:: LAPTOP Magazine • Jabra SP500 ::

LAPTOP Magazine • Jabra SP500 ::

Jabra SP500
Price: $99.99

by William Van Winkle
09/13/05

Buy this Product
If you don't like wearing a headset while you drive, give the Jabra SP500 a home in your vehicle. This ovoid speakerphone clips onto a triple suction cup windshield mount and features a noise-canceling microphone at the end of a curved, rubber arm that swings out from above the speaker. A Multifunction button nestles against the speaker, and a Mute button and Volume knob rest on the bottom of the device. Jabra includes both AC and DC charging cables, and the unit weighs six ounces. Connecting the SP500 with your Bluetooth cell is easy: simply power up and hold down the Pairing button.

Functionally, the SP500 is very similar to the Bluetooth headsets we tested. The DSP-based sound enhancement technology used to match speaker volume against background noise easily overcame a full-blast air conditioner and moderate volume background music. User voices emerged clearly over driving noise, and the directional microphone demonstrated good clarity, albeit with somewhat tinny fidelity. Only highway driving with the windows down thwarted the speakerphone. Baking on a hot dashboard for several hours had no ill effects. Talk time lasted a mammoth 20 hours.

The bottom line is that this is the best sub-$300 add-on car speakerphone we've ever heard. Buy it, use it, and love it.

www.jabra.com