Hey Everyone It's been a long time since I've researched my car audio so I'm out of the loop with current standards and technology. I'm looking to upgrade the wife's factory radio in her '08 Nissan Dualis. Originally, she wanted a Parrot bluetooth handsfree unit, but after some initial research, I figured it might be better value to upgrade the head unit to one that incorporates bluetooth handsfree while I'm at it. Her primary requirement is a good quality bluetooth handsfree feature that, is fully iPhone 4 compatible, allows direct connection for charging, has full access to phonebook and most of all, has clear voice calling and noise/echo minimising technology. Getting an improved sound system as a bonus is secondary to that. I know Alpine HU's incorporate Parrot technology and I haven't heard any bad things about that Parrot brand, so my primary question is, how do the other manufacturer's handsfree feature stack up against the Alpine range? Is that technology broadly similar across the board or is Parrot a standout at what they do? So far, some of the models I've been comparing are; Alpine's CDE-126BT Eclipse's CD5030 Pioneer's DEH-7350BT and JVC's KD-R926BT From a car audio POV, the Eclipse seems loaded with SQ features that you only get in higher priced Alpine decks like 7-band PEQ, time correction and 5V pre-outs and Eclipse's twin security setup is always a selling point with me so it appears it's a great bang for bucks unit. And if I was buying based on SQ then i'd be leaning towards this one. But the primary "want" here is the handsfree feature, and I can't find any source to confirm whether or not it's fully compatible with iPhone 4, or what the quality of the bluetooth is like (comparable to Parrot?). The JVC also seems pretty feature-rich in it's specs, but I've only ever installed one JVC HU in my dad's car (his choice) and the SQ of the JVC was pretty average I found. Maybe this unit is better built or JVC have improved over the years? Anyone got an opinion on this unit? So, does anyone have opinions on the quality of the bluetooth on non-Alpine brands? And what's everyone's take on these units overall? Or are there better units for less than $400 out there?
Hey Guy, I cant speak for the any listed. But I currently have a Kenwood-645u with the bluetooth option that works excellent. I purchased for my wife's vehicle so it had to be user friendly. I haven't heard anything negative from her, and she would deff let me know, so I assume she figured it out without me havin to swingin on her, jk. I believe this was last year's model so Kenwood deff has a newer model out now. :mellow:
So the bluetooth aint so bad on Kenwoods. Cool. I'll keep it in mind when checking out the other models in the range. Cheers bro.
I have an Alpine with Bluetooth, it works well and my wife has a Pioneer with Bluetooth it also works well.
Sounds like the bluetooth features are on par with each other across the board on the better known brands. So maybe Parrot-incorporated decks aren't any better than the rest? Interesting. Thanks.
