This is a great product and worked out of the box. I tried it with a Samsung Galaxy S2 Skyrocket and an Asus Transformer prime. We have Apple and Droid devices in our family, but I found that I could not pair an Apple iTouch with this device. On contacting New Potato support, I was told:"If you want to use TuneLink for both Android and Apple devices, you need to be using the Apple version of TuneLink. From a hardware standpoint, these 2 are virtually identical, but the Android version is missing some parts that allow it to communicate with Apple devices."
So now I have to return this and buy the other version which is annoying.
Hopefully this will help others choose the correct version.
All in all, great product!I read reviews before purchasing this unit and they indicated this is the best quality FM transmitter to produce almost broadcast quality sound. I did not find that to be the case. I have returned it. I'm also surprised by the written return policy of the vendor. It states a refund will be subject to fees if the product is not returned unopened. How the blazes can you know if it works properly and is worth the money, unless you do open and try it? It was the most expensive unit of the ones I was considering, so I expected it to be at least satisfactory in sound quality, but it wasn't. It produced a static "lisp" type of sound on all high frequency sounds such as a cymbal strike or anything with an "S" sound in a word.
Update. Even though my package was returned and it was obviously opened, since I returned it for reasons of dissatisfaction, I did get a full refund.I really, really want to like this device. And when it works, it's fantastic. I use the line-out (not the FM transmitter) and the sound quality is great.
But that's only part of the story. I've been through three of these since I bought mine. The first two had a thermal issue that would cause them to stop working, which is a problem considering this thing is going to sit outside in your car. New Potato did replace them, but it cost me about $10 to ship it back every time.
The real problem, though, is that for some reason my Galaxy Nexus and this thing don't play nice. They will connect every time, but eventually the A2DP will break down and the audio won't work. Sometimes it's enough to unplug the Tunelink and plug it back in, sometimes I have to turn Bluetooth off and back on on the phone, and sometimes I have to do both. Then other times I have to unplug the Tunelink and turn the phone off and on. I have no idea who's fault it is, but it basically makes the device useless.
New Potato spent time helping me, but the last email I got from them was "hey, we have no idea. There's another guy with a Galaxy Nexus but he says it's fine". I was hoping the update to Android 4.0.4 would help, but it didn't.Automatic Bluetooth connecting and Audio Quality...
The first pairing was simple and setup was done in less than 2 minutes. Note: Be sure that when you plug the receiver device in to the power adapter of your truck you make sure you pick one that that cycles the power with the key on/off. Turning the key on and giving it power is what tells it to start looking for the paired phone. In my Nissan this is in the Arm console. When I start the truck it powers the device, the device automatically looks for the phone and connects within 10 seconds all without any user input (VERY NICE!!!). When I turn off the truck it automatically pauses the MP3 playback. With the receiver device being in the arm console I was worried that I might have reception issues or audio quality loss. However being in the console I had no issues with the wireless connection or quality. Audio quality is as good as a direction wire connection. I use the AUX jack on my stereo to connect the receiver to my stereo. As such I did not test the FM transmitter.
Automatic Media Playback...
Using the latest version of their TuneLink app from the Google Playstore Market the app allows you to pick a default MP3 or Music playback program. If you install this app and pick a default music app the phone will still do all of the above Bluetooth connecting automatically, PLUS it will automatically start/resume playback of the last MP3 you were playing, right where you left off. For me this worked perfectly the first time. However after it resumed, my phone displayed an error that the TuneLink app has stopped working. After that crash the auto playback resume feature no longer worked without manual help from me. This could be that the app is not playing nicely with my Samsung Note II. The auto pause when turning the truck off works with or without the app on my phone.
Overview...
This product is exactly what I was looking for: Get in to my truck and have the phone automatically connect to the audio system. I am very pleased with this device and find it worth the few extra bucks you might pay over some similar devices that don't offer the automatic connect feature. NOTE: The above auto connect assumes you have bluetooth turned on, on your phone.
One final note...
This unit is NOT for people looking to create an option for Bluetooth hands-free phone conversations. Unlike some similar devices this product only supports media over Bluetooth. My truck already has a Bluetooth hands-free option for talking on the phone, so that is not something I need. If you already have hands-free in your car this device works perfectly in conjunction with you current hands-free and will even pause the music while you take a call through your cars hands-free system. But if hands-free phone calls is something that you are looking to get from this device, then you need to look for a different product such as the Belkin Bluetooth Truck Hands-Free Kit which offers both Media and Phone calls over Bluetooth but does not support the automatic connection like this device does.
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