This is a really cool device.
I got one for my wife so she could answer and talk on the phone without looking for her headset and turning it on.
Product works as advertised, and in fact has a number of novel features.
The only "Con" is that it does not support a 2 phone household. It can only be paired to a single phone. It does not support multipoint or dual pairing like some other prodicts (the Jawbone headset). This means that to reconnect it to the secondary phone you must pair it again.
Other than that:
1) It's very loud. easy to hear
2) uses standard USB to charge
3) The FM feature allows you to listen to the caller through your car stereo
4) the caller ID of the caller is spoken to you and broadast on your radio using RDS (so you can see the text of the phone number). Very nead.
5) it announced when it has turned on, off, paired, enabled FM. It's fantastic to get this audible feedback so you know it's working.
I highly reccomned this to anyone who needs a speakerphone for their car. My only caveat is that if you plan to share a car with 2 people it's not so great unless one person only uses the SP700. I would have given it 5 stars if it supported dual pairing.
Pros:
1. Easy to pair
2. Very long lasting battery: went all week without charging
3. Allows voice dialing if your phone supports that feature: press the unit until it beeps (about 2 seconds), the phone goes into listen-for-command voice dial mode; speak into SP700 the name you want to call as it appears in your phone's list (i.e., "Home"); the phone makes the call (I'm using a Nokia 6555--not all phones have the voice dialing function) UPDATE: works even better with iPhone 4.
4. Compact.
5. Easy to charge via its USB port
6. Clear communication: both parties hear clearly (this is, after all, the main goal) with virtually no background interference or feedback
7. Announces its state: electronic voice says, "Connected," "Power off," "Incoming call from xxx-xxx-xxxx," "Call ended"
8. Automatically turns itself off 10 minutes after phone is out of range (30 feet
9. Can play music or podcasts through it if you want--assuming you have a decent player on the phone; many don't
10. Portable: it would work as a desktop speaker phone if you want and easily moves from vehicle to vehicle.
11. Easy to travel with: especially useful with rental cars.
Cons:
1. Can only pair with one phone at a time--if you have a personal and a work phone it's one or the other
2. Can be too loud--it defaults to a very loud initial volume (perfect if you have earphones jammed in your ears--you can still hear everything); it's almost painfully loud
3. You have to turn it on when you get in the car. It would be nice if it sensed the phone and turned itself on.
4. FM transmission to 88.1 or the other freqs is difficult in Los Angeles. The spectrum is so full it's almost impossible to find a clear open channel. This is hardly necessary because the built in speaker is so effective. If you really want to use your car stereo it probably can be fiddled with until it works, but why bother?
5. The control buttons (volume, FM) are poorly marked
6. Because the whole thing is a giant button (like an Apple mouse) the unit turns on easily when you put it in your briefcase.
6a. It needs a lockout lever or a hard case to stop it from being activated when you carry it.
Bottom line: it really works for both ends of the call, it's not expensive, it's portable, battery life is very long.
Buy Jabra SP700 Bluetooth Speakerphone Now
I purchased this device so that I could listen to my music from my Blackberry Pearl on my car stereo. The concept for the device is good. It's sleek and fits well on the visor. My phone recognized the device and they paired right away. I had the device for 2 weeks and used it almost everyday before I returned it.
The device has two modes: speaker and FM transmitter. In speaker mode, the device works just like a speakerphone for phone calls or like a speaker for music. In FM mode, it retransmits everything it receives on its bluetooth interface to an FM channel. I thought the device was a bargain selling for a street price of ~$70 when compared to an FM transmitter alone or a speakerphone alone (~$50). Boy was I completely wrong!!
The major problem with the device is that the FM mode doesn't work as advertised.
The Good:
The speaker mode worked great with my phone. I was able to make/receive calls with no issues. It would cancel out the road noise and background music. The battery lasts for a long time on one recharge -upto 18 hours (manufacture claim).
The Bad:
The device would stop transmitting in the FM mode every 10 minutes or so and I would have re-activate it. The logic on the device used to determine if the phone is streaming music is faulty. I tried emailing Jabra technical support, but never received a response.
In either mode (speaker or FM), the device would auto-adjust the volume down when it thought there was no music being played, even though it was connected to the phone and streaming music. Every minute or so, the device would automatically adjust the volume down so low that I couldn't hear the music on the FM radio any more. This was especially true on podcasts or interview type programs. Then, all of a sudden, it would re-adjust itself and transmit at full volume again for sometime until it would start adjusting the volume down again. It didn't matter what volume setting I used on the phone. There is no way to adjust the volume on the Jabra device when it is in FM mode. It was rather annoying to adjust the volume on the FM radio every minute to try to match what the device was doing.
I wasn't able to stream music from my phone to the device with the standard Blackberry music/media engine application, though it did work with the Mobiola xPlayer music/media player application. I think this is more a function of the Blackberry standard software than it is a problem with the Jabra device.
The device uses a micro-USB connector for power. My phone uses a mini-USB connector. The cigarette lighter attachment provides a standard USB interface. Since I couldn't plug the micro-USB into my phone, I needed to carry two cables for power.
The user-interface needs some work. The on/off/pair/answer functions are all combined onto one button. Jabra would have done better to put the on/off function onto its own button or use a switch.
The FM mode is not strong and distant FM stations on the same channel do intermittently interfere with the device FM signal.
The FM mode has a very low treble and very high bass response. The music actually sounds more balanced coming out of the tiny speaker than the FM stereo.
I returned the device as the main reason I bought the device was to listen to music from my phone on the car stereo. I am buying a Motorola MOTOROKR T505 instead.
Pros:
* sleek look; attaches to visor
* two modes -speaker and FM
* Speakerphone is loud; can be heard clearly over background noise
* Microphone picks up voice over moderate background noise; Works well to cancel noise when having a phone conversation
* Bluetooth paired right away; no need to re-pair each time you get into the car
* Long battery life
Cons:
* FM Mode is terrible and needs a lot of work
* FM Mode stops transmitting every 10 minutes
* Intermittent interference in FM mode
* Terrible music response in FM mode
* non-standard micro-USB connector for power
* User interface poor each button has too many functions
* Jabra does not have a North America support team. They do not respond to email inquiries.
Read Best Reviews of Jabra SP700 Bluetooth Speakerphone Here
My brother gave me a Jabra for Christmas. My phone was so old, it did not have Bluetooth technology and I went out to get a new phone just so I could use it. Well, I'm glad I did. The only time I need to talk hands-free is in the car. This is perfect for that.
The Jabra is wonderful. It's sleek and thin, doesn't obstruct my vision when on the visor. It was quick and easy to set up and use. When calls come in, I only need to touch it to answer. No more fumbling for my phone. The sound is crisp and clear. I talk mostly to my husband on it and he says the sound is clear on his end. My kids talk to him from the back of the minivan and he can hear them, too. I much prefer it to the earpiece, which I had to worry about falling out of my ear and gave listeners on the other end an echo. It's also preferable to the speakerphone function of the cellphone.
This is a wonderful gadget -one of those nice to have, makes my life easy sort of things. I'm glad I own it.
UPDATE: The battery life is remarkable. It's been three months and I've only charged it once. Admittedly, I only turn it on to make or accept calls about once a week, but most rechargeable batteries discharge over time even without use. Still haven't found any problems with this product. Two thumbs up.
Want Jabra SP700 Bluetooth Speakerphone Discount?
I recently purchased the Jabra SP700 for my car and though I've had it for a few hours I can say this bad boy works. Myself and a couple of friends have been researching this item since we all recently purchased cars without the integrated bluetooth option that our previous company cars had (nnoooo.. :-(. We did a brief comparison test between the Jabra SP700 and the Motorola T505. Both items do it's job well but with one major caveat. The SP700 as a stand alone speaker and mic works great, better than the T505. But when you try connecting it to your radio via the FM modulator the sound is sub par. Do not buy this product if you primary intention is to stream your music or talk to people over your car's speakers. The T505 does a better job at transmitting the signal via it's FM modulator but as a stand alone talking device it does not.
Bottom line If you are looking for a stand alone bluetooth mic/speaker buy the SP700. If you are looking for an item that can stream music and allow you to talk over your car's speaker then buy the Motorola T505.
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The iKross gives customers the impression of a wireless solar powered Bluetooth hands-free, it's exactly that. However when it comes to speaker quality the sound is faint.
