Samsung Car Handsfree AHKT600UBE

I was frankly surprised when I saw this unit arrive in office. I knew that Samsung was into manufacturing Bluetooth headsets, but I had no idea that they were into car handsfree speakers as well. Frankly, I thought that these things were manufactured only by some obscure companies like Parrot.

But after the initial surprise, it was all uphill for the unit. The design of the car handsfree is plain and simple — one button to receive and cut calls and a prominently big speaker, which takes up most of the unit. The mic is merely a tiny hole next to the call-receive button. There's a gigantic clip on the back of the unit, so you can easily slip it on the front sun-shades of the car for optimum placement. Volume control is easy with a handy jog dial on the side. The other side has the on-off switch along with charging port.

The funny thing is that the unit only bundles with a car charger, that too, one with a reasonably small cable. There's no regular electrical charger bundled, which means that you'll have to have an electrical socket in your car (through the car cigarette lighter), and slip the unit out of the sun-shade to charge it. That's not a major grievance, but it's definitely worth a mention.

Connecting to a mobile phone is as simple as it gets with any other Bluetooth device, and just about everything else after that is dominated by that single large button.

The voice clarity on the handsfree unit was excellent. The audio was loud and clear at mid volume level and even the mic was sensitive enough to capture everything I was saying even at a normal volume. It actually felt as if I was talking to someone present in the car with me.

The Bluetooth signal in this case didn't need to have a very long range, as it's very unlikely that you're going to use this unit with your mobile anywhere but inside the car. I did, however try using this with the mobile kept on the back seat, in-between the seats and in my pocket. It worked well in all the cases. Keeping the phone in the boot of a hatchback car also worked, though with a little static.

Rs. 4,799 is just about right for a good quality handsfree speaker like this one. If Bluetooth headsets are not your thing, and you do a lot of work from your car itself, the Samsung Car Handsfree would make a great asset.