Has anyone added Bluetooth to their car?

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Kelemvor

Kelemvor

Lifer
May 23, 2002
16,928
8
81
I have added an Aux jack to my car and now I want to add Bluetooth to it as well. This would be 99% for listening to music and 1% (if that) for phone calls.

I've seen two general kinds of BT devices.
One is like a small puck that you'd stick to your dash like this.
The other is a dongle that just connects to your Aux jack like this.

The first type mounts on the dash so would theoretically be better for talking on the phone while the second type would be just for listening to music.

Has anyone used either type with better success than the other? Feel free to post specific items you have and if you like them or not or any other recommendations.

Thanks!
 
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W

Worthington

Golden Member
Apr 29, 2005
1,432
17
81
Your link (the first one) is broken but I added a BT receiver that just plugs into your cig port and then broadcasts out your radio using a FM channel. Works like a charm, I'm pretty happy with it. Got it in my console/armrest so you don't even see it.
 
Kelemvor

Kelemvor

Lifer
May 23, 2002
16,928
8
81
Link is fixed. I've heard that the FM frequency ones don't have as good of quality as the ones that use the Aux jack but I guess that would be another options.
 
QueBert

QueBert

Lifer
Jan 6, 2002
22,921
1,117
126
Kelemvor said:
Pretty sure any new head unit would negate all my steering wheel controls so that's not an option I'm considering.
2006 Cobalt LTZ if that matters.
Click to expand...

They make aftermarket adapters for steering wheel controls. You do have to make sure you get the right one. I have a Saturn Sky and got a Pioneer head unit and my steering wheel controls still work.

The adapters are pretty cheap. I recommend Pioneer or Alpine. Another benefit over your stock will be MUCH better sound quality. Going from stock stereo to mine it sounds night and day better.
 
amdhunter

amdhunter

Lifer
May 19, 2003
23,332
249
106
I had this one for a while installed in the cupholder of my car. Worked perfectly - I synced automatically when I started the car, and the buttons were intuitive enough. Sound quality was top notch with my iPhone but sounded crappy with my Nexus 4.
 
CZroe

CZroe

Lifer
Jun 24, 2001
24,195
857
126
Stay the hell away from the Belkin TuneCast or AirCast or whatever it's called. It's useless junk. I love my Kinivo BTC450 though. The new 455 is the same thing but supports pairing with two devices.

The dedicated skip buttons are so much better than trying to get the timing right on the single button with no feedback on the Belkin unit. The Belkin unit also doesn't do AptX and sounds TERRIBLE. No one will be able to hear you. No one.

It works great on my 2011 Corolla. No need for the ground loop feedback isolator thing that some cars supposedly need. I have a blank spot to mount it right in front of my shift knob while it's in top gear so I can reach the buttons to change tracks or activate voice control without even lifting my hand.
 
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ImpulsE69

ImpulsE69

Lifer
Jan 8, 2010
14,946
1,077
126
I've had bluetooth (Ford Sync) since 2010. I can't imagine going back. Using Plex (or whatever you want to serve with), I can access my entire catalog as I drive and not have to deal with wires etc.
 
Krazy4Real

Krazy4Real

Lifer
Oct 3, 2003
12,221
55
91
I bought this for my car I think three years ago (it's a 2007 with stock cd player). link

It has an external microphone that i put next to my rearview mirror. It has factory harness adapters so you don't even need an aux in (my car didn't). It came with a little remote that you strap to your steering wheel, and a display you can mount anywhere you like. It's been flawless and audio quality is top notch. Automatically mutes your music when a call comes though. When call is over, music automatically resumes.
 
dullard

dullard

Elite Member
May 21, 2001
25,849
4,427
126
Bluetooth music in cars sucks. When it works, it works okay. But, it really isn't convenient to control music on a phone when driving. Bluetooth loses connections as well (especially if you like to use your phone with multiple Bluetooth devices such as a car and headset). And worst of all, if you are near your running car, all calls go to the car whether you want to or not.

USB music is far superior. You lose calling through your car's speakers, but that isn't what you were interested in. Put all of your music on a tiny-sized but large-capacity $10 USB drive and control it all from your head unit (you'll probably need a new head unit to be as good as it can be, but there are USB to AUX adapters).
 
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Z

Zee

Diamond Member
Nov 27, 1999
5,171
3
76
dullard said:
Bluetooth music in cars sucks. When it works, it works okay. But, it really isn't convenient to control music on a phone when driving. Bluetooth loses connections as well (especially if you like to use your phone with multiple Bluetooth devices such as a car and headset). And worst of all, if you are near your running car, all calls go to the car whether you want to or not.

USB music is far superior. You lose calling through your car's speakers, but that isn't what you were interested in. Put all of your music on a tiny-sized but large-capacity $10 USB drive and control it all from your head unit (you'll probably need a new head unit to be as good as it can be, but there are USB to AUX adapters).
Click to expand...

not applicable for alot of people who stream music
 
Scarpozzi

Scarpozzi

Lifer
Jun 13, 2000
26,391
1,780
126
dullard said:
Bluetooth music in cars sucks. When it works, it works okay. But, it really isn't convenient to control music on a phone when driving. Bluetooth loses connections as well (especially if you like to use your phone with multiple Bluetooth devices such as a car and headset). And worst of all, if you are near your running car, all calls go to the car whether you want to or not.

USB music is far superior. You lose calling through your car's speakers, but that isn't what you were interested in. Put all of your music on a tiny-sized but large-capacity $10 USB drive and control it all from your head unit (you'll probably need a new head unit to be as good as it can be, but there are USB to AUX adapters).
Click to expand...

tumblr_nc088uvdga1tgkjz9o1_1280.jpg


I use Google Music and Pandora.....I have unlimited data on my phone and stream music constantly. It works great and for really long trips, I can charge my phone the whole trip without having to deal with a second wire....

My F150 has sync and it works great with my phone...as does my 4Runner with its Bluetooth radio. I agree, some implementations of Bluetooth are lacking, but once you get over the learning curve with each radio, I don't have any issues getting connected when I want to. My phone automatically pairs and when it pairs with my vehicles, Google Music is set to automatically start. It's far easier to find music there than go through USB menus searching a directory structure....just my experience.
 
Krazy4Real

Krazy4Real

Lifer
Oct 3, 2003
12,221
55
91
dullard said:
Bluetooth music in cars sucks. When it works, it works okay. But, it really isn't convenient to control music on a phone when driving. Bluetooth loses connections as well (especially if you like to use your phone with multiple Bluetooth devices such as a car and headset). And worst of all, if you are near your running car, all calls go to the car whether you want to or not.

USB music is far superior. You lose calling through your car's speakers, but that isn't what you were interested in. Put all of your music on a tiny-sized but large-capacity $10 USB drive and control it all from your head unit (you'll probably need a new head unit to be as good as it can be, but there are USB to AUX adapters).
Click to expand...
You've used terrible bluetooth adapters then. I've never lost connection with mine. It has a steering wheel remote, so I never need to grab my phone. If my car is running, and I don't want a call to go to my car, you can push the button on your phone's call screen to switch the call back to your phone.

Bluetooth has it's quirks, but everything you've mentioned points more towards the device and not the technology. I've used crappy bluetooth products before and I learned to stick to good brands with good support that stand behind their products for something that I need to work reliably day in and day out.
 
dullard

dullard

Elite Member
May 21, 2001
25,849
4,427
126
Zee said:
not applicable for alot of people who stream music
Click to expand...
I may be old school then. I use Pandora (free version) to find music that I like, then use Amazon to get a used CD for ~$3 after shipping of that music if the CD is good or ~$0.99 for just the good track if the rest of the CD is bad. Everything I could ever want, fresh (to within a few days of me finding it on Pandora), for a fraction of the cost of streaming services.

But, then I like full control to listen to things as I want, not in the order that a streaming service chooses for you (some are better than others). And I drive 1.5 hours each day, through areas with poor phone reception.

The USB drive is sorted by mood (i.e. a peppy directory if I am sleepy, a David Sedaris directory if I want to laugh, a mello directory if I had a bad day, an NPR directory with radio recordings if I want to be informed, etc). So, I select the main directory with the type of music that I want, and inside are sub-directories of each band/radio show that fits that category. It is a piece of cake to control with my left thumb directly through my steering wheel.
 
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ControlD

ControlD

Diamond Member
Apr 25, 2005
5,440
44
91
dullard said:
I may be old school then. I use Pandora (free version) to find music that I like, then use Amazon to get a used CD for ~$3 after shipping of that music if the CD is good or ~$0.99 for just the good track if the rest of the CD is bad. Everything I could ever want, fresh (to within a few days of me finding it on Pandora), for a fraction of the cost of streaming services.

But, then I like full control to listen to things as I want, not in the order that a streaming service chooses for you (some are better than others). And I drive 1.5 hours each day, through areas with poor phone reception.

The USB drive is sorted by mood (i.e. a peppy directory if I am sleepy, a David Sedaris directory if I want to laugh, a mello directory if I had a bad day, an NPR directory with radio recordings if I want to be informed, etc). So, I select the main directory with the type of music that I want, and inside are sub-directories of each band/radio show that fits that category. It is a piece of cake to control with my left thumb directly through my steering wheel.
Click to expand...

Totally understand about being old school, my car is full of CDs.

But as far as streaming services go, if you pay for a premium service like Google Play Music or Spotify / Rdio / etc. then you choose what gets played rather than a random Pandora-like experience. It is just like having a library of CDs on your device but you are streaming the content rather than storing it locally. Of course you can download and store unlimited amounts of music on your device as long as your subscription is good. For those of us with limited data plans however using such a service for streaming only in the car is just a dream.
 
T

thomsbrain

Lifer
Dec 4, 2001
18,148
1
0
The Kinivos sound good enough to make you forget about ever plugging in directly again, and it is so nice to be able to just pick up your phone and get out of the car without messing with cables or pressing pause or anything. They aren't completely bug-free but they're close enough for the price. I have mine completely hidden except for the puck (cig lighter power in glove compartment, unit cable run behind the dash, audio cable behind dash to hidden aux-in, puck placed next to stereo).

To the guy complaining about streaming services, there's something called Google Play Music, and it's free. You can store every MP3 in your collection there and stream or cache any of it. I have every CD I've ever owned ripped to my Play account. You only need to pay if you want access to Google's collection.
 
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CZroe

CZroe

Lifer
Jun 24, 2001
24,195
857
126
tortillasoup said:
get one with Apt-X like this: http://www.amazon.com/Kinivo-BTC450-Bluetooth-Hands-Free-Input/dp/B009NLTW60

I just bought one of these, suppose to have significantly higher quality bluetooth audio if your devices support it which I believe higher end android and iphones support.

I bought the BTC455 because I wanted multipoint bluetooth connection.
Click to expand...

That's the one I am current using and suggested earlier. I've had experience with several different kits and this has been the only one that left me 100% satisfied. My only wish was granted when they added multipoint.

Well, I'd prefer if I could use my own dual/quad USB charger and it used one USB port, but it's seriously great and it quick-charges Android and iOS devices with the single built-in USB port.
 
5to1baby1in5

5to1baby1in5

Golden Member
Apr 27, 2001
1,248
109
106
I installed a device from Grom Audio in my car.
http://www.gromaudio.com/compare.html

It plugs into the port for an external CD player, and makes the car stereo think it is talking to a 6-disc CD player. I would have just gotten a new head unit, but my car has a non-DIN stereo in it. It has Bluetooth, a USB port and an Aux-in jack.

I had to pull the dash apart to get to the back of the radio, but it was easy on my car.
 
ImpulsE69

ImpulsE69

Lifer
Jan 8, 2010
14,946
1,077
126
dullard said:
Bluetooth music in cars sucks. When it works, it works okay. But, it really isn't convenient to control music on a phone when driving. Bluetooth loses connections as well (especially if you like to use your phone with multiple Bluetooth devices such as a car and headset). And worst of all, if you are near your running car, all calls go to the car whether you want to or not.

USB music is far superior. You lose calling through your car's speakers, but that isn't what you were interested in. Put all of your music on a tiny-sized but large-capacity $10 USB drive and control it all from your head unit (you'll probably need a new head unit to be as good as it can be, but there are USB to AUX adapters).
Click to expand...

Been doing this for 5 years, on Android 1.6 for much of it. I had issues then, but haven't since I got my new phones. Works great...and never had the issues you talk about. Granted, like I mentioned above, Ford Sync is built in by the factory. You control everything by voice or the steering console if you want.

Might be different and less ideal on some add on - kinda like the old FM transceivers were flaky and barely worth the time.

But basically I think all car manufacturers have their own version of it built in now stock now. It is simple and the quality is not bad as you say.
 
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