Review: MKi9100 iPhone-compatible hands-free car kit
Looking for a hands-free car kit for your iPhone? The Parrot MKi series of hands-free car cell phone kits are touted as the only iPhone-compatible car kits available (though for the record, they do work with many other brands of cell phones). BLORGE recently had the opportunity to review the MKi9100 Bluetooth Advanced Hands-free Music Kit.
The Parrot MKi9100 is a Bluetooth hands-free car kit system that comes with an organic light-emitting diode (OLED) screen; a wireless remote control, which can be positioned on the steering wheel or dashboard, and allows the driver to control all the functions of the MKi9100; and a “double” microphone, which is usually mounted just above the rear view mirror. The other major component is the “Bluebox”, which contains the electronics, and is mounted out of sight behind the dash.
Unless you happen to be an auto electrician, don’t try to install the Parrot MKi9100 yourself. An experienced installer took an hour to install this into my Astra (Saturn Ion in the U.S.), and it involved the drilling of holes and a whole lot of wiring and configuration work that is way ahead of the average user. Save yourself a nightmare and get someone who knows what they’re doing to install it.
The Parrot wireless remote control
If you’re wondering why you’d want an iPhone hands free kit for your car, here are some scenarios that demonstrate just how handy the Parrot MKi9100 can be.
Receiving calls when you’re driving
You’ve got your cell phone in your pocket. You jump into your car and the hands-free car kit automatically detects the cell phone and makes a connection without you needing to do a thing. Someone calls you, and your radio is automatically turned down so that you can take the call. You hit a button on the control panel (which you have mounted on your dashboard) and answer the call. The caller’s details appear on the OLED screen. You hear the caller’s voice come through on the car’s stereo system, and you talk through the microphone. You hit another button on the remote control to finish the call. The radio automatically is turned up again.
Making calls when you’re driving
You’re driving along and you want to make a call. The Parrot had already automatically synced with your iPhone’s phonebook when you got in the car. You press the green phone button on the dash mounted control pad and a pleasant female voice asks you, “Who would you like to call”? You say the name of the person, and whether you want to call their home, work or cell phone number. The Parrot automatically dials the person, and you can make the call without needing to punch the number into your cell phone. There’s no need to train the Parrot to recognize your voice.
Listening to your music library
The Parrot MKi9100 also allows you to play your iPhone music library through your car’s stereo system – though you do actually need to plug it into a cable to connect it to the Parrot for this function to work. You use the remote control to scroll through menus on the display to control the music functions of your iPhone. The screen of the MKi9100 displays the playlist along with the name of the artist and the title. I only have the standard factory stereo installed in my car, but it sounded very good. Another benefit is that when the iPhone is plugged into the Parrot, it draws power from a the car – a boon when you’ve forgotten to recharge your iPhone.
The Parrot MKi9100 is compatible with most music sources, including iPods, iPhones, USB flash drives, Bluetooth stereo (A2DP) phones, MP3 players and analogue players (really).
Good points
Allows you to make calls without needing to handle your iPhone
Allows you to play songs in your song library on your car stereo
Bad points
A number of people I spoke to complained they couldn’t hear me properly (perhaps 10 percent of all the calls I made), but that may not have had anything to do with the Parrot, it could have been because I was driving through a mobile phone blind spot.
Using Bluetooth sucks juice out of the iPhone’s rather average battery
Conclusion
If you’re looking for a hands-free car kit for your iPhone, you’ve found it. The Parrot MKi9100 has made my life at lot easier, being able to seamlessly pick up calls, and make calls, while I’m in the car. It’s a slight pain that the battery needs to be recharged more often, but it’s worth the convenience.
The recommended retail price of the Parrot MKi9100 is AUS$399. Allow around AUS$150 to AUS$200 for installation.
The Parrot MKi9100 was supplied for review by Parrot. It was installed by The Car Kit Company and tested on a 2005 Holden Astra (sold as the Opel Astra in Europe, Vauxhall Astra in the U.K., and as the Saturn Ion in the U.S.).
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