MOTOROLA T505 Bluetooth In-Car Speakerphone with Digital FM Transmitter

gusbell · Thread Author #1 12-09-2008, 07:18 PM

Hi all, New crackberry user here (about 2 weeks) but soon to be an abuser like so many of you hard core, thumb aching readers. I'm a bit of a techie having been into computer gaming and staying abreast of the latest and greatest in hardware over the last 20 years. I've built a few systems here and there, some for myself and others for friends so I'm not afraid to venture into the great unknown. Today, I did my first OS upgrade without issue so I'm getting familar with the blackberry and how it's system works.

I commute 72 miles each way to work, 5 days a week. As a manager for absolutely, positively, the best air express company in the world. As you can imagine, I take quite a few calls on the road during that travel time. I have had a over the ear bluetooth solution before and liked it but was always bothered by keeping up with it and afraid of losing it. When I switched to a blackberry a few weeks ago, it also presented the con of having two different vehicle chargers so I started my search for a handsfree bluetooth device that would use the mini USB charger my 8330 did.

A quick gander at newegg and here at the crackberry store had me interested in a few different devices. I Googled reviews for each of the contenders and after a few hours of reading, I decided to give the Motorola T505 the thumbs up as my first attempt at a solution.

Motorola T505

It's a sweet little device that clips on your visor and becomes a speakerphone for your bluetooth enabled phone/blackberry. Where the T505 really brings some bells and whistles to the dance is that it also has a FM transmitter to play through your car's stereo. No more poor volume from your bluetooth connection. If you have volume to crank on the left dial (or volume buttons), it will play just as loud as your favorite AC-DC song. Max volume on the actual unit without going the trasmit route is more than acceptable in all but the worst of noisy conditions.

Linking to a FM station is as easy as pressing the right hand button on the rear of the unit. It searches for a clear frequency and speaks it over the speaker twice. You tune your FM dial to that channel and your good to go. What I do is discover the frequency when I get in the car, tune to it and do a quick press of my radio's pre-set buttons and then go back to listening to my sirius radio. If I get a call, a quick press of my radios pre-set tunes the radio and then a press of the left front button to answer the call and I'm into my conversation.

The FM transmitter also works for your music library if your device supports music playing (doesn't everything these days).

The T505 goes into pairing mode easily by pressing two buttons at the same time to put it into discovery mode. It's a one time thing and takes all of about 5 seconds and your linked to your phone for good. Could not be simpler.

It supports voice commands (any actions that your phone supports).

Sound quality is clear and plenty loud although it's comparable to AM radio in tone. I have been using the T505 for over a month in my little Elantra. It's not the most sound insulated vehicle on the road but I have never had anyone complain they could not hear me or understand me, even when driving through rush hour with the semi's on both sides. I believe this is because the mic hole is place on the bottom of the unit , closest to you if clipped on your visor, which clearly was the best spot for it.

One last thing I have found it useful for is conference calls or speakerphone at home.

Battery life is fantastic as a full charge lasts me over a week or about 15 hours on road. I have never run it down until it wouldn't power up so thats the best estimate I can give on real world testing.

Bluetooth mode

It has the little Motorola "M" on the front and it indicates much by its color. Blue means its syncing (or synced) with a bluetooth device (clever guys at motorola). Green means it's fully charged. I think Red means it's low on power or something but I've never got that low.

Overall, the Motorola T505 has been a great solution for me. here are some Pro's and Con's for you that may be considering something similar.

Pro's
-Single charging cord if your using a mini-usb device
-Small enough to be unobtrusive on your visor or could fit in a shirt pocket.
-Big enough to not constantly be hiding somewhere when you need it.
-Sound quality is solid on both ends
-FM transmitter is nice feature to have if you are in a noisy enviroment and need a little extra volume.
-Price is right. This can be found for $70-$90 about anywhere.
-Doesn't need constant battery charging. Once a week for most commuters seems likely.

CON's
-Don't expect stereo or CD quality from your phone or music when using the transmitter. This is likely typical for most FM tranmitters, especially in moving vehicles.
-I didn't find it before I tried an ear piece bluetooth solution.

Cost/Value- 8 of 10 stars
Ease of use- 10 of 10 stars (even a caveman could do it ;-)
Performance/Quality- 8 of 10 stars
Styling/Cool factor- 8 of 10 stars

Hope you all enjoy the review. Feel free to shoot me a PM if your considering this product and have any questions.

Regards,

Gus

netko22 · #2 12-16-2008, 09:17 AM

Dear Gus,

I got some bad info about this device. I found some posts with info that device turns it self off after 30 minutes of no activity (even the blue tooth connection with phone is made), so if you receive the call you must turn it on and wait for pairing again.

Can you confirm that ?

Thx,
Netko

c1971ace · #3 12-16-2008, 09:33 AM

My mom told me that she got me one of these for xmas...and i guess it also comes with an ipod bluetooth adapter too as part of a bundle...when you shut it off do you have to repair it every time you want to use it?? Only reason i ask is that i use a MOTO H9 earpeice and everytime i shut it off i have to delete the device off the phone then repair it. I know its not a Curve thing because the same thing happened when i had my Pearl.

gusbell · Thread Author #4 12-16-2008, 10:07 AM

Negative.

I paired it once and that was it. Whenever I power it on when I get in the car, it automatically syncs up and I get a little screen msg on the phone that it was found. It gives me three lines of functions (I can't remember exactly what they are but it's something like FM transmitter, bluetooth function, handsfree) and it's ready to go.

ADberry · #5 12-16-2008, 10:15 AM

You dont need to re-pair it. Just switch it on and it detects your phone within 2 sec. Btw, I too got the bundle with the bt transmitter for the ipod but I havent tried it out yet.

gusbell · Thread Author #6 12-16-2008, 10:35 AM

Netko,

I've not found that but then I'm not completely positive I've gone 30 minutes without a call while in the car, lol. I'm pretty sure it doesn't do that but even if it did, it would be no big problem to reach up and press the call button to start voice activated and then cancel it just to keep it active.

Cobra302 · #7 12-18-2008, 12:30 AM

i just got this unit today, very nice. thanks for the great review gus, it was this that made me get one. i also like the voice caller id function. kinda cool. the voice is a little freaky though!

i'm hoping that it doesnt turn off after 30 minutes, i cant see how it would though, i should know more in the next few days though as i test it out. the only thing i found that turns off on its own was the fm transmitter. the instructions say it turns off by itself if unused after 10 minutes. maybe this is what the poster above was talking about?

netko22 · #8 12-18-2008, 02:24 AM

Thanks !!!

If it is like ADBerry said, that it pairs again in 2 sec after your turn it on that is ok. I had some bluetooth headphones that paired for 10-15 sec , so I could newer check a phone call.

Ev0lv3 · #9 12-18-2008, 11:46 AM

So, who can chime in on the half hour (30 minute) thing?

I want to get one of these for my step dad as he's a semi driver, and our laws are changing here. But it would be useless if he has to turn it on every half hour.

Cobra302 · #10 12-18-2008, 06:28 PM

ok, so here's what i've noticed so far. it seems as if the power to the unit is off after a certain amount of time, but my bold still shows that im connected to the device. as soon as i try to make a call, the device "wakes up" for lack of a better term and is good to go. i havent had to pair it a second time after the initial one when i first get in the car. and even then, all i'm doing is turning the device on, it automatically finds and pairs itself with my bold.

trelawrence · #11 12-18-2008, 06:46 PM

Nice review!

rickfleming · #12 12-18-2008, 08:10 PM

I have had the T505 for around 5 months! The only issues I have are the static I get thru the radio from the FM transmitter. Other than that I am thrilled with the music ability in being able to play my more than 1200 songs i have stored on the 8gb memory card.

Ev0lv3 · #13 12-19-2008, 07:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cobra302

ok, so here's what i've noticed so far. it seems as if the power to the unit is off after a certain amount of time, but my bold still shows that im connected to the device. as soon as i try to make a call, the device "wakes up" for lack of a better term and is good to go. i havent had to pair it a second time after the initial one when i first get in the car. and even then, all i'm doing is turning the device on, it automatically finds and pairs itself with my bold.

So if the device is off, and you recieve a call, does it automatically come on as well?

Thanks for the review.

shaggymatt · #14 12-19-2008, 12:36 PM

One of the HUGE CONS that you're missing, is that the speakerphone is only half duplex. This was the primary reason that I chose the Satechi, which is about the same price over the T505.