get it to disconnect first, then turn off my phone's bluetooth, then turn it back on before getting near my van and it reconnects automatically. Otherwise, if you are connected and turn off your phone's bluetooth, it powers down after a short time.
Battery life; I charged this device about a month ago, talk on it about 1-2 hours a week and the battery is still going event though I leave it in my car with temps around 100 ambient outside. I'm going to let it go until it dies.
Another feature is when it rings, it will announce caller then beep, at this point all you do is say "answer" and it answers! Truly hands free!
**UPDATE 2**
Ok, after a few months of use, I still think this bluetooth is the best. Also, the battery lasts about 25-30 days but I don't have many calls (maybe 1-2 hours a week tops). More calls, less time, no brainer.I ordered this product based on positive reviews. After testing it extensibly, the conclusion is it looks good, has good features, and is easy to use. However, I think most reviews stop here, and very few focus on the most important feature of a Bluetooth speakerphone: the sound, not the one you hear, but how well people on the other end can hear and understand you. That is where this otherwise nice product fails. The road noise was unbelievable, even while driving at 10-20 mph on a smooth road, in a very new car. Yes, when you are using it, you can hear your caller loud and clear, but your caller can barely understand your words. I think if most reviewers looked carefully into this, there would probably be more negative reviews. We tried this product for weeks, in multiple conditions, with multiple callers. All complained about the same: excessive noise, and a conversation that just could not be followed.
Unfortunately, I returned this speakerphone. I then purchased the Jabra TOUR here on Amazon, and what a difference!! Not only is it slightly cheaper, but the sound quality on the other end of the line is just amazing. On the Jabra TOUR, voice sounds much clearer, road noise is not nearly as pronounced, and the features are pretty much the same. I highly recommend the Jabra TOUR.
So my advice is, don't go just by how well you can hear your callers; ask them if they can hear you well. This SuperTooth HD definitely fails to deliver.Have had this for about a month now, and it's my first experience with a bluetooth speaker. I use it with my iPhone 4S. The speaker is very clear, and plenty loud enough, and no problems with sound quality for the parties on the other end. The iPhone doesn't support voice dialing per se, but I can just push the home button on the phone to access Siri through the bluetooth, allowing me to voice dial or text (see edit below, you can access Siri via the Supertooth).
I spent a lot of time looking at the different bluetooth options here on Amazon, and I almost went with one that played through the car speakers. After using this, and spending some time traveling in a car using a built-in system that played through the car speakers, I'm actually glad I got this one. I have been using a GPS app on my iPhone, and found that with this product I can listen to the car radio at a reasonable volume and still hear the turn by turn instructions through the bluetooth. Using a bluetooth that works through the car speakers, I have to have the stereo on Aux/Line in to use the GPS (or I can't hear it), so I can't use the radio (have to use the iPod to listen to music). Just a small little detail I hadn't thought of.
I'd get this one again, for sure. Solid, compact, and good quality sound for things like phone conversations, GPS instructions, or even I'd imagine an audio book, although I might want that through the car speakers. It's not comparable at all to "real" speakers for music, but that's not what I'm looking for in this type of product.
Edit April 2013; still a 4 star plus product, no complaints at all. In fact, not sure if it would have always worked or if it's due to a change in the iPhone OS or something, but you can access Siri by pushing the voice instruction button on the blutooth unit and saying "VOICE DIAL" Siri then engages for instructions, including voice dialing, texting, etc.
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