Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)I installed this in our Honda Fit using an aftermarket harness to make it (almost) "plug and play." I decided to purchase this rather than the Bluetooth add-on for the (Pioneer) stereo already installed, as it (Pioneer's Bluetooth unit) received pretty mediocre reviews, cost more, and of course wouldn't work if I eventually decide to put in a different brand stereo someday.
If you're never installed a car radio before, this probably isn't the first thing you should install yourself -- I'd recommend having it professionally installed, since there are a good-sized handful of cables coming out of this thing that need to get routed properly, and you will most likely have to do some minor drilling and/or cutting to count the display and microphone if you want a really "clean" installation. As a yardstick, I probably spent 4 hours total on the installation.
Anyway, then, it does work as designed. The interface is fast and responsive, and I like the quality of the display. The software is pretty well thought out -- perhaps A++-super-nerd programmers don't work at Parrot, but certainly above-average ones do. Pairing works quite nicely, automatically connecting to my phone when I get in the car & turn on the ignition and disconnecting shortly after the ignition goes off. When you're on a call, it asserts the "mute" line to the car's stereo which also pauses CD/USB/iPod playback, which is nice. I haven't had any of the communication failures/lock-ups that another reviewer here did.
Some minor gripes are as follows:
-- While the noise reduction is effective up to ~45MPH (most callers wouldn't be able to guess you're calling from a car), it breaks down at highway speeds: Callers will still find you intelligible, but the occasional piece of a word is cut off and there is noticeable distortion. I attribute this so some degree to the rather noisy interior that is the Honda Fit (and most other inexpensive Hondas, for that matter) -- at some level apparently the Parrot just can't reliably separate your voice from the as loud or louder cabin noise. Those with quieter cabins may not ever experience this problem. (I have tried turning "lateral noise detection" off and it does make things worse.)
-- When hanging up calls, I often have to press the "hang up" button a couple of times. I suspect this is likely to be just as much the fault of the Parrot as my phone (a Sprint HTC Touch Pro 2), but it is a bit annoying.
-- The manual is rather spartan. While it contains information on all the "basics," it does leave out explanations for some menu functions, which you're hence left to guess at. While most have names that make it easy to figure them out, there are a few where it's not quite clear exactly what the option does.
I think that this is a little on the spendy side for what you're getting, but overall I'm happy with it and feel that I've received a reasonable (if not spectacular) value for the money.
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