Customer Reviews

Sony MEXBT5700U CD Receiver Bluetooth Hands-Free and Audio Streaming Capability (Black)

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I bought this product from a cheaper source, but use these reviews to determine which head unit to buy. The MEX-BT5700U had all the features I was looking for at a decent price. I have a '92 Toyota Pickup with a manual transmission, so Bluetooth calling was my top priority (safety) as my state hasn't implemented handsfree calling laws yet. My calls at highway speed (windows up) were clear and my caller only noticed a slight hum/noise and reported I sounded very clear. This was using the external mic provided on default settings for the gain and noise cancelling.

Note: if an external mic is provided with ANY head unit(this one comes with an external mic)USE IT, DO NOT bother with a head unit that you cannot add or use an external mic....proper mic placement is key. I placed my mic on the steering column in front of my gauges.

Pairing was simple, and iPod control is built in so you DO NOT need the separate iPod controller Sony sells for the other units. I also purchased the HD-Radio unit, but haven't installed it yet.

The controls, and layout are decent, but some functions take multiple pushes of a single button to reach, or spin the dial....this can be a bit tough while driving. I figure after some use I will figure out what buttons do what and how many times to push to get to a function. In my opinion, no head unit is completely intuitive but I believe this unit provides a reasonable logic to it, but could most certainly be improved like every other head unit on the market.
I recommend this unit to anyone looking for hands free calling, and iPod control. For the iPod control, all you need is your iPod USB cable, plug it in and the unit recognizes it and takes control. The unit can control the iPod, but nothing beats holding the iPod in your hand and selecting music the way you are used too. Looking at the screen you will still see the Artist Name and Song Title displayed even when in 'passenger mode'. Again, I haven't read a single review of any unit that has 'excellent' iPod controls.
Four stars because, no head unit is perfect, and Sony could probably spend more effort in making the controls more intuitive.

Purchased this unit for a 98 pathfinder - really just wanted to add Bluetooth and iPod. Have only been playing with it for a short time but thought i would offer some feedback for others looking at the unit. Overall i am very satisfied with the unit and for the price i paid there is no reason to complain. (using the exisitng Bose amp and speakers that were factory installed)

Flaws:
1. iPod control from the head unit is basically useless if you have alot of music. Solution just control the music from the ipod. use the head unit to advance songs but again almost impossible to find the song you want when you have several thousand songs. having playlists created makes it a bit easier. Sony could have done a much better job with the ipod interface.

2. Display - truely is tough to see in daylight. turning off the background graphics helped some but just very hard to see. Others have reported this.

3. Phone book - had no trouble loading my phone book off my Blackberry Storm. However, i have a very large list of contacts and they did not fit into the units memory. I need to do a bit of research here to find out the deal. Solution - just browse the phonebook vs loading it. And only loading the numbers of contacts that i care to have in the unit.

Likes:
1. Bluetooth phone is very good - mic sensitivity can be adjusted and very clear for hands free.
2. Bluetooth streaming music - really impressed here- dont always have my ipod with me - but always have my blackberry where i have a few thousand songs stored. if your phone supports stereo Bluetooth you can stream music directly to the unit.

I have just installed the product today but I have done extensive research before choosing this particular model. I was looking for a player with BT for phone use (that could access the phone's directory) and control my Ipod. I also found that the Pioneer's were had a too complex interface, and this one didn't (it still has the buttons for station memory).

I can say that I'm completely satisfied with the product. The display is very readable, and the interface is very simple. You can access all the menus using mainly 2 or 3 touches and that gets you everywhere. The Ipod interface is simple enough and you can navigate by playlist, genre, artist, track...

The Bluetooth function is very simple and I've tried with my Nokia E71 and my Blackberry 8520. The Nokia does not have PBAD (to access the phone's directory), but the Blackberry has and it works great. The Nokia works fine, but does not show the name of who's calling.

The radio comes with an included external mic (no need to buy another from Amazon), and I would recommend to use it. The calls come clear and people say that they hear me fine.

Highly recommended.

UPDATE---
It's been a couple months using the stereo and I'm completely satisfied. I have uploaded my address book from my E71 to it and now when someone calls, I have the names showing. Highly recommended !

With the new laws in effect that ban using electronic devices with out a hands-free device i decided i needed to upgrade my almost 10 year old sony mpx-cd70. i have a motorola droid and the stereo blue tooth headset, but its a pain to always turn on and wear that while im driving. I was very happy to see that sony had not changed their wiring harness design in 10 years, i didn't have to re-solder any wires, my old connector popped right into the back of the new radio. Pairing with the droid was easy.
I used the external mic and ran it to the cubby above radio to avoid stringing wires across my dash. its probably not the best placement and with a few test calls, im told i sound a bit "far away". The EQ customizing seems a bit tedious with the "Q" ranges and stuff, why not just give a 7 band EQ that's changeable like others? that's what my old head unit had. The LPF and HPF cutoffs are nice since i run a sub-woofer hooked to an amp. Also, the description states that you can choose from blue, red and green illumination, this is not true, its just blue. I can see where people would find the big white ring light around the main knob distracting, and also the play/pause, other control buttons are linked to the 1-6 memory buttons but the controls aren't illuminated, so you will have to memorize which button does what. also, you can't scan your presets with out going through a menu, and you can only look at the ones that are on your mode (fm1, fm2 and fm3) on the my old one i could just turn a knob and it would go through each one and change modes to the next FM presets "page".

Update (10/29/2010): the unit is doing ok, my wife has told me i sound a little "echoey" on the other end, i am using the external mic and EC/NC +1, i haven't had a chance to test it out myself though. The unit is also muting and unmuting itself about 5x in a 30 minute drive. the display shows "att on" then in a second or so "att off" i think there may be a wire touching something, i will have to take it out to investigate.

Also, i wish the USB input wasn't right after the tuner, whenever you press source to go to aux or bluetooth device you 1st have to endure the beeping and message that there is no device present makes me want to plug something in there just so i don't have to hear about it.

Update (11/07/2010): The old ATT lead was causing the muting and un muting, fixed it with some electrical tape. Also moved the microphone to the top of A pillar on the drivers side, tucked all the wires in and the mic peeks out from the trim piece. USB port successfully charges my Motorola Droid.

I like this radio, though I have a few gripes.

Pros: pairs with my Droid without any problems; plays the iPod fine.

Cons: light around the knob is way too bright at night (I'm going to try painting the inner ring); small buttons to change the radio stations; crappy manual with complex menu system, I've found many operations that aren't in the manual at all; annoying beep when you turn off the ignition (to remind you to remove the faceplate).

I won't return it, but I bought this after just researching on Amazon - I should have tried to view a few units at a store first. Play with the buttons while using your iPod - most functions are undocumented. The "6" button is Pause/Play; a few other numbered buttons skip Playlists backwards/forwards (the Playlist, not the songs in the Playlist); use the seek forward/backward buttons to skip forward/back tracks in the current playlist; hold down the seek buttons for fast-forward/rewind the current track.

I was dead set on getting a new Alpine HU but times are tough and can't really justify spending ~$600, no matter how good and nice it is. So I needed a solid HU with Bluetooth support and as such this units does not disappoint. It found and paired my N1 in a flash and pairs it up without a hitch every time I get into the car. The sound is as clear as BT EDR allows (which is not bad at all), the phone works great, external mic works well and all is dandy.

The menu navigation system is very adequate, faceplate design is not really my cup of tea with chrome this and bulge that but that's a minor quip and I certainly knew what I was buying. I would have given it 5 stars because for the price it delivers on its promises.

So what's wrong?

1). The screen is hard to read during the day. At night its the opposite. There is a DIMMER wire which on properly designed units dims the backlight. Apparently the 16 yo who was responsible for the design decided that only the display will be dimmed and all other controls will glare at you full blast - because they're so cool. None cooler than the stupid bright white ring around the volume/control knob. As such the dimmer control is practically useless 'cause the display is the least of the problem.

2). I'm all fine with multifunction buttons, space is limited but the same 16 yo decided that illuminating 1-6 at night will suffice and now you need to remember which one of those tiny buttons is Play/Pause. I don't use it really but the design of the remote is equally idiotic leaving you completely baffled as to what to press to play/control the music. Though it could be that I'm just too old to grasp the concepts.

3). To install/remove the faceplate is somewhat of a struggle. Granted I rarely if ever do it so no biggie, but the few times I did thus far I though I was going to break it or it fell down because it did not clip on fully.

On a whole however, I'm pretty happy with it, sounds great and does what I was truly after.

The SONY MEXBT5700U has exceeded my expectations. It works perfectly with the iPhone 3GS over Bluetooth both for hands free calling and for audio streaming. Audio quality while streaming with Bluetooth is indistinguishable from tethering the iPhone with USB (this also works well, controls the iPhone and charges it) I have read complaints about the bright light ring around the main control knob but I don't think it's an issue if your unit is installed below steering wheel level like mine.
I upgraded from a two year old SONY w/o USB or Bluetooth and all my music sounds better and has more impact, it seems more dynamic, even with identical audio settings. I also have a SONY wired remote and a SONY CD changer connected and both work great. The DSO feature is something I had to have with this unit. It raises the sound stage up for front speakers mounted low in the doors. Works great and all audio settings including DSO are specific per input.
I couldn't be more pleased with this purchase.

This is an amazing unit. It plays all cd formats, has a tuck away usb port on the face to charge your iPhone or Ipod, plus you have full control of the music on the device. It can connect to your phone via bluetooth and has a built in mic and an external mic so you can talk easily hands free. It also has an aux stereo jack input right on the face of the unit if you use a different type of mp3 player. This is such an easy unit to use and it does sooo much! Very happy with my purchase, this is actually the 2nd unit I bought like this, one for each car I liked it so much. And the price is right for all it is capable of!

With ordering Sony's MEX-BT5700U, I sought to upgrade my '93 Civic's Sony CDX-M620 Active Black Panel (ABP) unit. (Sony should really reconsider bringing this one back, upgraded with the 5700's bells and whistles.) I figured the upgrade to be a simple plug and play swap, and in deciding to tackle the job myself, it turned out to be exactly that, a simple plug and play swap. If one actually takes the time and reads the manual while testing the unit out and going through its features, the 5700 becomes quite intuitive to operate.
With that, I'll start with the display and visuals. I've had the chance to drive with the 5700 under various, normal circumstances at this point, and the one thing I found in my research that some have either complained about or mentioned as a side note is the circle of white light around the main control dial. (You won't miss it.) To that, during the day, it's not so obvious, as it has to compete with the natural daylight. But even at night, I find that its illumination is not that distracting, and is even offset by the brightness of the car's headlights hitting the road, or the headlights of an on-coming vehicle. Obviously it was designed for cars with white-bluish illuminated dashes, which isn't my car. But no complaints about it here. Also, with the main display window, it is not at all washed out by daylight-- unless the dimmer is set to low. I never thought to set the dimmer to low though; again, my research suggested that the dimmer be left alone.
When it comes to the sound, I dropped from a 7-preset equalizer with my old unit to a 3-preset equalizer with the 5700; but even so, once I figured out and configured the audio output to my liking, I found the 5700 provides a rich, cleaner and louder sound. Initially, the menus look a bit daunting, yet overly simplified, but again, with the manual in hand, I found there are a lot options to fine tune the sound quality.
Construction is solid, so dismiss anyone ever complaining of it being or feeling cheap. I do suggest one to take care with reviewing the diagram on attaching and removing the face plate. It's a simple maneuver, but if one doesn't take the time to learn it, they will likely end up ruining the whole unit if they force the faceplate.
Now, when it comes to the bluetooth phone feature, which is primarily why I upgraded to this unit, the 5700 is a marvel. I installed mine with the external mic (which comes with it) and calls are clear--with the right setttings for the external mic. I mentioned I drive a '93 Civic, but it is modified-- perhaps heavily modified. With a semi-gutted cabin, a gutted trunk (that's even void of the spare tire) and a JDM exhaust set up, the cabin can be loud when cruising around. So much so that I find myself having to turn the volume up to hear a caller. On the other hand, despite all the noise in the cabin of my car, callers can hear me just fine, and hearing them over the car speakers is just wild. The 5700 definite provides a true hands free experience.
I titled this review '99% perfect' because there are a some things that I won't say I don't like about the unit, but rather, I simply accepted as limitations in one way or another. Chiefly, the 5700 is designed specifically for an IPOD (perhaps an Iphone, too--anything device Apple, I guess), but my device is a Sony Ericsson (W518a). So, I can't be sure if the little things I have experience would be experienced with one who has an IPOD or IPHONE. Though my 518a is a cell phone, it was designed as a walkman, which I consider it to be-- a walkman with a phone feature. It's a nifty little device and works well with the bluetooth phone and audio features of the 5700. It just that there exist a heirarchy of sorts when the two devices are paired, to which the 518a seems to yield to the 5700. By this, I mean when it comes to streaming and controlling music from my walkman, the 5700 does a better job receiving the audio stream than the 518a does sending it. So much so that if controlled from my 518a first, after the key is in the ignition and the 5700 is turned on, none of the song information will be displayed. If the streaming starts with the 5700 first or if the streaming is stopped from the 518a and resumed by the 5700, then all song information is displayed EXCEPT the elapsed time of the song. (It also doesn't display the folder number, as it would if reading from an USB feed). In either case, repeat and shuffle are limitted to the 518a, which isn't a big deal. When I'm cleaning up the house or out in the yard, the 518a is on repeat and shuffle for all 700 songs on its M2 memeory card, and I just let it play, never being concerned if the next song will be the the last song.
Of course, since I sometimes have my sons riding with me, I want a little more control of the content, as there are some explicit songs in my collection, so I use the USB port and a seperate USB flash card for play lists, by which ALL song information, including the album number and elapse time, is displayed, as well as having full control of the repeat and shuffle functions from the 5700 (as I should, I suppose). The upside, which I'm focusing on here, is the flexibility of the 5700 to accomodate just about any device and play music in different ways. So, one doesn't necessarily need to be an IPOD\IPHONE owner to enjoy this unit; but I'm also not really sure if the streaming issue occurs or not with an Apple device of any kind. (Sony does have a list of compatible devices and what features work with the 5700 on its website.)
Lastly, the biggest downside to the 5700--which it isn't just the 5700, but all of Sony's car audio units--is the fact that it DOES NOT display kanji(Japanese) or hanzi(Chinese) characters. I also listen to a lot of music from Asia, to which my 518a can display album and track titles in the original language of the artists, and surely I would have thought the 5700 would be able to do the same thing. I was wrong. Fortunately, I set the Asian songs up in my 518a with both original Japanese\Chinese titles and English translations, so I can still see what song is playing. Because of this, I'm with-holding the 1% of perfect score for the 5700. In fact, this irritated so much that I made it a point to complain to Sony directly about it.

I won't go in to the features which make this product a great unit, I will cut to the chase and get to what frustrated me a little and made this 4 instead of 5 stars:

1. To choose an audio source, (and having so many available), it's bothersome to have to cycle through all of the options to get to the one you want. If you missed it, then you have to do the cycle again! It would ahve been good to be able to choose the source with the wheel control.
2. Blue should not be the only display color available: Im my humble opinion, it looks downright cheezy, and would like to have the option to match your car interior lighting, with option such as amber, green, red, etc... Being a loyal Sony car stereo user for many years, I recall this simple option was available since 2002...

Other than these 2 minor issues, it's by far the best darn car stero out there. SONY: pay attention to user comments, so that the next generation can be the best of the best!