Livio Radio may have come up with a good solution to a thorny problem: hooking your iPhone into your car stereo, when your car doesn’t have an Aux input. The Bluetooth Car Internet Radio Kit ($119.99 direct) adds hands-free Bluetooth calling and iPod and iPhone integration, letting you make or receive calls, stream Internet radio, or plow the depths of your iTunes music collection while on the road. The Livio kit has a few quirks, but overall, it does exactly what it’s supposed to.
Features, Design, and SetupPlugging a cable from the headphone jack to the Aux input of a car stereo is one thing. true integration is much tougher, and is usually reserved for higher-end vehicles, or expensive stereo upgrades on mainstream models. if you have no Aux jack at all, your options are limited. The Livio Kit uses a tried-and-true method to broadcast music, literally: it’s an FM transmitter. That means you set the radio to a specific frequency, which the Kit then broadcasts.
Beyond that, the Kit adds hands-free Bluetooth calling, USB charging, and hardware buttons. There’s a free Livio iPhone app that accesses over 45,000 stations across the U.S., including Internet streams of terrestrial stations by location. The app is only free if you’re using it with the Kit, though; otherwise, it drops to about 300 stations unless you pay an extra $4.99.
The Kit works with any iPhone 3G, 3GS, or 4, as well as 2nd-, 3rd-, and 4th-generation iPod touch devices. The Kit consists of three pieces: the controller module, the combination DC power adapter and 6-inch gooseneck bracket, and a small auxiliary wire that connects the iPhone’s audio to the controller module. There’s also a printed user guide; helpful, as it’s tough to go paperless if you’re out in the driveway setting it up in the car.
The controller module looks sharp. It’s made of matte black plastic, with a pleasant textured surface and a faux metal flake finish. it measures 1.9 by 3.6 by 1.1 inches (HWD) and weighs 1.6 ounces by itself, or 2.9 ounces with the gooseneck adapter attached. The red LED display shows the current station. There are plenty of useful hardware controls, including buttons for Play, Pause, stop, Track Skip, Music Tagging, and Send and End buttons for calls. There’s also a small knob that lets you choose a station, set the unit’s output volume, and trigger an automatic search for free FM stations with less static.
The DC power adapter fit snugly in my car’s accessory power socket. I positioned the controller module so that it sat a little to the right of the shift lever on the center console. On top, a line out jack lets you make a direct connection if your car has an Aux input—which would sound much better (see below)—as well as an extra Line In for hooking up an MP3 player, portable DVD player, or other device.
On the bottom is a USB charging port; however, there’s no cable in the box. That’s frustrating for several reasons: you’ll have to bring your iPhone or iPod docking cable to and from the car, and it’s tough to find a matching black cable on the aftermarket. In addition, the gooseneck cradle only holds the controller, not the iPhone. You’ll still need a separate mount, cupholder, or other place to put the phone. All told, it’s not the cleanest-looking solution, but it’s also plug-and-play: you don’t need to have a shop install anything, like you would with some other solutions.
Testing, FM Reception, and ConclusionsSetup was very simple; the controller launched into pairing mode the first time I powered up the car, found my iPhone 4, and paired successfully on the first try. after that, the iPhone automatically cued up a download for Livio’s app; I installed that, and from there, I was good to go.
In a series of tests, I made calls, listened to Livio’s app, checked out my iPhone’s locally stored music collection, and even spent an hour streaming Pandora. In back-to-back sound quality tests with my car’s built-in Bluetooth hands-free calling, callers couldn’t tell the difference between that and the Livio Radio. In both cases, callers said it was tough to tell I was calling from a car.
Most of the time, stereo music sounded good as well. I especially liked that the track skip buttons worked with Pandora (to rate songs) as well as my iTunes collection. But here’s the catch: the biggest problem with The Kit has nothing to do with Livio Radio. It’s that FM transmitters, while useful, can vary widely in sound quality. Let’s put aside the audiophile contingent for a moment, as even with perfect reception, FM transmitters slightly limit frequency response and don’t sound quite as clear or crisp as a direct or even Aux jack connection.
But even for casual listeners, depending on where you live, there may simply be too much static. I drove all around the greater Boston area while testing The Kit, using several different FM stations. Sometimes I heard a clear signal. other times, there was some faint static in the background, which only became audible in quiet musical passages or between tracks. But more often than I think was acceptable, I heard so much static that it sounded like my car’s antenna had fallen off.
Note that the static was entirely on my side; callers couldn’t hear it at all through the mic, since the mic connects directly to the phone via Bluetooth. It’s only in listening to the caller or music through the stereo that I’d hear it on my end. Sometimes it would disappear for many minutes at a time, only to return further down the interstate. (Livio recommends that you set your iPhone’s volume to maximum for best performance; then use your car stereo’s actual volume control for that purpose.)
There’s no direct alternative for this device. Products like the SuperTooth HD ($129, 4 stars) offer hands-free Bluetooth calls and voice command support, but don’t handle iPod integration. Less expensive FM transmitters work for music, but lack hands-free Bluetooth calling. if you do have an Aux input, you can just plug the iPhone in that way, although The Kit still gives you hands-free Bluetooth. you can also pop out your car’s stereo and install a receiver from Crutchfield; models with Aux inputs start at $99, while more expensive ones offer more thorough integration through the head unit’s display. But if you live in a city or rural area with fewer FM radio stations, or if you don’t mind occasional static, the Bluetooth Car Internet Radio Kit gives you full iPod connectivity and hands-free Bluetooth in one shot—without a complex stereo upgrade.
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