Nothing spectacular, but it could prevent a very bad day.
Written: May 09 '09 (Updated May 10 '09)
Product Rating:
Pros: A reasonably good portable speakerphone for the price! Can hear callers clearly, easy to use.
Cons: The visor clip is cheap. Noise cancellation ability isn't as good as it could be.
The Bottom Line: If you're looking for a good portable bluetooth speakerphone in this price range, definitely worth the money. Above average but not top of the line.
javajnkie's Full Review: Samsung HKT450 Bluetooth Headset
Background (skip ahead if you just want the facts)
Not too long ago, I met a man who was having a very, very bad day. We made each other's aquaintace because it was my car he happened to slam into while holding his cell phone up to his ear. I only know for sure that the phone was a factor in the accident because he jumped out of his car and exclaimed "Damnit, damnit, damnit! I'm so sorry! I was arguing with my wife and couldn't focus when my blood pressure rose!" He told the responding officer the same thing, which I'm sure pleased his insurance company.
I'm not sure a headset would have helped this guy, but the fact that he wasn't using one earned him the hefty fine for a few moving violations on top of everything else. One of his errors was indisputable: he was violating the hands-free law in the state.
I have a tiny bit of sympathy for the guy. Because a few weeks before he smashed up my car, I nearly hit my own garage door as my wired hands-free became tangled on the lever for my wipers. Although I've been using wired ear pieces for years, I've only dabbled with bluetooth headsets -- I tend to lose them (because I don't like to walk around with them in my ear), or lose the chargers.
After these two incidents combined, I went out and bought a bluetooth speakerphone. I wanted something affordable and reliable, with a reasonable battery life; something that did a fairly good job of eliminating background noise; and because I travel frequently, it had to be light and portable so I could use it in rental cars.
I picked the Samsung hkt-450 and it mostly fits the bill. Affordability and Portability: I picked mine up for about $60.00 from a retail club store. It was about the same price as comparable bluetooth car kits and other portable bluetooth speaker phones.
It also fit the thin and portable requirement to a tee. Seriously, it's only 0.6" thin (and 5.23" long). Combine that with it's barely-there weight of 2.85 ounces, and I can toss it into my carry-on without feeling a thing.
Usability (form and function) Samsung made it easy to deal with incoming calls without too much fussing by giving it a multifunctional button that you use to answer, end, and reject calls. I've accidentally answered calls I meant to reject though because I didn't hold the button down for a full 3 seconds.
The speakerphone allows you to avoid poking buttons while driving--if your phone supports voice dialing (read: if you're not using a Treo 755p!). It has a dedicated mute/mode button and a last number redial function. It's also smoothly transfered calls between the speakerphone and all three of the cell phones I've tried it with.
The charger plugs in at the bottom of the unit, and at the top, there's a standard 2.5mm line-out jack for plugging in a headset. I assume this is to your streaming music, although it seems a little pointless for my uses.
Battery Life Samsung says it this unit can withstand 8 hours of talk and 320 hours in standby before needing a charge. I've never talked for 8 hours continuously (on this at least!) but it lasts about a week before needing a charge, under normal (for me) usage. That means I used in small shots on commutes and errands, with a total talk of about 4 hours broken up over the week. The rest of the time it was on standby. Not bad.
It comes with both a car charger and an AC adapter, so if you're not as forgetful as I am, you put the charger in whatever car you're driving and never really have to worry about it.
Call Quality and Reliability The microphone is on the top right of the unit, and since I got mixed reviews about how I sounded to others, I'm not sure if that's the best placement. The mic placement may not have been the problem though, because the quality seemed to vary depending on what I was driving!
See, in my very low end Toyota Yaris, the road noise was pretty loud when I was on the highway. In that car, everyone complained about it. In a quieter car, my callers heard me in crystal clarity. In both cases, I could hear them very well no matter how well they could hear me, although other peoples voices sounded as though they were being played through a speaker with no bass.
Pairing There's nothing special about the pairing process. If you've ever paired bluetooth devices, this one won't throw you for any loops. Still, you should probably check to make sure your phone is compatible before you throw away the receipt! So far, I've paired it with three different phones. Two of them were samsung models and the pairing was simple. The third was a treo 755p and it took a few tries before my treo saw the speakerphone. I blame this on Palm though.
It also paired nicely with my desktop and laptop computers. It's A2DP and AVRCP compatible, so I can not only use it as a stereo speaker, but I can stream music in stereo from my computer to the the speakers, and use the mute button on the Samsung speakerphone to control playing and pausing the music.
Overall The speakerphone won't keep me from arguing with a significant other, but it'll go a long way in preventing a cell-phone related accident or ticket!
It's a pretty good speakerphone for the price--especially since it's selling now for less than I bought it. The call quality was good overall, but others complained about being able to hear me when I was in a loud car. Still, I'm glad I bought it and would probably make the same choice if I could go back and change my purchase.
In the Box The speakerphone An AC adapter A car charger A USB cord A plastic visor clip
The HKT450 Bluetooth Hands-Free Speakerphone is the perfect car and office companion. In the car, attach this portable device to your car's visor for ...More at J&R Music and Computer World
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