SouthWing, a company based in Barcelona,
specializes in Bluetooth headsets and hands-free
car kits. Some folks may not recognize the SouthWing
name - certainly this reviewer had not heard of SouthWing
before receiving the NeoCar Kit to review. It's easy
to be negatively biased toward unfamiliar brand names,
but companies like Nextlink and Cardo prove that
a company need not have a big name to make a very
popular and well designed product. The same holds
true for SouthWing. Having never heard of the brand
before, I was a bit apprehensive about the quality
and performance of the Neo Car Kit. However, I found
that I was pleasantly surprised with the build quality
and performance of the NeoCar kit.
The design of the NeoCar kit is very simple yet functional, and it will fit
most vehicles' dashboard design with no problems. The NeoCar has a silver faceplate
with a large rocker button for answering and disconnecting calls that also
activates Bluetooth and initiates pairing. The right side of the NeoCar is
home to the volume controls and microphone jack, and on the left side there
is a small power switch. The NeoCar plugs directly into a 12v vehicle cigarette-lighter
jack, so installation is a snap. The speaker is large and provides adequate
volume for most vehicles. There is no built-in microphone, which would have
been nice, as it would look a lot better without a small microphone plugged
into the side of the unit. In addition to the small three inch "gooseneck" microphone,
the NeoCar ships with another microphone that can be mounted up to five feet
away from the unit, for better audio pickup and isolation from the speaker.
The NeoCar's mounting arm plugs directly into the cigarette-lighter jack and
has a joint that allows adjustments to be made in order to best fit the dashboard
or console layout. A thoughtful feature that SouthWing included is a small
power switch, which is a handy feature for vehicles with a power plug that
is enabled even when the vehicle is not running.
The NeoCar has all the standard features
one would expect in a plug-in Bluetooth hands-free
kit. It supports full duplex operation in both hands-free
and headset profiles, and supports voice dialing
and last number redial. Worth mentioning is the inclusion
of a DSP feature which helps cancel out background
noise and reduce echoes in an effort to make the
outbound audio much cleaner. One drawback of the
NeoCar is that if the device loses power or is turned
off, it must be "reconnected" before it
can be used with the phone it was previously paired
to. This is not a re-pairing and only takes a couple
of seconds, but for cars where the power lead to
the outlet is not always on, this means that it is
necessary to use the Bluetooth button to reconnect
the NeoCar to the phone every time the car is started.
The audio quality is exceptional in
a well insulated vehicle, but in vehicles where a
good amount of road noise is audible inside the cabin
such as a convertible, the volume must be turned
up to the maximum level, and the clarity of the call
is degraded at such a high volume. It should be noted,
however, that this is true for many hands-free car
kits and not necessarily isolated to the SouthWing
NeoCar. I tested the NeoCar in a couple different
vehicles with both a Treo 650 and a Sony Ericsson
T616 and it worked flawlessly in every scenario.
Generally, I've found that Bluetooth performance
on the Treo 650 is pretty poor, so I was very pleased
at how well the NeoCar worked with the Treo 650,
including call hand-off.
Overall, the NeoCar is an excellent
unit at a great price. It's reasonably priced and
it works very well right out of the box. It is easy
to use, pairs without any problems, and performed
well in many tests to both landline and mobile endpoints.
It's a great accessory to complement your Bluetooth
phone, as long as you don't have a convertible or
monster truck! |
Above: side view of
the NeoCar with swivel joint bent downward. Below:
the Audiovox
SMT5600 Smartphone and the NeoCar.
|
