Home > Consumer Reviews > Phase Linear BT1611i AM/FM/CD/MP3/WMA/USB/SD Card Receiver with Bluetooth (Black)

This car stereo is pretty fantasic for < $100! It's read all my SD cards and USB flash drives. Pretty much does everything you would expect. The Bluetooth (for cell phone hands-free) works really well and is easy to setup. It automatically syncs to my cell phone when I turn on the ingition, and then will auto grab calls when I dial them (from handset or radio) or if someone calls, it will mute the music and ring over the speakers. One button to answer and you are hands-free talking. The mic is REALLY good. I find myself (out of habit / thinking I need to) talking too loud when I talk to people, and literally, they can hear me when I practically whisper, sitting back in my car seat. They tell me to stop yelling!

Some tiny things I've noticed about it. It will play 192 - 320 kbs WMA files just fine. But it will NOT play lossless WMA files. Most people probably have never used the lossless WMA format anyway, but just to let you know, you will have to find a program to "batch convert" your lossless WMAs to 192 or 320 kbs, then throw those on a SD or USB. Like I said most people won't even be using WMA in a lossless format, so they should play fine as is (all the way to 320kbs). Also, when I've had other files on my USB or SD card, the radio can get a bit confused by them and "hang" on that file, trying to play it (no sound, just hangs at 0:00) and you have to push the NEXT track button to move on. It's definitely best to only have music files on the device.

The only thing about it that is not so good, it has a bright blue background that is quite bright at night. It really hasn't bothered me at all, but I do think that some people might be picky and not like that. I haven't looked super hard in the manual, perhaps there is a way to dim it, etc. But again overall, I'm totally happy with it! My brother saw it a few days ago, and is getting one soon!

I'm very happy with this radio. The amplifier is extremely clean and detailed with plenty of power. It is rated at 13W * 4 at < 1 % THD, and it is very clean indeed, even at high volume levels. Avoid any system that does not give you a power AND distortion rating. Any radio can do 160W at 50% distortion, what's important is how clean it is at a normal to high listening level. At 13W average, with most music, you're asking for peaks well over 130W, which no head unit can do without distorting anyway. Very loud music is going to average around 5W with peaks around 100W, which are going to be clipped with any car radio. Suffice it to say that this unit seems to have plenty of headroom and drives my speakers to the point where they are traveling well beyond their design range and the system still sounds good. I'm surprised how loud it will go while still sounding clean (and the lights don't dim on the display which would indicate clipping). It probably really is producing 40W * 4 at a reasonably clean level (maybe even more), and my speakers are without a doubt going to distort on their own at that level no matter what amp is used. Conclusion: Sounds great.

I'm giving the unit 5 stars meaning that for the money, I don't think it can be beat, the features are extremely good at this price and it really does sound good. That doesn't mean it's perfect, but I've heard much more expensive equipment sound like junk in comparison. It works fine with a 4GB SDHC SD card, others not tested. It probably has 1000 mp3's on it, and they sound excellent. CD is fine too, and the FM and AM bands also sound very good and seem to pull in stations better than any other radio I have in any of my cars. With the SD card, I did notice that sometimes it doesn't always jump to the correct song right away but will after a few seconds. I've seen this a few times but most of the time it's fine. I eliminated all non-mp3 files to try to stop this, but it still happens on occasion. Worth mentioning, but really not an issue. Navigation among folders is easy. IPOD interface not tested (I don't have one). I didn't think I would use the remote, but I do quite often. The remote is IR so you have to be in a direct line to the radio for the signal to be seen. A radio type connection would have been smarter so the remote could be mounted somewhere like the dash or console, but I suppose that would also cost more.

The bluetooth connects to my phone instantly when the key is turned on, and I have it set to auto answer. Pairing it the first time was a little iffy and I had to read the manual (code is 1234) but it never asks again. I don't think I had the volume set correctly because others report great sound, but mine was not so good, it's in an old Jeep CJ7 which is loud and like an echo chamber inside anyway, so it would be a challenge for any radio or bluetooth system. I like the fact that the bluetooth is effortless, and it works fine even in my loud Jeep, it's certainly no worse than me holding my phone by hand, and probably works great in a quiet car. It's not good enough to eliminate all noise but I don't think I should expect that either.

The blue display is very bright and there is no input from the lights to dim it. My instruments are green, so pay attention to that, it's one small point I really don't like, but I really can't complain too much at this price point given everything else it does so well. If you want a radio with different selectable colors or a dimmable display, this one doesn't have it. I have no trouble seeing it even in bright sunlight, but a different color and brightness would be a good addition (or an auto-dim feature using a light sensor would be even smarter), and is probably available on more expensive units.

All in all, for the price, this thing does everything I can ask and does it very well with extremely good sound, much better than I expected. I don't think the value can be beat in this price range. If I take the roof off my Jeep and it gets rained on, it will be no huge expense to replace it, which is part of the reason I went with an inexpensive unit; it's disposable. I'm very pleased with how good this unit is for the price, I really didn't expect it to be that good except all of the other reviews indicated it was a great radio. They were right.

Got this thing for my niece's truck. Put it in with no problems. Powered it up and linked it to my phone with no problems, sound quality is as good as a cell phone. Clear on both receiving and sending. Was not to thrilled with the dialing function on the device, but considering that it's not a touch screen it's about as good as you can get for the price.

It's been said before so I'll keep it short. This product is an unbeatable deal! If you need multipe types of input you have them all... RCA in, SD, USB and ipod. Bluetooth for the phone rocks (the main reason I bought the deck). As a previous reader mentioned, the ipod controls are somewhat clumsy if you are trying to find a particular song by a particular artist and you have a lot of music on your ipod, but the interface is pretty good/easy for choosing a playlist which is what I usually do and it suits me just fine.

Its plays almost every form of audio media, which is the reason why I sort after it. It has AM/FM Radio, it plays CD's, USB Flash Drives, SD card reader, an IPod jack, and has an Aux input jack for Mp3 players or any other external audio devices.
It also has built in Bluetooth that can be sync'ed up to your cell phone where you can talk on the phone through this radio, where you hear the other person you are talking to through your car speakers.
Best Car Radio ever!