I'll break this up into different sections to try to give you the best detailed review possible.
DESIGN:
The Commute's design is solid. I have to admit it's a little bigger than I anticipated, but it puts out the sound to justify it. The volume buttons are, in fact, not buttons at all. Just slide your finger from left to right to turn it up, and right to left to turn it down. I kind of like that and kind of don't. I think I would have preferred buttons (it's easier to feel buttons without looking than figuring out if you're about to slide your finger at the right place) but I've figured out how to do it just fine. There's a place in the middle of the top of the Commute that launches the voice control, hangs up phone calls, among other things. Again, I would have preferred an actual button to know exactly where I'm pressing, but you get used to it.
The usb cord to charge it is rather short and the manual says it takes 3-4 hours to charge. Doesn't seem like I'll be charging it in the car. We just bring it in the house with us and charge it overnight
SOUND:
It really really sounds good. When using it in the car, the sound is amazing. Every word the caller says is crisp and clear. When talking with someone using it for instance when I'm at work calling my wife in the car it barely sounds like she's using a speakerphone. There is absolutely no background noise except when she's talking...then I just hear what sounds a little like wind, but it's really not much at all and doesn't bother me one bit.
I haven't tried to use it with the gps from my phone so I'm not sure how the voice navigation is. Nor have I listened to music with it. The one thing I will say is to make sure that your phone is not on vibrate...otherwise it does not alert you when you get a text.
EASE OF USE:
The Commute's integration with Siri is practically flawless...just say "Launch voice control" and Siri talks to you over the Commute. The only problem that I've had is that it sometimes says that handsfree is connected but it won't be ready to "listen" for my voice controls. Instead, I have to push the button in the middle. After I've done that once, handsfree mode works perfect from that point on.
Hanging up from a call is sometimes difficult. I'm sure once I get more time with it, I'll figure out all of the tricks, but I've just struggled with it so far.
SETUP:
Nothing could be easier...period! Connects with phone and loads contacts flawlessly.
CONCLUSION:
The only reasons I took 1 star off is because it's not always ready for handsfree use even though it says it is and the fact that I would have preferred regular buttons (again, that may just be my preference though). Other than that, this thing is a must for any man to buy for his wife to have in their car. My wife is really happy with it and the fact that she can text me back while driving gives me peace of mind that she is safer. Well done Blueant!
I have now owned four blue tooth speak systems for my Passat. All have eventually ceased to properly function after eight months, so I keep replacing them with different brands or models. I purchased the BlueAnt Commute because everyone complained about the lack of call quality with my Jabra Highway. Here are my observations with the Commute:
The sound output is good but the spoken "trigger" activation is sometimes set off by the car audio.
Although it took several minutes to upload my contacts Commute cannot make a call using them and must defer to Siri in my
iPhone. I can speak "phone commands" to activate Siri easily enough but other brands I have owned were more seamless.
Battery life is adequatecomparable to other models.
People receiving calls complain about the sound quality.
But the biggest complaint is the power on/off switchit seldom activates on the first try, and I have to cycle off and on again for the unit to power up.
Good unit, not a perfect unitthe Jabra units when new have been the best but they have proven to be very unreliable. So I am still looking for the right balance of quality, functions, and reliability...
Buy BlueAnt CMT-USEN Commute Voice Control Speakerphone with True Speech to Text - Bluetooth Car Kit - Now
I use the Blueant Commute with my Galaxy S3 and decided to make a video to cover call quality as that is always my biggest concern with these items. Many of the faults with this item lie with the android voice dialer or S-Voice bluetooth interaction itself. The unfortunate need to hit the command button a few too many times is what knocks this off to 4 stars.
I neglected to show off how it plays music, but I will say for one speaker it does a serviceable job. It comes across as clear and loud as the Biueant voice in the video review.
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Our city recently went hands free for cell phones. This device is a great alternative to in the ear blue tooth devices. I generally only need a blue tooth while in the car. I like the fact that this attaches to the visor and can't get lost.
As far as funtionality, I have used this device with my iphone. One voice command, " launch voice control", unlocks siri from apple. This makes this device a powerful tool for making voice calls, simple text are easy (it does not automatically read incoming text you have to ask siri to read them to you.) It can launch apple maps for turn by turn directions and even play music from you iphone. I recommend learning how to use this feature BEFORE driving.
Sound quality. People don't even know I am using a blue tooth it sounds that good to them. The speakers for the user to hear now thats another story. Most calls are cell phone to cell phone. When I have some one who calls me with a poor quaility call the device does nothing to enhance the sound. At full volume (which is the only way you can hear it while driving on the highway in my truck) the sound is distorted even more.
Hardware. nice battery last 2 days. The usb charging cord is short. The visor clip holds it nice and secure. The hand controls on the unit are touch sensitive and not buttons. This takes some getting used to. Keep the directions close for a couple of days.
Overall 4 stars out of 5. If I could answer any call any time with confidence that I could actually clearly understand the person on the other end it would have been 5 :)
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A little expensive but great audio quality and noise cancellation. Does not cut out with road noise like many others.
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Product did not plug into the vehicle outlet correctly...I did not make an attempt to return as it probably would have cost more to return.
