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More…(Revised 4/29/09) Even if you haven't done it yourself, you've witnessed other drivers doing it: reaching across the front seat to answer a cell phone. It's a bad habit, and one that you can easily rectify using a reliable in-car speakerphone such as the MotoRokr T505.
Motorola MotoRokr T505
Pricing
$58.99 - $139.99 From 11 Vendors Get Best Prices »
| Ease of installation | Very Good |
| Secure fit | Very Good |
| Design | Very Good |
| Button placement | Good |
| Call quality | Fair |
| Weight | 3.09 ounces |
| Dimensions (in inches) | 2.99 by 3.0 by 0.9 |
| Vendor-reported talk time | Up to 18 hours |
| Vendor-reported standby time | Up to 14 days |
| AC charger included | No |
| USB charger included | No |
| Box contents | Car charger, visor clip, quick-start guide |
| Comments | Motorola’s pricey T505 is easy to use while your eyes are on the road. Too bad the call quality wasn’t consistently better. |
PCWorld Rating, April 1, 2009
6 User Reviews Add your own »
$58.99 - $139.99
From 11 Vendors
Get Best Prices »
Pros
Easy to use
Streams music and calls over your stereo
Cons
Pricey
Noticeable static during many calls
Bottom Line
Motorola's car speakerphone works great and is well designed, but it may have limited utility for many users.
Motorola MotoRokr T505 Bluetooth Car Speakerphone
MotoRokr T505 Review, by Cathy Lu and Aoife M. McEvoy, PC World January 22, 2008
Slightly bulkier than a garage-door opener, the T505 features a giant clip that attaches to your car's visor. It's a speakerphone, not a Bluetooth headset, so it's not intended for walking around or for individual listening. It pairs with any Bluetooth cell phone, allowing you to chat hands-free while cruising down the interstate. You're not limited to using the T505 for phone calls, either: If you have a phone (or MP3 player) that supports stereo Bluetooth, you can also stream music to the device or to your car's stereo via the built-in FM transmitter. Once you pair the T505 with your phone, the device dependably reconnects the next time you get into the car.
When someone rings you up, a cool-sounding British female voice announces caller ID information. To answer, you press the big call button on the front left; though you must reach overhead, you can easily do it by feel. To initiate a call, you can redial the last number by pressing and holding the call button, or if your phone supports it, you can dial with voice commands. In our tests we were slightly disappointed in the overall call quality, however. Call recipients regularly commented on the persistent static in the background; one party described it as a buzzing bee noise. Voices sounded far away, too. Despite those complaints, people could hear us fine (and we could hear them, too).
While streaming music through your stereo via the FM transmitter, you can control tracks by using the play/pause button on the front right of the T505, or skip between songs with the volume controls. The T505 did a better job of handling music than the Jabra SP700 did; tracks on the T505 still sounded flat, but less tinny.
Finding a station to tune in is a breeze: Press the FM button on the back, and the T505 suggests a frequency. You can also stream phone calls to your car's stereo; when you receive a call, the music pauses so you can have a coherent conversation. Calls sounded great over an upgraded stereo, but your audio quality will likely depend on your sound system.
The unit comes with a car charger that plugs into your cigarette lighter. Motorola says the device can provide up to 18 hours of talk time when using the FM transmitter. When you need to juice the device, unclipping it from the visor is best--otherwise the cord ends up stretching awkwardly across your windshield. You can purchase a wall charger for $20.
At $140, the T505 may be more than you want to spend on a phone accessory, especially if your mobile phone lacks stereo Bluetooth. Relative to the other Bluetooth car speakerphones on our chart, you're paying a premium for the T505's music and car stereo features. And even though calls sound fine to us, it's no good when parties at the other end have to tune out regular interference.
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User Reviews
Average User Reviews for Motorola MotoRokr T505
1 Review Add your own »
- Latest User Reviews 1 review
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Reviewed by: bridlewood
Duration of ownership: 1 Month
Strengths: Good reception
Weaknesses: Poor design. Powers down after 30 minutes of inactivity. One then has to press and hold Power button to switch it on and then press Call button to answer cell phone. Not good handsfree use. Also FM will power off after 10 minutes and one has to fiddle with tuning to another FM station. Again, not good handsfree use.
Overall: Design is badly flawed due to power off. Why not allow device to stay on while in vehicle?
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User Reviews From Around the Web
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Reviewed by: kz3c8z
Strengths: Works as expected 80% of the timeBattery life is good
Weaknesses: Audio is mediocre.Difficult to tell when pairing is completeVoice recognition with phone has issuesBattery operatedPower on/off button is awkward due to delay.A device only an engineer would
Overall: Unless you are willing to spend some time with this device and get to know it's idiosyncrasies you're probably not going to be satisfied with it. Delayed start and audible beep can be confusing.In general, combination of blinking lights and audio feedback is not an effective user interface.When using the built-in speaker, listeners complained of a far off / cave like sound to my voice despite microphone placement.With the Nokia 6550, the first voice recognition beep is lost. Only on subsequent voice rec attempts with the initial voicerec ready beep be heard.I'm using it effectively now, but until I got used to it I'm sure I was more distracted by it than I ever was just speed dialing the phone and talking with one hand driving.This device has convinced me that the only good solution for a bluetooth speakerphone in a vehicle is an integrated one i.e. one where the vehicle manufacturer has spent time to engineer a complete solution. Because:- Speaker is integrated with vehicle speaker and audio system.- Microphone placement is optimized for the vehicle.- Battery is the car battery.- Feedback for voice recognition is immediate.- Push to talk button is on the steering column.Some of these features are available with more expensive speakerphone and installations, but hopefully at some point vehicle manufacturers will make this feature more common and less expensive.
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Reviewed by: jdwayne59
Strengths: Everything
Weaknesses: None
Overall: This little bluetooth gadget is simply awesome and amazing. Great noise cancellation during phone calls and great mp3 streaming to the car stereo from my N95 handset.I love it and wish I had ordered one sooner. By the way, these are 139.00 at Best Buy.This unit is RETAIL, in plastic with all acessories and operations manual.Order it, you won't be dissapointed!
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Reviewed by: dongreywolf
Strengths: versatile, long battery life
Weaknesses: none so far
Overall: wanted to get rid of my BT earpiece; this unit works very well. I found that using it thru my car radio wasn't as convenient as I thought; I was never sure if it was working when I wasn't listening to the radio. However using it in speaker mode works just fine. Volume is adequate, and the listener seems to hear well, even with my driver's window down.Goes a week or more between charges. If you're tired of wearing that damned earpiece, check this out. Good deal for the price.
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Reviewed by: how4546
Strengths: When adjusted just right it works great. Almost perfect answer to driving hands free. Much better than the 3 bluetoothear units that I have tried.
Weaknesses: Volume control is tricky. Too low they hear fine but I can't. Too loud I hear but it breaks up on their end.
Overall: Had the 501 model before, but it was stolen. This model seems to be a little harder to adjust just right. I am now using the unit by doing the extra steps to set up to play through radio which seems to work well for both parties.
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Reviewed by: ibondu
Strengths: It is very clear and works well with the LG Dare.
Weaknesses: Has no wall charger. Playing as a phone through the car speakers it is really clear. The fact that it only stays on for 10 minutes at a time while in standby mode is a minus.
Overall: I have had the T505 for 3 months now. When I first bought it I wanted to use it with my Samsung SCH-U740. It paired up quickly however it would only work as a Bluetooth Speakerphone and the music features would not work. Playing as a phone through the car speakers it is really clear. The fact that it only stays on for 10 minutes at a time while in standby mode is a minus. Unless you know you have an incoming call you would not be able to use the stereo speakers. This I presume is done to conserve the battery and does not affect the playing of music (see more comments). The T505 speaker is very adequate on its own. I just recently upgraded my phone to the new Verizon LG Dare the phone again paired up easily and not only this time worked as a speakerphone but also the music capabilities worked as well. It does play your music through the speakers without shutting off after 10 minutes not like when the phone is being used in standby. The T505 has beautiful hands free features such as hands free dialing and many other voice features that are hands free with the Dare. The charger that is included with the T505 plugs into the car and is totally inadequate as you can not drive around with the T505 on you visor charging with a cord hanging down. I will say once the T505 is charged it goes forever. I just ended up buying a charger on eBay for $3.95 including S&H after finding out through numerous emails and phone calls to Motorola which one would work. I think for the price they should include a wall charger. Overall I have to give the T505 5 Stars and defiantly would recommend this to anyone.
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