Get this for $19.99 from Amazon US or just £13.99 from Amazon UK and then stick it into your cigarette lighter / 12V feed. After a simple pairing procedure it’ll hook into your phone via Bluetooth and pump out the music via FM. Then it’s just a matter of tuning in your car radio to the appropriate frequency and off you go. All your MP3s or streaming content banging through your car speakers.
In addition, this SAVFY Wireless Bluetooth FM Transmitter will acts as a car kit – letting you send and receive calls thanks to an in-built microphone. Up top, and easy-to use dial which controls the frequency, volume, power and input. There’s also a 1.44 inch display for telling you what’s happening and some easy-to-hit buttons either side for switching the input, changing to the FM channel choice or skipping tracks.
Once you plug it in it does protrude a little, and that’s something to consider if your 12v output is near to the gearstick or handbrake. You can, however, tilt the unit forwards and back a little – good if you want to get a better look at the display and also to perhaps move it into a more comfortable position.
The unit will, for most people, connect to your device via Bluetooth. This it does rather easily, but you can also connect via a 3.5mm audio port or you can pop a microSD card in and play tunes from that – using the buttons on the top to switch tracks and the knob to adjust the volume output. You can see on the shot below that the 3.5mm audio port is painted yellow so that you can locate it more easily.
The display can also show the name of songs, the incoming phone number and the voltage input.
In addition, and what I think is a really bonus, there’s two 2.1A USB ports so that you can charge your phone and something else while your charging. In essence this is a charger for two devices, an FM transmitter and a Bluetooth hands-free car kit.
Below you’ll see me using the FM transmitter in the car…
The unit is built well, and the main control knob is nicely done with a smooth “click” as you twist it round. It’s precise and the FM transmission is clear. It’s also a good design, but I did find that there was some FM “bleed” during use. I found that, if I tuned it to broadcast on a blank FM space of 106MHz, I got a poor signal on main radio stations right up the other end of the dial – such as Radio 2 on 88.3MHz. It was as if the unit wasn’t broadcasting just on the frequency I’d selected. I ended up unplugging the unit when it wasn’t in use, just to get around this, as listening to “normal” FM radio stations became tricky. When you’re charging devices or using this as a Bluetooth car kit it’s a bit of a pain in the bum.
On the display itself you can see that I’m connected to my phone (the Bluetooth name is simply “G5” and I’m broadcasting on 87.5MHz at volume 30. You can use the volume here or the volume on your radio if you wish.
For the price, and it really is quite cheap at $19.99 from Amazon US or £13.99 from Amazon UK, it’ll play tunes very well from your phone and the audio is clear and loud. The control system is simple and very easy to understand, plus it’ll auto-connect when you get into the car and power it up. I also liked the fact that it had two USB outputs and a clear, easy-to-read screen.
Get further information on this product or buy direct from the Savfy shop.