- Full system dedicated to keeping connected and entertained in your car
- Blue OLED 2 lines Screen lets you see whose calling or what song is playing
- Double microphone technology eliminates background and surrounding noise, including noise from inside the car
- Listen to your digital music in the car: compatible with all music sources, such as iPods, iPhones, and more
- Cutting-edge telephony functions like automatic phonebook synchronization, training-free multi-speaker voice recognition, and more
If you're never installed a car radio before, this probably isn't the first thing you should install yourself -I'd recommend having it professionally installed, since there are a good-sized handful of cables coming out of this thing that need to get routed properly, and you will most likely have to do some minor drilling and/or cutting to count the display and microphone if you want a really "clean" installation. As a yardstick, I probably spent 4 hours total on the installation.
Anyway, then, it does work as designed. The interface is fast and responsive, and I like the quality of the display. The software is pretty well thought out -perhaps A++-super-nerd programmers don't work at Parrot, but certainly above-average ones do. Pairing works quite nicely, automatically connecting to my phone when I get in the car & turn on the ignition and disconnecting shortly after the ignition goes off. When you're on a call, it asserts the "mute" line to the car's stereo which also pauses CD/USB/iPod playback, which is nice. I haven't had any of the communication failures/lock-ups that another reviewer here did.
Some minor gripes are as follows:
-While the noise reduction is effective up to ~45MPH (most callers wouldn't be able to guess you're calling from a car), it breaks down at highway speeds: Callers will still find you intelligible, but the occasional piece of a word is cut off and there is noticeable distortion. I attribute this so some degree to the rather noisy interior that is the Honda Fit (and most other inexpensive Hondas, for that matter) -at some level apparently the Parrot just can't reliably separate your voice from the as loud or louder cabin noise. Those with quieter cabins may not ever experience this problem. (I have tried turning "lateral noise detection" off and it does make things worse.)
-When hanging up calls, I often have to press the "hang up" button a couple of times. I suspect this is likely to be just as much the fault of the Parrot as my phone (a Sprint HTC Touch Pro 2), but it is a bit annoying.
-The manual is rather spartan. While it contains information on all the "basics," it does leave out explanations for some menu functions, which you're hence left to guess at. While most have names that make it easy to figure them out, there are a few where it's not quite clear exactly what the option does.
I think that this is a little on the spendy side for what you're getting, but overall I'm happy with it and feel that I've received a reasonable (if not spectacular) value for the money.
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Update, mid-2011:
As other people have reported here, after about a year, the remote stopped working consistently. After messing around with it for awhile, it became clear that much of the "springiness" in the little "finger tab" contact that touches the negative side of the battery was gone and hence the battery no longer made good, solid contact to the electronics. I initially figured I'd stuff a small piece of aluminum foil (or just something stiff-but-spongy) underneath the contact, but after opening up the remote (there's just one screw under the label on the back side), I instead decided to fold the finger tab back on itself so that it's now more of a "U" shape and provides considerably more pressure between the battery and itself than ever before. So far this has worked quite well, and I'm most pleased with the 10-minute fix.
I do believe this is a design defect. Perhaps Parrot has fixed it by now? -They could readily solder down a differently shaped contact than the one my remote came with, so hopefully at some point they did update the design and fixed this problem.
One other thing: I've switched phones since writing the original review (now it's Android 2.3), and the "hang up" button does now work consistently.
Note that Parrot has released at least 3 or 4 firmware upgrades since my original review; I recommend obtaining them since, as least from where I'm sitting, the "fixed bugs / new features" list for the newer versions strike me as useful / attractive.
Buy Parrot MKi9100 Advanced Bluetooth Hands-Free Music Kit Now
I had this Parrot professionaly installed on my Pioneer AVH-P4100DVD, it works great for making and receiving calls, windows down or up, people hear me great on the other side, noone has complained about hearing noises on the background.It pulls not only my contact list from my iPhone but also the battery charge level on the little screen. Voice commands work amazingly good.
The only complaint I have is that if you turn on the unit (when you turn on your car) with the iPhone already connected to the radio, when the iPhone starts to play music, the Parrot will detect it and WILL swap the music to bluetooth, that means that it will mute the radio, freeze the iPhone music controls on it and transfer both audio and iPhone controls to the Parrot unit.... I hate that. The only way I get around this is to connect the iPhone to my radio interface AFTER the Parrot has turned on completely and detected and sincronized the iPhone.
But, again, the bluetooth connectivity for making and receiving calls, works like a charm.
Read Best Reviews of Parrot MKi9100 Advanced Bluetooth Hands-Free Music Kit Here
I got this kit to replace an aging CK3100. I'm a HUGE fan of Parrot hands-free kits. I don't like bluetooth headsets: mine was never charged when I needed it; was uncomfortable after a few minutes; got misplaced all the time.== background ==
When I originally purchased my ck3100, I was a bit skeptical about Parrot/had no experience with their products. After installing my ck3100, any doubts were erased from my mind. Parrot kits are solid and function very well.
I had a ck3100 and absolutely LOVED it. It did what it was supposed to, and didn't try to be more than what it was. I loved it so much, that I uninstalled it from my old car, and re-installed it in my current car. Alas, all good things must come to an end, and my trusty ck3100 died on me (after 6+ years).
Enter the MKi9100. While looking for a replacement for my beloved ck3100, I didn't want something with "a bunch of extra crap". The MKi9100 is a perfect upgrade. While researching a replacement for my ck3100, I made a list of "must haves" and "nice to haves".
== must have ==
the same basic functionality as the ck3100
the caller id screen should not be part of a stereo head unit
the display should be able to be mounted *anywhere*
a small footprint: no big screens, parts, etc.
must work seamlessly w/ iphone
== nice to have ==
music (bluebox -> stereo): via cable or bluetooth
have a remote control, so I can reach the buttons without moving/reaching too far (ya, I'm lazy)
== conclusions ==
::overall::
The MKi9100 meets all of my conditions, and has a few "bonus" features that I really like:
removable caller id screen (the small base mounts wherever you want, and the actual screen is detachable
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