Siberian_Viktorya

Something has been driving me bananas for a while now, ever since my old
visor-mounted Bluetooth speakerphone from Motorola dies.

I rent cars frequently for business. Most cars these days have Bluetooth
capability, so it's possible to sync my phone to them. However, I do rent a
lot and last month alone, I was in 7 different rental cars in 6 different cities.

It's somewhat of a real hassle to figure out how to do Bluetooth syncing
whenever I get into each new rental car.

What is the absolute best visor-mounted Bluetooth speakerphone on the
market right now? At any price(well, not really.. how about just under $100?
I doubt that I can afford or justify a $2,000 Bluetooth speakerphone )

By the way, I always carry two phones, in case that makes any difference in
the recommendation. iPhone 6s Plus and Samsung Galaxy Note 5.

THANKS !

Siberian_Viktorya

duplicate

lwildernorva

I don't know that it's necessary anymore to take a separate Bluetooth speaker for a phone. All of the rental cars I've taken almost anywhere in the last year or so, even the cheapest economy cars, have had Bluetooth built in to the head unit. I no longer pack a separate speaker.

gobluetwo

I carry around a phone air vent mount and just use the speakerphone on my mobile.

MtlTourist

My suggestion is to invest in a good portable headset. Someone on FT recommended this one when I was looking for a good one: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DQ5NU76/

Any particular reason why you want to go with a Bluetooth speakerphone and not a headset? Only because if it were me, I'd easily forget the speakerphone was on the visor when I dropped off the rental car. I've done before with other items, like rear-view mirror parking tags and sunglasses.

EDIT: By the way, the headset I recommended works for 2 phones at the same time, if that helps.

CPRich

Addressed in OP.

I would agree that an earpiece is a good option - smaller to carry around. Unless you need others in the car to participate in the call. When I need that, I just use the phone's speaker.

Craig6z

Agree that it is rare to see a car that lacks it, but I've not always had success in on-the-fly pairing. User interfaces very greatly from manufacturer to manufacturer, and due to impatience, I seldom remember to try and pair while I'm sitting in the rental lot. Once you get moving its an added challenge, as many cars' safety features lock out pairing while moving.

Add to that the fact that owner's manuals aren't usually in a rental car, and there are a lot of challenges to pairing. Numerous times over the last few years I've needed to Google pairing instructions for a vehicle, once I got to my post airport destination, when the car did not have a simple intuitive interface.

Had this occur to me just this week in STL, with a cheapo Kia Rio (actually not a bad car at its price point). Can't ever recall even having Kia as a rental (although have driven their sister - Hyundai's a few times).

pseudoswede

This is what I like about SAN. The rental car center is an impenetrable block of concrete, so they have an area just outside the exit where you can park, sync your GPS, enter the address, (and this is where you could pair your Bluetooth if you forgot to do it in the rental lot), and go.

I rent at the intermediate (sometimes full-size) with both Hertz and Avis. I make sure I see Bluetooth capability in the car before I leave; otherwise, I go and request another car.

It's now become a habit for me to sync to the car's Bluetooth after I do my other tasks (outside inspection, adjust seat, and adjust mirrors). As I sit in the return lane waiting for the employee, I remove my rear-view mirror tag for my client's parking lot and also delete my Bluetooth entry in the car's system.

Siberian_Viktorya

I should have made it clear that most rentals occur in Europe or Asia and I don't speak the local languages.(i.e. the rental car's menus for Bluetooth pairing usually default to the local language)

lwildernorva

Some of the auto makers use mobile apps to accomplish connections. Nissan has one, and maybe there are others who do as well. The Nissan app lets you pick your language, no matter which country you're in. Hyundai and Kia do not seem to have these apps, but I rented a Versa for as cheap as you can rent a vehicle. I just don't think it's much worth taking a portable Bluetooth for this purpose, but if you're going to go down that path, I'd either use the earpiece or just use the speaker phone setting on the phone app.

Siberian_Viktorya

Rented a Citroen last March. Most frustrating experience in my life. The car was perfectly fine and drove nicely. The electronics are all in French and I could hear my old French teacher back in high school laughing.

LordHamster

I just got a good bluetooth earpiece that I take. I usually can't be bothered to try to figure out the pairing procedure as most car manufacturers believe in making their interfaces as cryptic as humanly possible. The bluetooth unit I just turn on and go.

I'm partial to the Bose "Headset" series. It is tiny, can do music, calls and navigation audio and it has a physical on-off switch! pop that badboy in my ear, turn it on and I'm good to go in any car with Zero fiddling around.

Dubai Stu

Remember a small number of jurisdictions don't let you use Bluetooth headsets while driving.

http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news...-law-for-years

It is my understanding that the same is true in France and the UK.

Dubai Stu

I have a monster one that I picked up on a liquidator deal for $29 and it is pretty good, but I rarely take it with me anymore. It is too bad that you can't get hands free phone when you USB tether a device. USB tethering takes care of the music, navigation, and charging and is usually more than I need.

I would love it (also) if Google and Apple thought about borrowed/rental car mode sort of similar to public wifi mode where it restricts sharing of various functions as a matter of course.

antichef

Have a look at this Viktorya:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/SuperTooth-.../dp/B002LKC1IQ

I have had one for years and it is reliable. Small and easy to use.

It is not clear from your post whether you need to have both paired at the same time, but this can.

Why not ask the staff at the rental location (who can speak the local language) to change the language setting in the vehicle menu setting to a language you can use before you set off? I had to do this at LHR last year as somebody had left it set to Polish! A Polish staff member did it for me but was surprised I could identify it to them as Polish - but I explained my reading of it was not good enough to identify the language change menu