I have been selling wireless since 1996 and have used multiple headsets, hands free solutions, etc. This has the best voice quality of any in-car set up I have used. I was using a Jawbone, which I still have, and is excellent. I am just tired of having something hanging on my ear X hours a day. I am a gadget freak for sure but I am tired of the tool on my ear.I made some calls at 80mph in my wife's minivan on the turnpike to friends to get their feedback before using it for business and they did no know I was on a speakerphone...that's good enough for me. The voicedialing, as with any voicedialing feature, sucks. They all suck. The voice answer did not work either say 'ok' to answer...yeah my kids were laughing at me saying 'ok' 6 times and then the call went to voicemail because it never answered. But I expected that...so just reach up and tap the answer button...no worries. My concern was voice quality, and it passed the test.
The auto phonebook transfer to a blackberry will not work from the device but will work if you do it from your BBerry's blutooth menu and push it to the device. It took about 10 minutes for my 1500+ contacts to transfer. I only did that so I could hear the name of the inbound caller, which is cool. The reality is we all have our phones right next to us when the call comes in and we can look at the phone's screen if need be.
01/09 UPDATE: I got a new car and well...I have to turn this off for business calls. It's just not good enough. What changed? Well, just my car. There is nothing worn with the device. So maybe the cars insulation is coming into play? I am driving a C6 Corvette and I am certain it is not as insulated as my previous car (Audi TT) or my wife's minivan. That being said, if your car is well insulated from road noise you should love this device. Cheers, Josh.
I'm sending it back and we'll see what happens with the next one.
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Update 6-13-08:
We still can't get the ST3 to announce the callers name either. We are on our third one after returning two of them. In our company we have BB8830's and Pearls. Tried on both with no luck, only phone numbers are announced. Also tried on two Mot KRZR's also with no luck either. Called vendor three times now and they had me do the batt thing also. They finally said that our vendor may have had a "bad batch". This one is really hard to believe. I called our vendor who is not happy that this "may be the case". I'm now waiting for blueant to send me an envelope to send the unit back and to then send me one directly from the factory.
I'm not holding my breath on this. Guess it's like software... never by version 1.0 of anything. For a few weeks, there was nothing out there (internet search) that pointed to this problem but now it's everywhere.
Aside from that, the unit performs as good as the Supertooth Light verison.
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7-3-08: Still haven't received the product return package from the manufacturer. We are still getting the Supertooth 3 device for clients though because the other "advertised" features do work and work well and so far is the most "hands free".
Buy BlueAnt Supertooth 3 Bluetooth Hands-Free Speakerphone (Black) Now
After much research here on Amazon, I decided to order the BlueAnt Supertooth3 to solve the dilemma of California's new cellphone law. I did not want any such product, but some of the available solutions are definitely less wanted than others. The Plantronics 510 Voyager would be good for a person who doesn't mind wearing gear and doesn't use sunglasses or other glasses, but I'm not a headset/earpiece kinda gal. The BlueAnt Light, with the protruding mic, sounded like a major irritation just because of the temperamental mic that would get stuck. For me, the lack of Caller ID made it unacceptable. I don't answer unnecessary calls while driving. The Jabra speakerphone does not come with a home charger. That is ridiculous, and I would never buy a product that required another purchase, when it should come with it in the first place. I saw so few reviews for the Supertooth3, which was disappointing, but decided to write one myself.I received it yesterday. It took just under an hour to charge, and it comes with a home charger, car charger and two magnet clips. It wouldn't sync the phonebook from my LG8300, not even one at a time contacts. This means that Caller ID announces the incoming number, not the name, but that is okay with me. I had never used voice dial on my phone, but the Supertooth booklet instructed that one voice tag was necessary on the phone in order to use voice dial. So I made one voice dial call from my phone, and then tried it on the Supertooth. It worked fine. I can say, "Call Sonia Home", and it dials Sonia's home phone as opposed to her cellphone. In order to enable handsfree voice answer, one must depress the volume button until it gives the voice message that it has been done. Another reviewer of the BlueAnt Light said that the flashing blue light was driving her insane, but that light lets you know the device is working as it should. For some reason, it was not flashing right after I got it and not working, but I assume that is because I did not know how to use it.
The most annoying thing by far is in the way I have to use it, due to the fact that if I get out of my car and am within 30 feet, the BlueAnt will answer the call and I can't take it on my phone. I make many short trips and in and out of buildings at a short distance. So I have to turn off the Supertooth3 before I get out of the car, and turn it back on when I get back in. What I don't know is whether it is necessary to re-enable the voice answer by depressing the volume button every time I turn it on, but that is what I have been doing. I also wonder if these devices are made to withstand the extreme heat in the car in summer. I certainly hope so, because we have weeks at a time of 100+ degrees. I also hope it is made sturdily enough to handle being turned off and on frequently.
The voice quality of calls both ways is better than the Garmin Nuvi 360 by far. The magnets are strong. The clip was kind of hard to get on my thick visor, and I won't be able to use the business card slots on the back of the visor, but the device is small and it looks cute. It's easy to take it with you and reattach it. The battery life is said to be 800 hours if you never turn it off, and much more if you do. I will be turning it off every night.
I'd say this is the best product for this purpose, which for me is simply to comply with a law that I wish had not been passed. I find all devices to be a distraction, and a cellphone alone is less distraction than in combination with other things. Guess what? Californians can still text message while they drive! Doesn't that make you want to visit? ;)
Read Best Reviews of BlueAnt Supertooth 3 Bluetooth Hands-Free Speakerphone (Black) Here
Just as the first reviewer. I'm having the same problem with my supertooth 3. I have an Iphone and it will only announce the number not the name and Blueant requested I send it back. I will update this as soon as I recieve the new one. And yes customer service at Blueant is excellent......However, I do pay shipping back to them....that's not so goodAND NOW FOR THE UPDATE : 7/5/08 My third Blue Ant st3 is all that !.....this one works perfectly with my iphone , the first two worked fine but did not say the name of the caller.....the early models of st3 do not work with all phones.....it was software issue that has been resolved....the key here is if indeed your having problems....getting an st3 with a higher serial #....Blue Ant customer service is outstanding....Talk to Dave. he'll make it right. .... oh and i would now give this product AND OUTSTANDING CUSTOMER SERVICE a five star rating !!!
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I really wanted to give this 5 stars but it just wasn't perfect. How about 4.5 stars. The product pretty much worked as advertised. Uploading the address book was a snap. In minutes I had the product up and running. Controls were easy to use and voice features appeared to work just fine. I spent some time using the product in a variety of conditions and everything appears to work perfectly. Incoming sound appeared to be very good and I had no trouble hearing callers even in somewhat noisy conditions. Callers reported to me that my voice sounded a bit hollow or had a slight echo but they had no trouble hearing me. Pairing and unpairing has worked perfectly so I have been very happy using this. It has been a much better solution to me then a earpiece. Unlike other users, I actually had more trouble with the number caller ID then the name caller ID. It called out the names perfectly but seemed to have occasional trouble completing saying the number. At times it would cut part of the number off. On to the pros and cons:ProsEasy to set up and use. Generally does everything it advertises athough not quite perfectly. Good battery life and excellent sound caracteristics, easy pairing and unpairing make this a joy to use. The case is attractive and very functional with the magnetic clips that let you unhook the unit quickly. Voice controls work perfectly.
ConsInstruction set could be better. You have to sync the address book when you add a new contact. An automated sync would have been a very nice feature. Caller ID software need just a bit more work.
Overall a very nice package. I recommend this product.
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