There are hundreds of types of car stereos in the market today so how do you decide on which one is suitable for you? Well, how about one that practically does everything. That’s exactly what Sony’s latest Xplod does and beautifully too might I add.
The Xplod Bluetooth CD Receiver is the latest car stereo from the Sony’s Xplod series. It features your typical stereo needs such as radio but takes everything one step further by implementing Bluetooth technology as the name suggests.
Now, you can make calls wirelessly and hands free from the driver’s seat in addition to listening to your personal collection of music via any Bluetooth capable device. There are simple instructions to follow for setting up your device and then it can connect automatically every time afterwards.
I was a bit hesitant to take calls over the stereo but in reality it turns out to be the best feature of the device. The quality and clarity of incoming phone is astounding. I was expecting to have to drive with the windows up and face right in front of the receiver in order to communicate with the person on the other end. Surprisingly, none of this was necessary as my calls came through crystal clear sounding whether I was stopped at a red light or driving down the highway at 60 mph.
Another main feature of the system is the ability to hook up mp3 players, namely, your iPod. Two inputs grace the removable interface; an auxiliary and USB input. While I have yet to use the auxiliary input for anything, it’s nice to have the choice. The USB input, however, is fantastic for those of us who like to carry our music on the go.
Using the standard transfer cable that comes with your mp3 player, you can connect directly to the car stereo to play your personal music collection. The interface almost immediately recognizes your device and automatically starts to play whatever music you have stored on it. As an added bonus, it will also charge your device while it’s playing so no worries about running out of power. You can control your playlists by either the interface itself or your mp3 player depending on the settings.
The Xplod Bluetooth CD Receiver is not without its faults too. Probably the biggest of which is the design of the device itself. For such a fancy (and expensive) car stereo, you’re not going to want to leave the interface lying in plain sight when you leave your car. Thankfully, it’s removable so you can store it in a safe place while you’re away. Unfortunately, it’s the removing of the interface that proves to be the most difficult.
With the simple push of a button, the interface flips down so that you can then unhook it from its gears for storage. While there are picture instructions printed on the device itself on how to properly remove it, actually taking it off is rather difficult. To do so, you must push it to the right and pull out at the same time. This requires a lot of fidgeting and fooling with the device to get it to budge.
Naturally, I assumed that this was just because it was new and I would grow accustomed to removing it. Even after much usage, though, the interface still gives me problems when taking it off although I will admit, it has gotten easier.
Another minor inconvenience is the display screen. Looking at the picture, you can see how small it is, yet the designers have decided to fit as much information as possible on it, making it look cluttered and downright ugly. You can see what radio station you’re listening to, the time, what Bluetooth device you have hooked up along with the battery life and signal strength of it; the list could go on. There really is no option to adjust what will and won’t be displayed. You can change the background animation however. Frankly I like to keep that off as anything other than solid black looks horrible and rather distracting while driving.
Overall, the Sony Xplod Bluetooth Receiver is an excellent car stereo system and does pretty much everything you would need while driving. It even included a nifty little remote control so that you don’t have to reach over and change stations or skip tracks. The design is a bit flawed, but the functionality is the important factor which, thankfully, Sony has it nailed. If you’re in the market for a new stereo system, the Sony Xplod is it.