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Most people agree that the act of driving with a cell phone glued to your ear is not only bad for your chiropractic health, but could be dangerous for you and others. For this reason, several states have enacted laws that require some sort of hands free device in order to operate a cell phone while driving. The growth in the Bluetooth hands free market can be directly attributed to these laws that have been passed in order to protect us from ourselves. Some however, do not like the idea of a Bluetooth headset either because it is uncomfortable or they don’t like the cyborg look. Enter the Jabra SP5050 Bluetooth Speakerphone ($99.95).
Jabra is one of the most well known brands for Bluetooth hands free devices in the world. The parent company of Jabra, GN, is credited with launching the first mobile Bluetooth headset back in 2000. The Danish company’s products are traditionally some of the best selling and well loved on the market. The along with their SP500 model, the SP5050 is their entry into the Bluetooth speakerphone realm.
Design
The speakerphone is designed to be clipped to the sun visor of your car using the wire clip that is attached to the back of the device, allowing for the device to be located as close to the driver’s head as possible without being worn on the head. I did feel like I was talking directly to the speakerphone when I first started playing with it, but after a while I got comfortable enough with it that I was able to just talk and drive. I only have two problems with the design of the SP5050. The first complaint is that when you flip the visor down (to block the sun…which is the whole point of having a visor) the speakerphone is facing the window and you have to unclip it and clip it to the other side, which ruins the hands free experience. The second issue is that the charging cable for the device is for car use only and isn’t long enough (3 feet stretching to 5 feet) to reach to the visor where the speakerphone should be mounted without stretching it across the steering wheel and getting in the drivers way. Included in the package with the speakerphone is a quick start guide, and a mini CD that includes the manual for the device as well as a link to the Jabra website and the ability to create a skin to customize your speakerphone to your own personality.
Features
The SP5050 is Bluetooth 2.0 capable and can be paired to multiple phones. The speakerphone also supports both the Headset and hands free Bluetooth profiles. The edge of the speakerphone which faces the driver has several LED’s (power on, connection status, call status, low battery) that give feedback to the driver on the status of the device. The LED’s are displayed as an icon, which makes it easier to quickly determine what the SP5050 is doing, thus taking your eyes off the road for the least amount of time possible.
Ease of use
The whole point of having a Bluetooth device is to make it easier to talk on the phone while you’re driving. The SP5050 could not be any easier to use. The pairing process was painless as the device automatically enters pairing mode when it is powered on (the Bluetooth passkey was 0000). The speakerphone is powered on by powered on by holding the multifunction button on the front of the device for around 5 seconds. To answer or end a call you simply tap the same multifunction button (which is large enough to find easily without taking your eyes off the road), to reject a call you press and hold the same button for around 1 second. Volume controls are located on either side of the SP5050, when both are pressed, the speakerphone enters it’s “Night Driving Mode” which turns the LED’s off so you’re night vision isn’t effected by the lights.
Quality
The speakerphone feels solid and has a sleek, slim look to it. Call quality is excellent due to full duplex capability and background noise reduction using DSP (Digital Signal Processing). The battery of the SP5050 allows for 12 hours of talk time and 200 hours of standby time. My favorite feature is that the speakerphone shuts itself (power off, not standby) off 15 minutes after losing connection with your phone. This allows the device to go days between charging (which is a good thing considering the charging cable issue that I mentioned earlier).
Conclusion
I would highly recommend this device for people that are on the road for a significant portion of their day or for this who just do not like the idea of a Bluetooth headset (for whatever reason). The call quality is excellent and it is simple to use. The battery capacity and the auto power off make the SP5050 one of the best Bluetooth devices in terms of power management that I’ve ever seen. The fact that there are only three buttons, and there is no installation (other than the Bluetooth pairing process) makes this a great choice for Bluetooth beginners.Ratings (out of 5)
Overall:
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Anyone else have a problem with this thing being way too quiet? I switched from a BlueAnt Supertooth Light, and it's a night-and-day difference in volume.