Review: Blueant S1 Bluetooth Car Kit 12

With simple controls and a loud speaker, the Blueant S1 Bluetooth car kit may not be the fanciest car kit on the market, but it works and does so well. With how subpar the Pre’s speakerphone can be against the whines, grumbles, whirs, and rumbles of a car engine, road noise, and traffic, a strong speakerphone car kit is considered by many to be an essential road warrior's accessory. The Blueant S1 measures up in that regard, providing a loud and reasonably clear speaker that broadcasts not only your calls, but your music. With easy to use controls and an excellent battery life, the S1 isn’t a bad choice amongst the crowd of car kits out there.

Audio Quality

If there’s any one quality that’s most important to a car kit, its sound. I would venture to say that it is even more important than in a headset, as with a car kit your passengers can also hear the call (there are few things as embarrassing as apologizing for the poor quality of your electronics). The Blueant S1 performs decently for phone calls, but its clearly just a large speakerphone. The surprise of the S1 is the microphone, which several callers reported actually sounded clearer and broader than the Pre itself.

The S1 also can act as a speaker for you Pre’s music and video applications. Here is where the quality of the speaker really disappoints. Bass is expectedly weak and higher pitches were muffled and tinny sounding.

Controls

The Blueant S1 has four large buttons along the front side, a power/answer button, volume down, volume up, and end call. Each button works exactly as you’d expect (except the red end call button cannot be used to turn off the unit). The green power/answer button can be used to redial the last number or pause/play your music (tap it twice).

The S1 also features limited voice control, in that you can use it to answer calls without taking your hands off the wheel. When it starts beeping, simply say “Answer” or “Accept” to take the call. Mutli-point connections also come with the S1, multi-point is merely a fancy way of saying it can connect to two phones at the same time, so you and a passenger can take calls, or you can connect both your personal and work cell phones to the S1.

In the Box

Coming with the Blueant S1 Bluetooth car kit is an AC-outlet Mini USB charger and manuals. That’s it, not even a 12-volt charger for your car.

Conclusion

The Blueant S1 Bluetooth car kit is a decent, if unexciting, entry into the car kit market. Its speakerphone is loud and microphone pleasantly crisp and clear. With basic voice controls and multi-point connection abilities, the S1 will perform well with you on the road. Sadly, the speakerphone lacks extra features like an FM transmitter or even an in-car charger, but it isn’t horribly expensive, so that’s not a big deal breaker.

The Blueant S1 Bluetooth Car Kit is available in the PreCentral store for $59.95, a discount of 25% off the list price of $79.95.

Pros

Loud speaker

Cons

No car charger