Home > Consumer Reviews > Satechi Bluetooth Hands-free Car Stereo Fm Transmitter for iPhone 3Gs & 3G and Bluetooth Stereo A2DP supported Devices

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.

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 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

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.

Great music sound quality - best I've found in an FM transmitter. I was looking for an inexpensive option for handsfree phone use and to transmit music for my iphone through the car stereo. This serves both purposes at a great price. Near CD quality music. Good reeption - I live in the San Francisco Bay Area and have not had a probably with interference. Calls coming thru stereo sound crystal clear. Knocked one star off, because sound quality on your outgoing voice is not as clear to the receiver. Your voice goes through the microphone on the transmitter which is a tiny pinhole. If you're planning on having long conversations, this might not be optimal. However for short calls, this works fine. I am very satisfied with the product.