I did a lot of research into fm transmitters for my household's vehicles and iPhone 4's, relying heavily on customer reviews. Here's my contribution:
This turned out to be a fantastic purchase!
The fit into the cigarette lighter:
-Fit perfectly into our '96 Isuzu pickup.
-Took some adjustment to be able to fit it into our '96 Toyota Avalon. The product comes with an insert that explains how to file down the rubber strips on the jack (which does not void the warranty) to find a perfect fit. This took us about 10 minutes.
-With the rubber strips, it should fit really snugly in most vehicles. It takes some muscle to plug it in, so I don't see how it could flop or slide around very easily.
-A handy blue light lets you know when you have a solid connection, though I'm not a big fan of the light at night. I'll probably wind up covering it with a sticker.
The goose neck:
-The flexible goose neck is pretty firm and solidly constructed. It seems to stay where I put it with the iPhone on top.
-It isn't super long, which probably adds to the stability. However, if you have an already crowded center console, or an oddly placed cigarette lighter, you might have to play with the orientation of the neck to find a suitable position.
The cradle:
-In a word: fantastic. The side wings hold my iPhone snugly, and come with additional bumpers for smaller devices.
-I think the full rotation range of the cradle, allowing me to have the iPhone in portrait or landscape mode, sold me on this device. You can also tilt the screen to varying degrees up or down in landscape mode. Great!
The sound:
-I've read a lot of complaints about the sound of fm transmitters. I think this device provides wonderful sound. The volume is great. We ran into occasional static, but played with the stations we had tuned to until we found a station that was truly empty all over the island (we live on Maui).
-On that note of playing with the stations: I found it helpful to have another person in the car while trying to establish a good station, because to set it, you've got to set the radio and the transmitter. With the transmitter's display being on top of the device, it would be slightly cumbersome to adjust by myself while driving. All in all, though, not a big deal.
Hands-free calls:
-This feature is another one that sold me on this product. I can hear the caller just fine through the speakers, and the caller can hear me just as well. When a call comes in, whatever you're listening to just fades out, and then when you hang up it fades back in. Really nice!
Charging:
-I can handily charge my iPhone by plugging the usb charging cord into the device. Works great.
Overall, I'm so very pleased with my purchase. Factor in the very affordable price, and I'm thrilled! The quality is so much better than I expected for what I paid. There is also a 3 year limited warranty on the product. This was way better than getting a new car stereo, saving me a ton of money had I tried to get something that would get me all these features. I'm already recommending this to my friends!
Similar item to consider
Amazon's Choice
Customers also viewed these products
Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1
Reviews with images
Impressed! Definitely worth the money!
So this item seems to work flawlessly some days and some days it's not as flawless :) Continue reading!Some days when talking on the phone the other party says they hear a terrible echo - sometimes they don't. I noticed if the volume is lowered the caller says the echo has went away, but then it's hard for me to hear themSometimes they say I sound very distant [though I'm talking very loud] and sometimes I don't.When in an area of poor coverage, it seems to send the phone into a cycle of charging and not charging. I just noticed that others here have mentioned the same thing. Not sure how the coverage of the phone has anything to do with the charging, but it's not a biggie.The volume on device is pretty low even when turned all the way up. Maybe I listen to music too loud? Not sure.. But often during the low point in a song I can hear some of the radio feedback or little bit of static.Not sure it fits the best in my car [2003 Pontiac Grand Am] so I'm always having to adjust the flexible neck. I cant get it flexed back enough, but that's not a problem the product poses. Also I cannot get the entire cig adapter part into the cig port. It has some strong plastic around it which is made to keep it from slipping out of the cig. port. Again, not a flaw of the product, just mentioning it to someone who might have the same car as I do.Almost a day or 2 after I had purchased it, I though I had to return it. For some reason it was dispersing this horrible static and the display was only showing the bottom portion of the numbers/stations. I unplugged it, put it back in and the same thing.. So I left it unplugged over the weekend, Monday plugged it in and I haven't had that problem since.Though my review might seem like many negatives, overall it's a great device and I'm very happy with it! I plan to buy one for the Wife since this solves the whole "hold on let me put my head piece on" while driving. Finding a station to use is very simple, though I haven't switched from 94.1FM. I've remained on that station through travels to NY, CT and PA.Cant comment on other products cause I haven't tried them, but this one is perfect for me when its consistent :)I plan to post some pics shortly
