I love my minivan -- it's got a lot of nice features, drives great, holds a ton of stuff, and is very reliable BUT it's a 2005 and doesn't have a Bluetooth system. I know, I know, boo hoo, right? Bluetooth is a luxury but when you're carting kids around everyday and need to be on the phone sometimes, a hands-free Bluetooth system just seems so much safer to me. Our other car has it, and it really is nice. Luckily, the kind folks at Jabra recently sent me a Jabra Tour Bluetooth speakerphone for a review -- 5 minutes to learn the easy instructions, a couple of test calls, and I now have a Bluetooth system in my van!
The Jabra Tour is a portable speakerphone that you clip on to your visor. I actually use it at my desk too, when I'm working at home -- instant speakerphone, plus I can stream music to it so I have my own little desk speaker. It's about 3 inches square, with a full-size metal visor clip; this puppy is not breaking or falling off the visor, that's for sure. It comes partially charged and ready to go right out of the package and includes a USB cable and car lighter connector for charging. Once it's fully charged, it will last for 20 hours of talk time or 60 days of standby time, so it thankfully doesn't need daily charging like a cell phone. When you turn it on, there are voice instructions to guide you through pairing it to your cell phone. Pairing was quick with no issues (a relief, since my iPhone 4 is very reluctant to pair with most other Bluetooth devices).
Lastly, there's a button with a little picture of a talking head -- this is the Voice Command button. If your phone has a voice command system such as Siri, you can press the Voice Command button to call anyone in your Phonebook. My iPhone 4 doesn't have Siri but it does have Voice Control. All I need to do to call someone in my phonebook -- let's say, my home number -- is press the Voice Command button, pause a moment until it beeps, then say "Call Home" and it puts the call through. SO cool!
The Tour works very well in my van and at my desk, especially since it's so compact and voice-operated. I love being able to answer the phone hands-free and dialing with Voice Control; it's so much safer to have two hands on the wheel. Before I had the Jabra Tour, I usually wouldn't take calls while driving because I don't like to be distracted holding the phone. Using the Jabra Tour is really easy and mostly hands-free, so it's made life much easier for me. Plus it's portable, so we can take it on vacation and use it in a rental car. The speaker is good-quality and clear. The Tour is $80, which seems quite reasonable for all of the features and the safety advantages that it offers. Way cheaper than buying a newer van!
To learn more about the Jabra Tour, visit Jabra
I received a complimentary product for the purpose of this review. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.
