Review: Motorola MOTOROKR T505 Bluetooth In-Car Speakerphone
Can’t find a Bluetooth Headset that fits your ear? Struggling enough with the headset that it defeats the purpose of being ‘hands free’? Well, the Motorola MOTOROKR T505 Bluetooth In-Car Speakerphone ($99.95) is ideal for you. It is essentially a Bluetooth speakerphone, keeping your hands free and your ears clear while driving your car. Unlike a Bluetooth headset, the Motorokr T505 is meant to be used strictly in a car setting. How does it perform?
Read on for the rest of the review!
Design
The Motorokr T505 looks about the size of your average garage door opener, in fact, Motorola suggests that you clip it to the sun visor in your car. The build quality of the Motorokr T505 is superb. It has great texture to it, feeling soft yet sturdy. The buttons are defined and easy-to-reach, the overall look of the Motorokr T505 is subtly stylish, a gadget that looks more wonderous and mysterious than utilitarian and boxy. It will more often than not blend into your car instead of sticking out like an eye-sore.
Usability
The Motorokr T505 sets out to do a few things which are: keep your hands free while driving, provide a clearer and louder speakerphone than your iPhone’s, and transmit calls (and music) to your car’s stereo system via FM. It certainly can be considered a narrow scope to focus on, if you don’t drive a car you won’t need the Motorokr T505. But if you do drive a car, let me tell you this, I can’t imagine using anything other than the Motorokr T505 again.
Syncing your iPhone with the Motorokr T505 is easy as any other Bluetooth device. And I was able to use the speakerphone in seconds upon powering up. Also, charging is made available through mini-USB. What’s great about the Motorokr T505 is that there is no fumbling for the iPhone or having an earpiece attached to you the entire time you’re driving, it is truly a hands free device.
The speakerphone is clear, loud, and extremely audible. Callers were pronounced and unmistakably clear, this was as good as it gets for a Bluetooth speakerphone. Callers also agreed that I sounded great and hardly noticed that I was talking via speakerphone, they assumed I was on my iPhone the entire time.
When the FM transmitter in the Motorokr T505 transmits the call to your FM, it scans the best available station to broadcast to. Specifically, it searches for an empty signal and broadcasts your call to that transmission. Doing this, it gives your phone call a surround sound-esque platform. Though your mileage may vary with the FM transmitter, I live in Los Angeles, home of a multitude of FM stations and the Motorokr T505 still managed to find a signal that was empty and transmitted the conversation clearly to my car’s stereo.
However, because the Motorokr T505 is a speakerphone meant for in the car use, it can only fill a specific niche. For example, if you are always on the go but without a car, there is little need for a car speakerphone. But if you are a commuter who travels mainly by car, there are few better options. The only downside to the Motorokr T505 is when you are carrying passengers, your conversation is not exactly private since the whole car can hear and participate. For those worried about those situations, a Bluetooth headset might better fit that need.
Final Thoughts
I never imagined a car speakerphone to perform so well. I initially imagined the Motorokr T505 to be nothing more than a glorified speakerphone for the iPhone, but I was completely off base. It is a speakerphone that offers great compatibility, clarity, and flexibility. As a speakerphone it succeeds, but when transmitting to your FM stereo it surpasses all expectations.
This Motorokr T505 is a great solution for anyone who is looking for a hands-free device while driving in the car. I highly recommend it to all people who are in need of talking on their cell phone while driving.
PROS
- Great Sounding Speakerphone
- Transmits to FM stations well
- Stylish Design
- Easy-To-Use
CONS
- For Use in Car Only
- Conversations aren’t exactly private
Final Rating: 4.8/5
August 11th, 2008 at 11:13 am
Can you plug it in to the car with an adapter, thus removing the need to recharge it?
August 11th, 2008 at 11:25 am
You forgot to add that the iPhone cannot stream music with it since it doesn’t support A2DP.
August 11th, 2008 at 12:45 pm
I have been looking for a car kit since a while ago. Parrot offers great quality models, though they all tend to claim protagonism in your car’s dash. I like the fact that this Motorokr doesn’t do that and instead it’s been designed for being clipped in the visor. But I am very skeptic about the FM transmission working well. I have tried several FM transmitters in the past, including some very expensive ones, and I have returned them all. I live in a city with radio stations in every step of the dial and I find it hard to believe that this device can find a clear enough spot to work on. I will follow on this one to find if any readers have tried it already and recommend it.
August 11th, 2008 at 1:34 pm
“CONS 1) For Use in Car Only 2) Conversations aren’t exactly private”
I’m never going to buy this, but - I am sorry - this doesn’t make any sense.
1) it meant to be used in the car only
and
2) All the “in-car Bluetooth solutions” are NOT PRIVATE unless you swap the call to the handset or headset
August 13th, 2008 at 8:34 pm
I have a question:
If you are listening to specific station in your car, how does it switch to that FM station you talk about? I understand that it is meant as an FM transmitter for music but for someone listening to a CD while driving and the phone rings how exactly will it handle it?
August 13th, 2008 at 8:50 pm
I ran out and bought one at best buy, going to return this sucker, it does not allow you to stream Ipod to the FM, the main reason I bought this solution.
It does look like a great solution for motorola phones built to use this, and I like the solution.
Speaker phone was as he said, very good, but not usefull to me if i can not stream the Ipod on my iphone.
I have a belkin iphone holder/charger that had a broadcast, but not a speaker phone solution.
I will keep looking, or re-evaluate my device (the iphone).
EJ
August 13th, 2008 at 8:52 pm
Moose:
NO, it does not change to that radio, it is not your radio that the speaker device controlls.
It is kind of strange, but there is a button on the back that seeks out a clean channel and finds one, and tells you the freq, you must change to that channel.
I figure if I am in the same town or area, the same channels will be found or used.
I was using mine for 2 hours on a small trip, before I decided to return it.
However the charger is cool, you can use it when being charged.
August 15th, 2008 at 10:29 am
Let me start out by saying WOW!!! This little bluethooth is without a doubt a heaven sent. It sounds super. Super easy to hook up.I am so glad I bought it.Who would have ever thought Motorola and Apple? What a sweet sound to my ears.
August 15th, 2008 at 11:39 pm
I have had this gadget since it came out a few months ago and I cannot live without it. Excellent sound quality and very easy to pair. The Fm trasnmitter works fine. Do not blame on Motorola that it does not work with iphone, blame it to apple. Everything they make, they make it incompatible with everything, so they sell yo the overpriced accessories.
September 1st, 2008 at 4:46 am
I purchased this recently to pair with my iPhone and it was quite easy to setup. I like the FM transmitter so I use it other than the built in speaker during phone conversation. What sucks is that it doesn’t come with an AC adapter for in-house battery charging. However I did find the Cellet Travel/Home Charger, Model: TCMOTV3X for in-house battery charging. I like this product.
September 4th, 2008 at 7:57 pm
I just purchased the T505 2 days ago . I returned it for a replacement because the voice prompt to make a call when asks you back to verify the name your requesting is inaudable and cut short. Its not my phone because when using the voice prompt strictly with my phone I can understand it crystal clear. Unfortunatly the replacement is more of the same. Other than that the FM modulator works wonderfully for phone calls and exceptional for playing tunes from my MP3 player.
September 9th, 2008 at 11:32 pm
The only problem is it doesn’t work and tech support is non-existent.
October 23rd, 2008 at 11:16 am
I just bought one. I have tried to use a bluetooth head piece in the car, but if you don’t have the thing in your ear at the time of the call, good luck trying to find it and put it in your ear while driving 65 mile per hour. It can be done, but it’s not pretty. I will use this for the car, and an ear piece outside of the car and for privacy.
November 2nd, 2008 at 11:19 pm
I have this device. LOVE IT!! However I misplaced the instructions and accidentally pushed a wrong button and now is is giving commands in French. Can you help by giving me details on how to get it back to English. Thanks for your help