pengful
Well-Known Member
Howdee all, after using the Jabra SP200 for coming to 2 years (see my recommendation: http://www.bmw-sg.com/forums/i-c-e-...ation-jabra-sp200-bluetooth-speakerphone.html), I decided to try another new toy.
Though the Jabra SP200 serves me well, it has been erratic with the bluetooth pairing lately. It just pairs and unpair, then pairs again, which is kind of irritating. The Jabra SP200 is a basic car speakerphone for those of us whose rides do not come with the bluetooth module from the factory and serves basic call and answer needs. However, it requires the user to activate calls or end calls by touching the phone or the speakerphone itself. Now, that's where the Blueant comes in... it is 100% handsfree.
The Blueant S4 is not sold in SG yet, yes, have tried scouring Sim Lim and Funan and was not successful. So, I decided to order from Amazon.com (USD 61 + USD14 delivery) and they deliver to your doorstep, which took them 3 weeks. The carrier was USPS.
I played with it for 2 days now and am pleased, though you need to get used to it initially. Here goes;
Start up
1) The S4 arrives pre-charged and this means you can start using immediately, or you can continue to charge until the red light goes off.
2) Once turned on, a voice will tell you it is attempting to pair with your phone (make sure your phone bluetooth is turned on) and will update your phone contacts to the speakerphone.
3) Updating the contacts means that the speakerphone will read out the names of the caller when the call comes in. Therefore, if you set up your contact as "John Tan", it will read "John Tan" but if you set it as "Tan, John", it will read "Tan, John". If you do not like it, you can always reset the order of the first and last name in your phone contacts and do another update to the phonebook by saying, "Update phonebook" after saying the trigger phrase, "Blueant, speak to me". I will talk more about this later.
Answering calls
1) When a call comes in, the name of the caller will be announced and you can say "Accept" or "Ignor".
2) I will not touch on call waiting and switching calls here but these functions are available.
3) To end the call, you can either do nothing or touch the "inverted u" symbol on the speakerphone.
Calling
1) To make a call, you can either search for a contact in your phone and call from your phone or, you can activate voice calling.
2) To activate voice calling, you have to make sure that your phone supports voice calling function. I believe most smartphones do.
3) Example of a voice calling sequence,
You: Blueant, speak to me
Blueant: Say a command
You: Phone commands
Blueant: ...Blueant will say that voice calling is activated and your phone's built-in voice calling function is ready (can remember exact words)....
You: Call John Tan, Work or Mobile (if there are 2 different numbers)
4) That's it. Of course, you can also say, "Call Back" or "Redial" if you want to return call to the last caller or make another call to the last dialled number
5) To end the call, again, no need to do anything. Once the other party hangs up, the speakerphone will tell you call is ended.
Other actions
1) This speakerphone is triggered by a trigger phrase, "Blueant, speak to me" so by saying this trigger phrase, the speakerphone will answer back, "Say a command".
2) There is a user manual you can refer to but briefly, you can say the following:
- Am I connected?
- Check battery
- Sensitivity level
- Call back
- Redial
- LED light
3) Or, you can say, "What can I say?" and the speakerphone will respond with a list of options. Take note that some of the so-called value-added information may not be supported in SG, things like weather, stock, traffic, etc. In my opinion, not really necessary.
A2DP for music streaming
1) It supports bluetooth A2DP music streaming from your phone to the speaker but I must tell you that though it is clear, it will only play in mono.
2) You can easily disable this function if you do not like it.
Overall, I would say that this is a great handsfree, voice-controlled car speakerphone. The voice quality is great and it cuts out background noises. It does takes a day or 2 to get used to it but the learning curve is not steep. The package comes with all the instructions you need. In my opinion, a truly handsfree device compared to others in the market.
Some online reviews to read;
blueant s4 review - Google Search
This is how it looks like on my visor...
Though the Jabra SP200 serves me well, it has been erratic with the bluetooth pairing lately. It just pairs and unpair, then pairs again, which is kind of irritating. The Jabra SP200 is a basic car speakerphone for those of us whose rides do not come with the bluetooth module from the factory and serves basic call and answer needs. However, it requires the user to activate calls or end calls by touching the phone or the speakerphone itself. Now, that's where the Blueant comes in... it is 100% handsfree.
The Blueant S4 is not sold in SG yet, yes, have tried scouring Sim Lim and Funan and was not successful. So, I decided to order from Amazon.com (USD 61 + USD14 delivery) and they deliver to your doorstep, which took them 3 weeks. The carrier was USPS.
I played with it for 2 days now and am pleased, though you need to get used to it initially. Here goes;
Start up
1) The S4 arrives pre-charged and this means you can start using immediately, or you can continue to charge until the red light goes off.
2) Once turned on, a voice will tell you it is attempting to pair with your phone (make sure your phone bluetooth is turned on) and will update your phone contacts to the speakerphone.
3) Updating the contacts means that the speakerphone will read out the names of the caller when the call comes in. Therefore, if you set up your contact as "John Tan", it will read "John Tan" but if you set it as "Tan, John", it will read "Tan, John". If you do not like it, you can always reset the order of the first and last name in your phone contacts and do another update to the phonebook by saying, "Update phonebook" after saying the trigger phrase, "Blueant, speak to me". I will talk more about this later.
Answering calls
1) When a call comes in, the name of the caller will be announced and you can say "Accept" or "Ignor".
2) I will not touch on call waiting and switching calls here but these functions are available.
3) To end the call, you can either do nothing or touch the "inverted u" symbol on the speakerphone.
Calling
1) To make a call, you can either search for a contact in your phone and call from your phone or, you can activate voice calling.
2) To activate voice calling, you have to make sure that your phone supports voice calling function. I believe most smartphones do.
3) Example of a voice calling sequence,
You: Blueant, speak to me
Blueant: Say a command
You: Phone commands
Blueant: ...Blueant will say that voice calling is activated and your phone's built-in voice calling function is ready (can remember exact words)....
You: Call John Tan, Work or Mobile (if there are 2 different numbers)
4) That's it. Of course, you can also say, "Call Back" or "Redial" if you want to return call to the last caller or make another call to the last dialled number
5) To end the call, again, no need to do anything. Once the other party hangs up, the speakerphone will tell you call is ended.
Other actions
1) This speakerphone is triggered by a trigger phrase, "Blueant, speak to me" so by saying this trigger phrase, the speakerphone will answer back, "Say a command".
2) There is a user manual you can refer to but briefly, you can say the following:
- Am I connected?
- Check battery
- Sensitivity level
- Call back
- Redial
- LED light
3) Or, you can say, "What can I say?" and the speakerphone will respond with a list of options. Take note that some of the so-called value-added information may not be supported in SG, things like weather, stock, traffic, etc. In my opinion, not really necessary.
A2DP for music streaming
1) It supports bluetooth A2DP music streaming from your phone to the speaker but I must tell you that though it is clear, it will only play in mono.
2) You can easily disable this function if you do not like it.
Overall, I would say that this is a great handsfree, voice-controlled car speakerphone. The voice quality is great and it cuts out background noises. It does takes a day or 2 to get used to it but the learning curve is not steep. The package comes with all the instructions you need. In my opinion, a truly handsfree device compared to others in the market.
Some online reviews to read;
blueant s4 review - Google Search
This is how it looks like on my visor...
