Parrot MKi9100 Advanced Bluetooth Hands-Free Music Kit

Had this installed for about 4 months. It cannot handle streaming BT 10 whole inches without skipping, randomly disconnecting and the not reconnecting without going to setting->bt->pair with->device with 10 seconds then setting->bt-paired devices->play bt audio, I've reset to defaults many times, paired different devices all to no avail. This device is just not ready for primetime.As far as handsfree is concerned, it works as expected. call quality is much more reliable than BT audio unfortunately, that was the secondary reason I bought it.The little remote is pretty cool but sometimes inconsistent in its use. sometimes a minor even accidental tap is all it takes to skip/pause a track, other times you have to press for a full second to get a response. This may just be the fault of the same crappy bluetooth A2DP profile though.The boot time for the device is pretty inconvenient as well. I don't understand why Parrot made the device shut down completely instead of implementing some kind of low power mode. It has to go through sometimes a 30 second boot up sequence before starting playback. Another complaint is lack of customization. I have no iPod or Line in devices and don't use the built in EQ but can't hide them from the main menu. I suppose thats all moot point considering it doesn't do the one thing I bought it to do well enough.Update: reducing review to one star after about a year of use. Still no software update to resolve any of the issues, strap that holds remote to wheel is broken. Didn't hold up well in the heat despite being designed to be installed in a car. Remote is even more finicky than when I installed it and it gets worse all the time. BT still skips and cant handle 2 devices being connected and frequently drops both connections if more than one are even paired.A new bug has also popped up where the Parrot will decide that it needs to fast forward, won't respond to any buttons and has to be rebooted by cycling the ignition or disconnecting the screen for 10 seconds or so.This is the most expensive disappointing purchase I've made in years. I'm not looking forward to ripping and replacing this thing but I can't wait to be rid of it.

Installation:Installation was easy with the wiring harness that I bought elsewhere which was specific to my make/model of car. The hardest part was getting my stock radio out and back in (it's a behemoth) and finding space inside the dash for the Parrot's brain box.Hardware / UI:Other than the trouble I had wedging all the cables and the brain of the unit inside my dash, the display, remote holster, and mic mounted easily on my car's interior with the provided sticky strips. The remote's wheel is nice to navigate menus with, but using the buttons to play/pause and skip tracks can be hit or miss and may require multiple presses to get the result you want.Bluetooth for media:I use the bluetooth functionality to play podcasts or music from my android phone over my Hyundai Sonata's speakers every day. The Parrot takes about 12 seconds or so to boot up and automatically connect to my phone. From there, I just open my media player app of choice and hit play. (Some apps require you to select the bluetooth device) There is usually about 5 seconds of stuttering until the audio gets fully synced up, then it's smooth sailing.Bluetooth calling:I mounted the mic on the front edge of my dash and I am told that my voice is loud and clear in outgoing calls. Sound comes through the speakers well. I haven't messed with voice dialing too much, but in my one test of the feature, it worked great. I mainly bought the unit for its media functionality.USB:I had some problems getting the Parrot to recognize that my USB drive was plugged in at first. I tried reformatting the drive and also plugging it in harder, and one of those changes seemed to make it work. You can seek through your tracks by artist, album, genre, and playlist. If you leave it on USB mode when you turn the car off, it will start playing where it left off when you turn the car back on.AUX:AUX seems to work just fine. Just plug it in and away you go.ipod:I haven't tested out the ipod functionality.

EDIT 06-10-2014: Device died yesterday, no blown fuse and no disconnected wires. The device I purchased was used, so who knows how long it was in another vehicle, but it lasted seven months before dying.Good device. I removed the factory radio from my '08 Subaru Impreza, installed a Google Nexus 7 in the dash and am using this to control the sound.Pros:Decent sound. I have to increase the volume on my N7, but once done this actually holds up pretty well. Vastly superior to stock.Easy to modify settings and set up. Up and done in about 5 minutes, including setting up the sound levels, playing with the EQs, connecting my phone and tablet.Easy to install. However, how simplicity of the install is directly proportional to your experience in car audio or at least taking things apart. Not a big deal to install without the dual ISO harnesses, just hook it up like a normal car stereo.Cons:Bluetooth can be flaky sometimes. You can set a default device to connect to, but every great while it connects to something else. It may be something odd about the device, so I can't 100% fault the Parrot here.Speed. It takes about 15 seconds from the time the car is on until it starts playing music. Not a huge deal, but don't expect it to behave 100% like a regular head unit.Sound quality was abysmal initially, but this seemed to change based on the ROM I was using. As of now, with CM 10.2 on my N7, it sounds pretty good, listening mostly to heavy metal and math/physics/chemistry books on Audible.Would I buy it again, based on getting another car and putting a tablet in the dash: yes. I would wish for some improvements, but overall it works and sounds decent.

Not as impressed as I was hoping to be.The functionality isn't as good as I hoped.On a cheap £30 Bluetooth it would pay anything that playing on my phone.For some reason certain apps won't play. For example I've listened to the radio through YouTube and it wouldn't play, I had to fiddle around in the settings to get it to work.Don't know why it doesn't just play everything without hassle.It's meant to be able to connect to two phones at a time. I've connected my work phone but for some reason it won't connect the calls through. A bit annoying but I'm sure I'll work it out.What I do like.-The little screen shows the songs your listening to.-Shows who's calling as well but I have my phone in a cradle so I can see anyways.-I had it fitted by Halfords and they did a great job fitting it, it really tidies away well-overrides the radio system (but it does also override the other sounds e.g indicators, reversing sensors-works well with Siri (once you disable the inbuilt software)

I love the MKi 9100 as it is compact and display all the necessary information, Callers ID, network, and songs title when you stream music through your phone, the remote is very practical and you can do all the settings (equalizer, volume, input, etc), answer calls, change songs directly through it. The remote can be either mounted to your steering wheel with the supplied strap or stuck directly to your dashboard. If you want something efficient and nice looking I recommend this one.

Bought as a present and works perfectly. Brilliant to listen to music through from phone and very clear when speaking with someone.

Bought to replace an older version and sounds so much better

Very easy to install. Great piece of kit. Cheapest on the net for this model