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CNET editors' rating:
4.0 stars
Excellent
Detailed editors' rating - Average user rating: 4.0 stars out of 11 reviews
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Product summary
The good: The Sony MEX-BT5000 provides drivers with a stylish and easy-to-use interface for streaming wireless audio and making calls via Bluetooth, as well as a robust receiver for a range of digital audio playback. Integrated phone controls and the ability to copy cell-phone address books are also in its favor.
The bad: The absence of an On button had us puzzled for a while, and the dislocation of the start- and end-call controls makes placing calls more cumbersome than it needs to be.
The bottom line: The Sony MEX-BT5000 is packed with useful entertainment and communications features, although it suffers from some fiddly controls. Advanced Bluetooth audio streaming may be its star feature, but its built-in sound optimization for digital audio playback means that it is more than a one-trick pony.
Specifications: Audio system car audio type: Radio / CD / MP3 player; Tuner bands type: Radio tuner; CD system type: CD / MP3 player; See full specs
Price range: $179.95 - $399.00
CNET editors' review
- Reviewed on: 10/16/2006
All the Bluetooth-enabled car stereos we have reviewed to date have relied on the use of an add-on module, which turned a regular stereo head unit into a hands-free phone interface and a wireless music receiver. Sony's MEX-BT5000 raises the stakes by incorporating built-in Bluetooth capabilities with increased phone functionality, as well as wireless audio support via the advanced A2DP profile (also referred to as Bluetooth 2.0).
Under the hood, the single-DIN Sony MEX-BT5000 is an AM/FM CD receiver using 24-bit digital-to-analog conversion and a built-in S-MOSFET amp to produce a hefty 52Wx4 channels of output. The stereo supports a range of digital audio formats, including MP3, WMA, and ATRAC CD. It is prewired for satellite radio and features a built-in auxiliary input, three pre-outs, and a bus control for connecting a CD changer. It also includes a feature called BBE MP signal processing, which restores some of the sound quality lost through the compression of digital audio files by reamplifying acoustic details or "harmonics" that were reduced in the compression process.
In our experience, the restoration procedure works to a degree, but MP3 discs are still conspicuously less clear than regular CDs. The MEX-BT5000 offers a wide range of preset EQ configurations--ranging from the bass-heavy Xplod setting to the high-end-dominant Space setting to Vocal--enabling listeners to match the tuner output to their choice of input. A Custom function also enabled us to set our own EQ preferences with the aid of a graphical representation for low-, mid-, and high-range output.
The X factor
The MEX-BT5000 announces its membership in the Sony Xplod family of in-car audio offerings thanks to a stylized X on the left-hand side of its faceplate, around which are clustered the head unit's main controls. Most conspicuous among these are a large joystick and a copper-colored Source button shaped like a tie clip. Despite our general aversion to joystick/buttons--which tend to be difficult to control when pushed to make a selection--the MEX-BT5000's four-way joystick is robust enough to enable easy scrolling and feature selection. Even when pushed in at an angle, the joystick resists tipping over to make unwanted directional selections. The placement of the Source button nearest to the driver is a nice touch, but we are at a loss to understand why there is no marked On or Power button and why the controls for making and hanging up phone calls are so small and dislocated (more on this in the hands-free-calling section).
Other controls, including dedicated push buttons for Bluetooth configuration and Menu, and the faceplate's six preset hard buttons are intuitive and easy to operate. We found navigating CDs and MP3 and WMA discs easy and designed to accommodate music selection on the move: to skip through tracks, just push the almighty joystick to the left or right, while up and down cycles through albums. The MEX-BT5000 offers a selection of jazzy background-display animations, which tend to obscure the album, track, and ID3-tag information. We preferred turning the graphics off.
Bluetooth wireless streaming
In preparation for streaming audio files from our Nokia 5300 cell phone to the stereo, it took about three minutes for the MEX-BT5000 to pair with our phone, most of which time was spent waiting for the two devices to recognize each other. To pair a phone to the MEX-BT5000, turn its Bluetooth on and set it to be visible to other devices. After a couple of attempts, our phone found the stereo, which showed up as "Xplod" on the found-devices screen; frustratingly, the MEX-BT5000 had also found our phone, but listed it as "unknown" on the LCD display. With pairing complete, we were instantly able to stream audio files from the phone to the stereo and thence out through our four test-bench speakers. We were also able to play, pause, and skip tracks using either the controls on the phone handset or those on the stereo, although volume control was possible only by twiddling the MEX-BT5000 joystick (phone volume controls are rendered redundant).
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User reviews
- Average user rating: 4.0 stars out of 11 reviews
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Where to buy
Sony MEX-BT5000:
$179.95 - $399.00
| store | price | in stock? | rating |
|---|---|---|---|
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$235.00 | No |
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Etronics.com
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$229.59 | Yes |
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$235.00 | Yes |
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$179.95 | Yes |
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Amazon.com
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$399.00 | Yes |
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