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CNET editors' rating:
2.5 stars
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Detailed editors' rating - Average user rating: 3.5 stars out of 9 reviews
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Product summary
The good: The Supertooth II is easy to use and has decent battery life.
The bad: The Supertooth II's features are fairly minimal. The device has no native voice recognition, plus it's a bit bulky.
The bottom line: The Supertooth II works merely as a wireless speakerphone without offering advanced hands-free features, such as voice recognition.
CNET editors' review
- Reviewed on: 11/22/2005
- Released on: 05/23/2005
Larger than a cell phone
The Supertooth II is by no means a small device, especially for a cell phone accessory. Measuring 5.4 by 2.4 by 1 inches, it's two to three times larger than most of the phones it's likely to be paired with. The oversized controls and the large speaker also don't do anything to minimize the feeling of bulk, and when combined with the silver and matte-black finish, the unit has a bit of a toylike feel. However, the large volume knob and call-pickup button make it easy to use when driving.
The Supertooth II attaches to the sun visor with a clip that is held on by two strong magnets located on the back of the unit. As this unit is likely to be occasionally transported in the confines of a purse or a briefcase, we are a bit worried about how these magnets might affect any magnetically sensitive items such as credit cards, a BART ticket, or even a driver's license.
In keeping with the simple controls, there is no On button on the Supertooth II. Instead, there is a microphone arm, which also holds the call-answer button, and you can lift this to either a 55- or 210-degree position to activate the system; this also makes it easy to tell when the device is on or off. Also, the two microphone positions provide for driving with the sun visor either up or down. Unfortunately, with the visor down, the volume control and the call-reject button (located under the microphone arm) both become awkward to use.
Limited features
Although a bit short on features, the Supertooth II does sport a long-lasting lithium-ion battery, which should yield 20 hours of talk time or 800 hours of standby time and can be recharged in approximately 3 hours. Depending on the phone, the unit can be used in either hands-free or headset mode, as well as paired with two different phones but connected to only one at a time; this makes it easier to share.
Unfortunately, the Supertooth II has no built-in voice recognition, so we hesitate to call this a truly hands-free device. Since our Sony Ericsson T610's built-in voice recognition didn't work very well with the Supertooth II--the phone requires recording voice tags directly through the phone, so it doesn't seem to understand words spoken from a distance--we found ourselves using the keypad to make nearly all our outgoing calls. The kit also includes an earpiece for keeping conversations a bit more private, as well as an A/C adapter and a car charger.
Continue reading- See more CNET content tagged:
- voice recognition,
- microphone,
- cell phone,
- headset,
- Bluetooth
User reviews
- Average user rating: 3.5 stars out of 9 reviews
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Showing 3 of 9 user reviewsSee all 9 user reviews
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7 out of 7 people found this review helpful
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3 out of 3 people found this review helpful
"Outstanding quality & value in a portable bluetooth speaker phone"
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2 out of 2 people found this review helpful
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