Driving your car and still being in contact with people is almost a necessity now a days. It seems like people never need to talk to me unless I am either driving or the kids are screaming. Most states have laws in place that make it illegal for you to drive and talk on the phone. Using you devices speaker phone is almost useless and for those of us that still have plug-in headphones with in-line mic, well, they can get annoying and in the way. That is where a Bluetooth device can make your life a lot easier. Not all of us like headsets, so we turn to Bluetooth speakerphone accessories like SuperTooth’s latest speakerphone, the Crystal.
We first saw the Crystal at CES in Las Vegas in January. After having used their last two units, we were extremely excited to see this new one. The design is much slimmer giving it a very low profile. They simplified the design and the ease of use, focusing on noise cancellation, sound quality and ease of use. No need for complicated software or application installations or paid subscriptions for additional functions. We really liked that this go around.
Spec wise you are looking at a Bluetooth Speakerphone with an average battery life of 20 hours talk time and approximately 40 days of standby time. The battery life is stellar and right on point. We have had this unit for review for about a month and put the battery to the test and it easily hit 30 days stand by time with moderate usage. Size wise it measures in at 130 x 50 x 14 mm. – One thing we particularly like about SuperTooth is how they mount to your visor. It is a regular visor clip that you slid onto your visor, except the clip is metal and the Crystal has a strong magnet on the back. This makes flipping up or down your visor possible without having to unclip and reclip the speakerphone. Simply pull it off the clip and set it on the other side. The metal clip has a slight grooved depression for it to sit and the Crystal will slide right into it with out you even having to look.
 
On the front of the Crystal you have a few buttons to work with. To one side you will find an easy locate and press the phone button. This allows you to answer calls with out even looking up. If you long press it when not on a call at all, it will call the last number you talked with. Under the phone button are a variety of colored LED lights. Blue is used mostly for letting you know if you are in pairing mode, in communication or connected. Steady green means you are fully charged, steady orange means you are charging and steady red means your battery is low. Also if you are not on a call and you short press it then it will activate voice dial, assuming your device supports this function. The next button on the bottom is an end call or reject call button and next to that is the power button. Short press turns on the unit, long press will turn it off. So you won’t have to worry about hitting it by accident and turning it off. On the top you have your volume up and volume down controls allowing you to adjust the callers volume easily.
Installation and connecting is as easy as putting it in pairing mode and scanning for new devices on your phone. Took me about a minute to connect and be off to the races. I tried my best to use the Crystal when I was running around town. I spoke with my mom and grandma, and we all know how much trouble they have hearing us on the phone. Neither of them had any complaints about how I sounded or outside noise. I could hear them ‘crystal’ clear.
The Good
The SuperTooth Crystal is easy to use and easy to set up. The stellar battery life (20 hours talk, 40 days standby) makes it a leave it and forget it type of device. The magnet on the rear leaves mounting options open. It easily attached to the visor clip and can be pulled off and moved to the other side without even looking. The smaller buttons on the top and bottom edge might seem hard to see, but they are back-lit with a soft white/blue light when you are operating the Crustal. Making it easy to see and use if you have to look up at it for a second. The slim profile keeps it out-of-the-way and looks much more natural when attached than larger and more bulky styles. The LED light under the phone button flashes with various colors to let you know what is going on.
The Bad
The only downside that we could find is more so on the Android side of its use than the device its self. With iPhones the Crystals remaining battery life will be displayed on your screen. Android of course doesn’t offer this functionality. However they make up for that with the LED colorings under the phone button. Green is charged and Red is low battery.
Overall thought’s
While I have never personally been a fan of Bluetooth speakerphones, this is one that I can use and like a lot. It’s slim, battery lasts forever and sound quality is great. Being able to stream music to it is a plus, but not big seller for me. Music is clear and does sound great though. With me taking long drives into the mountains I often forget CDs and the radio doesn’t work, so this gives me some tunes on the go without needing to pack something else along. If you aren’t all that thrilled about sticking a Bluetooth device in your ear or using your earbuds, this is easily the next best thing to have.
Price wise, we fully expected this to be well into the $100 range at launch. Much like the SuperTooth HD was. Thankfully they surprised us with a modest price tag of $69.99. that is very comparable to a good Bluetooth headset. SuperTooth recently announced the Crystal on May 9th as officially being available. While we can’t locate them for sale on their direct store, we have found them available in our Amazon store. If you are looking for a great Bluetooth hands-free speakerphone that is easy to use and works great, this is definitely the one we recommend currently. Feel free to get an order placed via the link below.
Order -Â SuperTooth Handsfree Crystal Bluetooth Visor Car-Kit
