Jabra 100-46000000-02 Freeway Bluetooth in-Car Speakerphone (U.S. Retail Packaging)

This is a review for Jabra FREEWAY Bluetooth SpeakerphoneI'm not one to take my time to write reviews, but after purchasing three of these speakerphones I thought maybe it would be helpful to tell you why this is the best speakerphone I have ever used.We live in California and, by law, have to have our Cell Phones connected by Bluetooth if we use them in the car. I have probably used 4-5 different brands and configurations in the past 5 years - all with mixed results, until I came across the Jabra FREEWAY Bluetooth Speakerphone. I really dislike using in-ear Bluetooth devices (for many reasons, but mainly because they interfere with hearing and make you look like a . . . . ). Speakerphones I have used in the past (including the less expensive Jabra products) seemed to never clearly pick-up my voice and transmit it to the caller. When I purchased my first Jabra FREEWAY Bluetooth Speakerphone (after reading a glowing CNET Review) I started using it as soon as I charged it for a couple of hours. It is the easiest, most user friendly product I have bought in a long time.Getting up and running requires:1. Charge unit (USB)2. Turn on Cell Phone and put in pairing mode3. Turn on Jabra FREEWAY Bluetooth Speakerphone - it will find the phone and announce "Connected"4. That's it, your done.Now to use it you only have to do one thing and remember 2 words:1. Attach the Speakerphone to your visor and turn it on.2. Remember 2 words when it announces by name an incoming call. a) Answer (connects you to an incoming call) or b) Cancel (phone goes straight to you voice answer message).It really is that easy. There is a lot more that the Speakerphone will do, and there is a one year subscription to a second party company that keeps all your contacts + more so you can call one number and transfer to anyone in your contacts, send text, etc. But you really don't need to know or use any of that.Oh, I forgot, the main reason I like the Jabra FREEWAY Bluetooth Speakerphone is that my clients have no clue that I am even on a Bluetooth device when I talk to them in the car. No extraneous noise, no wind noise, just a clear voice. That, plus the ease of use is why I keep buying more of these and giving them to my wife, children, etc.Did I mention that once you turn the Jabra Freeway on you don't have to touch/recharge it for a month or more (my experience, moderate use). It turns itself on when I get in the car, and turns itself off when I exit (motion detector).Pros: All of the above. Plus, iTune music sounds pretty good through the 3 speakers and podcasts are great (you can also transmit the music/podcast to you FM radio) - the Speakerphone "knows" to to stop the music/podcast if a call comes in.Cons: It takes a couple of minutes for the speakerphone to turn-off automatically when you you leave the car. For a short time, if you are fairly close to the car (in you home or office) the unit still picks-up calls. This has happened to me only once, and my iPhone asks if I want to not use the Bluetooth on the screen, so it really is a minor annoyance.

I purchased this March of 2012 and on the occasion of its second charging I decided now was the time to write a review.RIDICULOUS battery life. I'm not kidding. I put this in the car at the beginning of March. It has never been switched off and is just now on its second charging. That means better than two (2) months on a single charge. I don't know what the exact full standby time is but the talk time is 14 continuous hours. 5 Stars for battery use.I don't get the negative comments about the speakers. If you expect an "aural experience" of Bose like sound quality with 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround then turn on the car stereo and stop using a speakerphone as an entertainment device. For calls, the Freeway is outstanding. The callers voices are as clear and as loud as you would expect from a $400.00 conference room hands free set up. Extraordinary voice quality and volume enough to make you turn it down. From the recipient's end: They don't even know I'm on a hands-free let alone a cell phone. The noise cancelling on this is really nailed down. 5 Stars for volume, sound and voice quality.Connecting phones could not have been easier or faster. First phone was a Droid and current one is an iPhone4. Switch on the phone Bluetooth, turn on the Freeway, then follow the voice prompts from the freeway. 30-60 Seconds is all it takes. The unit has a motion sensor that disconnects from the cell phone after ten or so minutes of being stationary. This means you leave the car and after a few minutes the Freeway goes to sleep. Conversely, when you get in the car and start the vehicle moving the motion sensor immediately turns the Freeway back on and re-connects to the cell phone. In other words: Turn it on and forget it. It will turn itself off and on without your help. 5 Stars for Bluetooth connectivity.(I just realized this is all out of sequence but what the heck.)Mounting is a no brainer. It is very light weight, downright tiny in size and has a double bail wire on the back. The front of it curves to match the contour of the driver's sun-visor. Slid it on the visor and that's that. It has not slipped, bounced, or moved in any way since it was installed. I took it off this morning and it left no marks on the visor. In place, tucked up on the visor, it is almost impossible to see from outside the car. No advertising for the bad guys. 5 Stars for size, weight and mounting.It has a list of voice commands built in you can access by pressing the "voice" button. It also expands to include voice commands resident in the given connected phone. Any/all voice commands for my droid and iPhone4 work through the Freeway. Very cool. Someone made mention that it's not a true hands free as you have to push the phone bar at the front of the Freeway to place a call. Really? OK so you do have to actually touch it and maybe someday we'll be able to use thought commands but for now: Once you bump the bar it asks you for a command and from there forward it's all hands free. Granted you can't use it with the windows open driving 70mph down the interstate but without that kind of tornado like wind-noise, the voice commands are flawless. 5 Stars for hands-free.The "Voice Assist" package that came with the unit was free for one year. It is a third party vendor service and is frankly silly. The service could be used from any phone or hands-free device and actually has nothing to do with the Freeway. If you're a social networking techno geek you may enjoy the service but if you're not, don't waste the time and effort.Bottom line: A super high quality hands-free unit that does what you want the way you want with no apparent shortcomings or vices. So when was the last time you could say that about an electronic device? This is the real deal. Get one.