Customer Reviews

Satechi Bluetooth Hands-free Car Stereo Fm Transmitter for iPhone 4s, 4, 3Gs, 3, iPod Touch 4G, BlackBerry, HTC EVO, DROID, Samsung Galaxy S and Bluetooth Stereo A2DP supported Devices

5 star:		(124)
4 star:		(54)
3 star:		(14)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(16)

 

 

I bought this to connect my Iphone 3GS to my Toyota 4Runner stock radio. The phone connects via bluetooth and will stream music to the radio as promised. Incoming calls ring through the speakers, and pressing the button on the Satechi mutes the music and answers the call.

I can talk hands free using the built-in microphone, then return to music when the call ends. People at the other end of the call say it sounds like I'm in a "tin box," but that they can understand me. The volume level of phone calls is different from the volume level of music, thus you have to turn up the volume for phone calls, then turn it down again for the music.

The FM transmission is is not perfect, but it works. There is occassional static/interference from power lines, other cars with their own FM transmitters, or signal bleed from local FM stations. This isn't unique to the Satechi, as I have seen the same comments about similar devices from other manufacturers. It is just the compromise you make for a "wireless" solution that works with your existing radio.

I would give this product 3 or 4 stars, except for one thing: The display FLASHES CONSTANTLY when playing music, and it is BRIGHT! This makes it very distracting when driving at night.

Overall the unit works as advertised, and if you only drive during the day I could recommend it. But the bright flashing display makes it unusable at night. If you want a unit you can use at night, I recommend looking at other products.

*** UPDATE 7-20-2009 ***
As mentioned in other reviews, Satechi technical support is very responsive. They proactively contacted me about the flashing light and are trying to work out a solution. I'll update this review again with the results.

*** UPDATE 7-22-2009 ***
After discussing the problem, Satechi recommended their "Soundfly BT" model instead. It is similar to the BT04, with some added features, but most importantly does NOT have a bright flashing display. They graciously offered an exchange, which is in process now. SATECHI SUPPORT GETS 5 STARS, they have really gone out of their way to contact me, work out the issue, and find a way to make me a satisfied customer. I will post a review of the Soundfly BT unit when the exchange is complete.

After a extensive research, I decided to buy the Satechi Bluetooth FM Transmitter, mainly to reduce cables in my car and play audio via Bluetooth and FM. The unit also had a USB Power Supply, a useful feature that would supply juice to my iPhone 3Gs.

Setup was fairly easy.
Once you plug the device into the cigarette lighter, it automatically searches for a Bluetooth device. On my iPhone, it showed "Carkit". I entered the passcode (this is the only time I used the manual) and the connection was made. First thing I tried was playing music. I was impressed with the sound quality, like a good fm station. With excitement, I instantly called my wife. She said she could hear me clearly, like calling from my office landline.

However, her voice sounded very low even I turned the volume all the way up on my stereo. When I was losing all my hopes, I found out I can turn on the volume of Bluetooth sound via the volume buttons on the left hand side of the iPhone. I called my wife again and turned iPhone's volume all the way up, and voila! I could hear her nice and crisp now. Last thing I tried was charging my iPhone via the USB supply. Voila, again! :) It was charging my iPhone. This device met all my expectations.

One issue I realized after using the unit is that if you get a call and answer from your iPhone, the call goes to your iPhone instead of the Bluetooth device. However, if you answer the call using the answer button on the Bluetooth device, you get the call from Bluetooth. This bothered me a little bit. I made a research on the net and found that this is an issue that happened after the 3.0 update, nothing related to Satechi Bluetooth device.

Overall, I am very satisfied with my purchase. Satechi Bluetooth FM Transmitter is a solid device with a reasonable price tag. I strongly recommend it to iPhone 3Gs owners.

Pros

- Make calls and listen to music wirelessly
- Good Fm reception
- Charges the iPhone 3Gs
- Didn't need it yet, but "aux in" can be used to plug other iPods

Cons

- Forward/skip Play/Pause buttons could be handy, but iPhone 3.0 software doesn't support them, yet anyways.
- I agree with another comment, external microphone would be nice.

I am upgrading my rating and review of this product. I am so impressed by Satechi's customer service that they actually emailed me and phoned me to discuss and/or correct my concerns that I initially had with this product. This may be one of the best customer service experiences I've ever encountered- with phenominal follow up.

OK- enough about the service, let me tell you about the device:

I did A LOT of research before buying this product. I am using it with a Nokia N95 so that I can stream mp3 music, internet radio, Winamp mobile,GPS Navigation commands and telephone calls through my car stereo. Ok all of those things are part of the phone, not the satechi, but it does speak to the versatility of having a cool accessory like this to make the phone even more fun.

After comparing dozens of reviews, I picked up this one and a Venturi mini (which does essentially the same thing) because both had promising customer reviews. After using both units, I can confidently tell you that the sound quality of the Satechi unit FAR EXCEEDS the quality of the Venturi product. Think of the Satechi as "good FM quality sound" and the Venturi as "mediocre 8-track quality sound".

I am not happy with the way the screen strobes between blue and green while the device is in use. The good people at Satechi contacted me and offerend me a solution for testing the new version when it comes out that hopefully resolves this annoyance. Until then I just tilt it down and cover up the screen with something.

I bought this product for use with my Samsung SGH-A707 Cell Phone and I'm very pleased with the way it works. The phone communicates with this device via BlueTooth and then relays the signal to my car stereo via an FM transmitter. Since it does transmit to your car radio you may occasionally pick up some static but the advantages far out way that minor problem. It is very easy to hear people on the phone as well since it comes over your car stereo and you can make it as loud as you want. So far nobody has complained about being unable to hear me either so it must work equally well in both directions. The product is more expensive than I would have liked and I wish it had next song/previous song buttons so I didn't have to fumble with my phone while I'm driving but overall I am extremely happy with the product and highly recommend it. I am also extremely happy with the customer service of Satechi. Their staff is extremely helpful and friendly

I have been using another Satechi Bluetooth transmitter for the past 9 months: the Soundfly BT Ultimate Bluetooth Car Fm Transmitter WMA/MP3 Player for SD Card, USB Stick, iPhone 3Gs & 3G, iPod, Zune. It has developed a short and I was impressed to find that it has a 1-year warranty so I sent it back to Satechi for replacement. In the meantime, I decided to try this model. At first I was disappointed that it would not transmit FM frequencies below 88.1 (the Sound-Fly could hand 87.9 which is always clear of transmissions in the US). Once I found a clear channel in my area I was really impressed with the sound quality. Then I discovered the other features.

At first I was skeptical of the microphone since the Sound-Fly model has a wired one which I could thread up to my visor so it was close to my mouth. My worries were unfounded. It works great and the lack of wires makes this model much more portable to my other vehicles.

The integration with the iPhone is much better than the Sound-Fly. Pushing the "phone" button on the left of the device will activate iPhone's Voice Control, letting you simply speak "Play playlist [playlist name]" and your listening to your music. Now I don't even need to take my phone out of my pocket. I could never get the Sound-Fly to work with that (older model?).

Lastly, the Sound-Fly had this annoying and insanely loud series of beeps that it made when it was acquiring the Bluetooth connection. Almost lost my hearing! This model has a much softer and more pleasant tone. Bottom line is that the Sound-Fly feels like it came from the 60's and this model comes from the future.

I bought this to use with my iPhone 3G. I've been through a number of iPhone car kits with FM transmitters that have been disappointing in quality -- too much interference, weak or limited FM signal, and flimsy construction. However, in this case I was pleasantly surprised at the overall quality of the Satechi device's sound. It was a snap to set up, and within a couple of minutes I was hooked up via Bluetooth and transmitting to my FM radio. I only have three criticisms of the device 1) Enable a way to tune to an FM station below 88.1 for those urban areas where there are tons of FM stations broadcasting (I think this is an FCC thing, though, so can't really blame it on Satechi), 2) The LCD blinks green and blue too much once the Bluetooth connection has been made. Just give us a solid blue light once the device has made a link to the phone. The blinking blue-green is a big distraction at night. 3) Figure out a way to make a dedicated iPhone version with an integrated iPhone holder. I hate having my phone floating around in a cup holder or on the seat or elsewhere on the console. These are relatively minor quibbles in an otherwise excellent device, though. Highly recommended!

Update: After having this for just under a year, the Bluetooth functionality went totally flaky on me, and now it won't pair with my iPhone anymore. Satechi's web site is worse than useless for technical support, and it appears that it is out of warranty already, and so now what choice to I have but to put it in the garbage. I expect stuff to last longer than this. I was happy at first, but in the long term, not a good buy.

I previously had a DLO Transpod with my ancient iPod mini which worked beautifully - fantastic sound quality, virtually no static, etc. Once I got an iPhone 3GS, I needed a new device but everything I tried fell short of my expectations... Loads of static, no Bluetooth capability, etc. I was convinced I wasn't going to find anything as good as my old Transpod had been. Enter Satechi.

Not only does the FM transmitter send through my music with NO STATIC (and I live in the Northeast between NYC and Philly where the dial is pretty crowded), but even the Bluetooth call quality is excellent. Callers report that they can tell I'm in the car, but there's still very little background noise when I speak and they have no interference at all when they're speaking.

After pairing with my iPhone, it connects automatically as long as the iPhone's Bluetooth is turned on. I also love how small it is so it doesn't take up a lot of room around my gear shift. And, thanks to the Bluetooth, no wires to deal with either.

Don't waste your time or money with any other devices like I did - just get this one.

I've owned my fair share of FM transmitters over the years. I've owned 2 Griffins, 1 Belkin, 1 Monster and now this Satechi.. It's very important that you read my review completely if you're considering buying one, especially if you've used any other FM transmitters in the past.

FM transmitters are what I consider to be a necessary evil if your main goal is to get music from a portable device playing through your car stereo and you have no other options, ie. integration into your vehicle's sound system through some sort of line level input..

The other transmitters I've used have been mediocre at best.. I don't live in a large Urban area but would always get bleed thru and static when driving around.. I can tell you that this more than likely won't be the case with the Satechi.. When I first unboxed it and plugged it in, the frequency that it was tuned to was 107.9.. which just happened to be a local radio station.. which also happened to be the radio station I was currently listening to.. the Satechi completely took over that frequency! I was able to listen to music on that frequency with only a SLIGHT hint of static.. when I then tuned to a unused frequency the music was flawless.. transmission was in stereo, loud and perfectly clear.. and the added benefit of connecting over bluetooth was the icing on the cake..

I had a few issues getting used to it in the beginning after pairing... for instance, if the bluetooth on my iPhone wasn't turned on when I plugged in the Satechi, after a short time it stops trying to connect so you have to press the button on the front to put it back in connect mode (after turning on bluetooth on your phone).. if you leave the device powered on and exit the vehicle with your bluetooth device (my 12v power source is always on) you have to press the button on the Satechi to re-connect when you get back in the vehicle..

Now, here's the only real negative of the device, but for me it's fully acceptable.. due to the strength of the transmitter (which is very important to me) the device actually interferes with other radio stations on different frequencies to the point I have to unplug the device when listening to the radio..

To sum up, the sound quality is excellent, the transmitter strength is outstanding and the bluetooth connection is a great plus.. I would highly recommend the device. Do not waste your money on Griffin, Belkin or others, you will be disappointed.

I liked the idea of this product, and it worked pretty well -- for a week.

It literally came apart in my hand when I tried to pull the unit from my DC power outlet [VW Jetta, not a tricky location]. The plastic casing is pretty easy to pull apart, the red wire pulled off the circuit board. I'm not a big guy and there was no abuse, just a simple pull and a surprise.

I called Satechi's customer service line, a very nice woman instructed me to send an email to "Sales" and give my order info and a brief explanation of what happened.

I did. Nothing. This was months ago.

So, a great idea but cheesy construction and a disconnect in service.

I bought a newer edition Transdock for iphone instead and dropped back to my bluetooth headset. :(

We have had the Satechi bluetooth fm transmitter for a month now and use it with our Nokia N95's in our 2 Subaru Outbacks. It is very easy to setup. It plays any audio format you can think of and passes it through to your car stereo. The handsfree talk quality on a phone call is very good. The background noise suppression as also very good. Three uses that we really enjoy with this unit is listening to audio books loaded on the N95, listening to Internet radio also on the N95 and of course handsfree phone call function. A few use tips, after initial setup, leave your bluetooth phone setting in "Hidden" status to avoid any interference from other bluetooth motorist on the highway. Do not try to "hardwire" the unit and bury in under your dash or in glove box, the units has a built in microphone for calls that needs to be accessible to your voice. The unit swivels at the base of the power stem so placement in vehicle power outlet is no problem. The customer support from Satechi is very good, I emailed them and received a prompt response. Overall, this is a very good product and would highly recommend it.