speaker Archives - Joe Tech

bCODA CODA One Hands Free Bluetooth Speaker Review

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I hate when I’m driving in the car with my phone in my pocket and it starts ringing. Not only am I going to miss the call, but I also have to wait until I reach my destination before I can find out who was trying to call me. Yet, for some reason, I never bought a hands free kit for my car. Then this showed up in the mail. It’s the bCODA CODA One, and when I saw it at CES earlier this month, I was intrigued.

Hands Free For The Car

Some people can barely drive safely, much less operate a cell phone while driving. I can answer calls safely, but I wait to make calls until I’m no longer driving or stopped at a light. CODA One connects seamlessly via bluetooth to your phone and its one-touch operation for phone calls makes it safe and simple to answer or even initiate calls while driving. One press of the multi-function button in the middle of the device made my phone prompt me for a number to call. I blurted out “Call Wife” and he phone was ringing a few seconds later as seen in the demo video below. Before, I would have to pull out my phone, unlock it with my four-digit pass code, go to favorites and tap on my wife’s entry. This hands-free approach is so much easier.

I’m sure you’ve seen a hands-free device before, and so have I. What caught my attention at CES was how this portable speaker quickly transforms into a handset for your phone. With your phone still in your pocket, that call you took while driving can easily become private by hitting the Mode button on the device and holding it to your head like a phone. It’s such a simple, yet smart feature that really makes the device worthwhile.

A total of six magnets in the handset and the detachable clip hold the clip firmly in place while making it easy to remove with one hand while driving. The two magnets in the handset also make it easy to attach to any metal surface.

A Secondary Speaker For Your Devices

More than just a handset, the CODA One is also a wireless speaker system for any bluetooth enabled device. I paired it to my iPad and ran a number of tests, including some FPS game play shown in the review video below. The sound came through clear and was a lot louder than my iPad’s built in speaker. With the visor clip doubling as a stand, I propped it up next to me while I played games on the iPad for a much improved audio experience.

CODA One Review Video

This device is best experienced in your own hands, but the next best thing is a video demonstrating its uses and functionality, so here you go.

Conclusions

Priced at $99 (unverified), the CODA One is on the expensive side but well worth it. It has a relaxed design to match any setup and feels natural in your hand when used as a handset. Simplicity and actually useful features set it apart from any hands-free device or bluetooth speaker I’ve seen. With 20 hours of talk time, it will barely need charging. The only reason you shouldn’t buy one is if you win it here.

Win a CODA One

Not only do the makers of CODA One make a killer product, but they’ve sent another CODA One for me to give away. How awesome is that. Like always, all you have to do to earn contest entries is be social with the contest tool below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Nokia Speakerphone HF-510 Frees Your Hands For Driving

Many states have laws about using your cell phone while driving. Even where the law permits it, using your phone while driving can be dangerous. I have to admit, I talk on the phone while driving a lot. Although I can still drive safely, it’s inconvenient and ties up my free hand. Nokia sent me something that makes it all easier.

About the HF-510

The Nokia Speakerphone HF-510 is a hands free kit for your car that connects via Blue Tooth to your phone. Simple enough, but what makes this different from other hands free kits out there? I’ve seen a ton of them and decent kits start around $50 last time I checked and the HF-510 comes in a little over that mark. The first difference this device has over others is easily noticed the first time you look at it. The large, easily mountable speaker allows for nice clear audio and can be pretty loud if you want, too. Because I didn’t want to mount the speaker for my review, I found myself throwing it in the cup holder in my car. The speaker size is just about a perfect fit for the cup holder, so if you want to share it between cars, you could try that.

The next stand-out feature I found on this device was the OLED display for caller ID. The whole point of a hands free kit is to not be messing with your phone while driving, so it’s nice to have the incoming caller’s number displayed. This is a great feature and shows up nicely. I hate getting stuck on the phone in my car with someone I don’t want to talk to or someone trying to sell me something. If you don’t mount the speaker or use the included visor clip, though, this feature is not as easy to notice without taking your eyes way off the road. So if you need the caller ID, mount the speaker or use the visor clip.

Other Features, Likes, Dislikes

Additionally, the Nokia HF-510 has a ring around the outside that is used to control the volume and sift through the phone book. While it’s kind of cool and probably works fine if you mount it very stable, it otherwise makes the phone book navigation and volume control harder to accomplish with one hand. While I didn’t really use it long enough to notice any battery issues, it boasts up to 30 hours of operation time and 180 hours of stand by time on the included battery. That’s pretty decent, but they provide a car charger for those really long trips.

Conclusions

This hands free kit just worked well. I might have liked it a little smaller for my visor, but it has a nice design and was generally easy to operate. Call quality was as good as being on my phone, itself and it paired up really really easily. For the extra extra mile the HF-510 goes, I expected a slightly higher price than what I’ve seen and that doesn’t hurt one bit. The Nokia HF-510 looks and works great at a good price, leaving little to ask for.

Even Pac Man Would Like iBoo

One of the cutest little gadgets I’ve gotten in my mailbox is the Speakal iBoo, a little speaker, shaped like a ghost and available in red, white or blue. The one they sent out was blue and has become device number two that my wife claimed as her own on sight.

What’s in the box?
It can be frustrating to find the right speaker system to match not only your needs, but also the connection requirements of the device providing the music. It’s worse when you upgrade from one iPod to the next just to find that the new one doesn’t fit in the speaker system you already own. A lot of systems that are geared towards iPods take this into consideration and so does the iBoo. It comes with a bunch of adapters to make any iPod fit. One difference here is that they provide a prying wedge to remove the attached iPod adapter and replace it with another one. It also comes with a kind of cap for when you don’t want any adapter.

Also in the box is an audio cable, the power adapter, user manual, and a small remote control. The remote is a nice addition. Although not necessary, the remote could be handy when you place the iBoo on a shelf or otherwise not easily within reach. The remote also has more functions on it than the iBoo, itself, so it’s good to have even when the iBoo is right next to you.

Appearances aren’t everything, but…
Honestly, of the three colors they offer, blue would be my preference, but I also think any decent sound system should come in sleek black, silver or titanium. That’s just my opinion, and apparently, blue isn’t all that bad, either. Michelle took her new iBoo in to the office to replace her existing stereo speakers and it was, as I’m told, the talk of the office, briefly. Everyone loved it. It is pretty cute, and the design is sleek enough, even in blue. The most thoughtful aspect of the design is that it doesn’t really have any protruding buttons or controls. The play/pause and volume controls are easy to find if you’re looking and not too easy to see if you’re not looking. They’re part of the iBoo’s surface, so you just have to touch the right area on iBoo to control the audio in various ways. It’s not like some small controls sticking out of iBoo would make much of a difference, but it’s the little details that count, sometimes.

(You can see all the photos here)

How is it as a sound system?
Something that I always fear with devices that are made to fit a theme like this is that they focus too much on making it look cute and not enough on making it sound good. Luckily, that’s not so here. Speakal offers up a system that looks cute and sounds good too. I already mentioned that it takes all the iPods as input but I also mentioned an included audio cable. That cable is for the auxiliary input so you can hook up a game system, stereo, television, etc. Where it failed was with my iPhone. When I plugged the iPhone in, it displayed a message on the screen indicating that the device wasn’t made to work with an iPhone. It’s not the first device that has been rejected by my iPhone and I’m sure it won’t be the last, but it’s worth noting. Michelle pointed out that you can’t grab it by the top (because of the touch sensitive controls) to turn it off, although that seems like a minor inconvenience.

Conclusions
iBoo is supposed to be cute, but I want one in black or titanium and I want it to work with my iPhone, but did prove itself as device that can easily please an office crowd and it sounds good. For the money (about $80), it’s a great way to free your music from your standard ear buds or replace larger speakers for more desk space. They also have iPanda and iPig, but I’m holding out for iNinja.