Customer Reviews

Anycom Solar Visor Bluetooth Kit [Retail Packaging]

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Good product. Bluetooth sync was easy and quick. Solar charging appears to work well even on cloudy days. Can be a little tricky to manage functions (press button for varying seconds to initiate tasks) but once learned, it functons well. Can also be used in meetings, sound quality is good.

The concept is fabulous. I can't get it to pair with my LG 8350 and repeated emails to the manufacturer are ignored. Will have to return it. Not a happy camper.

I was starting to research various bluetooth speakers when I noticed what appeared to be a too-good-to-be-true price on the Anycom SCK-1 at one of those sale-of-the-day sites. I had never heard of Anycom and was suspicious that it might be a cheap off-brand-piece-of-crap. I was wrong. I charged it up by booking the usb cable into my MacBook instead of plugging into the powerblock or car charger that Anycom supplied. The solar panel does an amazing job of keeping the unit charged--even better than indicted in the manual. It's been four months since it's initial "plug-in" charge and only today did I have to plug it back in to charge--after leaving it turned on in a dark garage for quite a while. One small caveat--when it fully discharges, the solar panel will struggle to recharge it, especially through the tinted glass in cars. (The tinted glass doesn't make a difference keeping the unit charged. It only matters when the unit is beeping at you to recharge it.) It began beeping once while I was traveling and I hadn't brought the charging cables. I just took it up to my hotel room and laid it in an open window for a few hours and it was satisfied enough to stop beeping at me.

Oh yes, the sound. The people on the other end of the line are amazed I'm speaking to them on a speakerphone even when I have the top down on my convertible in busy city traffic. Of course, I may have trouble hearing them with the top down, since noise reduction technology on any bluetooth accessory only works on the microphone, not the ear piece (too often people think the noise reduction technology will help them hear better, but it actually only helps their callers hear them).

I am very happy with the Anycom and have recommended it to my friends.

bad quality, so I replaced this products by spending double amount of money to purchase identical product of LG from England. This product does not worth the money. Don't buy.

Summary: when it works, it's very useful and easy to use. But it doesn't work often.

This is my third Solar Car Kit. The first two were sent back to Anycom. By the way, their online form or email is NOT their preferred contact method. Call their SoCal 24x7 support line at 866-553-9426, you get a friendly and mostly competent American to talk to and get an RMA number.

All three had problems. Two did not recharge via solar (in California's very sunny summer Central Valley!!) and one had the large button stick which rendered it non-functional. Before that happened, and for the others while they were charged via the supplied USB charger, they were very useful. Like another reviewer, we don't use our phones much so won't bother with a Bluetooth earpiece. Once paired, the Anycom SCK will reconnect by itself when you get in range. Just push the large front button to make or answer a call. We didn't use the other features.

Two I returned. Anycom sent one replacement which I have now and the solar recharge doesn't work. They still haven't replaced the other one. These have to come from Germany I'm told, hence the delay. In spite of the lack of solar charging I will keep this one and recharge by USB when it runs out, which seems to be every two to three weeks. And I still recommend it for those who don't use your cellphone much in the car. If you do use your cellphone, use a BT earpiece or another visor/windshield device and get used to a dangling wire.

I bought this car kit because of the new California law, and also because I specifically didn't want to have a bunch of wires strewn about in my car. The Anycom kit seemed to be the perfect solution to my problem. It's solar powered, so I should be able to just stick it in my windshield and forget about it. I rarely use the phone in my car, so I wasn't asking much from it.

It still didn't deliver.

Actually, the regular functions of it work just fine. It's nice and loud, the button is easy to press, it paired easily with my phone, &c. The problem is with powering it.

I live in Southern California, and park my car outside both at home and at work. This device was getting 12-14 HOURS of direct sunlight EVERY DAY! This should be ample power for it. It wasn't. After 5 days, the device started beeping every 30 seconds to tell me it didn't have enough power. During this week, I probably used it for a grand total of 5 minutes of calls. I figured I didn't let it charge enough when I bought it, so I took it in the house and charged it overnight.
The next day, it had a full battery, and worked just great. However, after less than a week, it once again started crying about how it didn't have enough power. This was on a Sunday. Not one to give up on it, I thought to myself, "Okay, I really only need it on weekends." So, I left it in the window, but OFF, for a week. It got a grand total of 60 HOURS of DIRECT SUNLIGHT! This should have been more than adequate to charge it up. When I turned it on, it IMMEDIATELY began crying about not having enough power. I have since thrown it in the glove box and not used it. I think I will try to return it if I get some free time.
They definitely do NOT have their act together, and I'm unsure that the solar panel does anything at all. So if you're buying it because it's solar, save your money, and wait for some other company to produce one. This one will only work properly if it's plugged in, so you may as well buy a cheaper one and save yourself the solar premium.

Concept is great - a solar charged Bluetooth hands-free mic/speaker. Paired up nicely to my Treo, and sound quality was good.

However, apparently it's designed for charging in the moonlight because the darn thing MELTED along with its windshield mount. And I live in an area where the temperature is usually 60-80 degrees at most. Obviously a car gets hotter, but if it's a SOLAR charger you'd think that it is designed to be exposed to the sun....

So I'll pursue a warranty claim, and if I get another I'll only charge via USB and keep it in a refrigerator until I need to use it. Right now it seems about as useful as windshield wipers made out of ice.

This is a really nice little hands-free device, and if you live in a sunny location like I do, its a REALLY nice little hands-free device. Does it have the voice quality of some of the nicer in-ear devices? No. Do you ever, EVER have to worry about the battery running out mid-conversation? No, not if you live in the sun. I had this thing in my car for a good 6 months before it got stolen, and not once did it even get a low battery. You can press and hold a button on the side and the device will beep to tell you how much batter it has: 1 for low, 2, 3, 4 for full. I always heard 4. Take that against my last earpiece which would go dead on me if I talked for more than an hour or two, and I was sold. Great product.

I bought mine from a retail store just in case I have to return it. I played with it for 3 weeks now and I have decided to keep it for these reasons. I was also comparing this to other and more expensive makes but for what I need to do, it is good enough.

Pro:
-Really small and sleak looking
-I have not had to charge this thing since the first time I charged it up.
-Quality is acceptable on the othr side. Beware the voice quality also depends on the phone you are using. Not totally the problem with the bluetooth device itself. I tested on both BB and WinMo phones and the voice quality is not the same.
-Volume is loud enough

Con:
-No caller id annoucement
-FM station
-Have to remember the buttons and pressing sequences for functions

I installed this small device directly on top of the rear view mirror on the drive's side. Instead of vertical mount, I place it horizontally and the mic hole facing the roof and towards the driver. Also this position will not block and driving view and also receive the most sun at anytime.

The battery live is amazing. I purposely left it on after work on Friday (3 beeps battery strength indication) in the car in the garage. On Monday morning when I start my commute, the battery strength remained the same. With the sun charging it constantly during commute, I basically don't need to plug it in or turn it off. I have no need for anf FM transmitter feature which most of the time doesn't work either. So, I didn't miss it.

Solar charging works great. I make or receive phone calls only for 10 minutes a week and I don't need to take it home to charge it any more. Once you register your cell phone (I have an iPhone 3G), it is automatically connected when you get in the car. The large button is easy to press so I never miss a call while I am driving since I got this one. Sound quality is good enough for conversation.