The Difference Between Universal and Integrated Bluetooth Handsfree Kits - Which Are Better?

There are a lot of different types of bluetooth handsfree kits available on the market, many different brands, styles and designs offering different functions. However each kit performs what is essentially the same task, offering Handsfree call functionality while driving. Although there are many types of kit they all fall into two categories, Universal Sun Visor Kits or Fully Integrated Kits.

Universal Sun Visor Kits also referred to as Plug and Play kits are a portable speaker and microphone combination packaged into one working unit. They hold a small but strong storage battery that allow for long standby life so you can attach the kit to your sun visor and leave it dormant until you need it. Many are provided with a car charger and more often than not a USB charger for connection to your computer for re-charging, firmware updates and bluetooth connectivity while at work (or play). Most recent universal bluetooth kits provide excellent sound reproduction due to a break through in DSP (digital sound processing) & Echo reduction software & Hardware. The microphone on universal bluetooth kits are more often than not built into the units, and pick up far less background noise than older models. Due to this your contact on the other end gets a loud and strong connection via your phone. There are many different styles, designs, shapes and sizes of sun visor kits ranging from large function rich kits like the Bury CV9040 to the Small and pretty kits like the Pama Alpha or the Parrot Minikit Slim.

Pioneer Wiring Harness

As you would expect with all universal kits the features and functions vary tremendously. State of the art kits usually come from Bury and Parrot and the rest tend to follow behind. A lot of universal kits now have features like TTS (Text to speech) and voice to text technology that allows the dictation of text messages and more advanced kits can be controlled voice commands. The Bury CV9060 is a particular market leader in this field with menu system that can be fully navigated by speech, apart from several functions, such as to hang up while in conversation (obviously you don't want the conversation to end abruptly depending on whats said either end!)

The Majority of Universal kits purchased are to be used socially either for a group of people (family or friends) to share when out and about, or for individuals  or couples who have more than one vehicle and want to change frequently. These device can be removed in seconds and charged while driving making them a great hansdfree solution that are cheap, reliable and totally portable.

Integrated Bluetooth Car Kits are fully hardwired into the vehicles speaker system, just about all Integrated kits are provided as standard with ISO connections, if your vehicle has an ISO wiring loom the bluetooth kits will fit straight into it making installation very easy. If not there are various wiring adaptors available that will convert your vehicle wiring to ISO, these are know as SOT leads and are available for just about every vehicle. As the Kit is hardwired into the vehicle, several problems are instantly eliminated. The kits retain charge via the power cable in the ISO harness so you never have to charge the bluetooth kit, there is also a Auto-Mute cable with the ISO that will kill any audio coming from the radio, cd, iPod etc automatically. So all you hear is the conversation.

Most integrated kits are provided with separate control units to answer, hang up or dial contacts. These can usually be connected anywhere in the vehicle that is both comfortable and convenient for the driver. New bluetooth kits such as the Parrot MKI range and the Bury CC9060 are provided the additional functions that improve compatibility & usability. For instance the MKI range are compatible with iPods so you have music integration via parrot kit. The iPods are fully controllable via the parrot control unit so functions like track browsing, song forwarding, Volume increase etc can all be performed at the touch of a button. The Bury CC9060 is provided with an excellent touch screen monitor and equipped with the very latest voice recognition software. This allows you to use your phone via the bury unit via voice commands. You don't even have to train the kit, just install and start.

The Integrated kits provide a much better all round performance. The quality of audio reproduction is far greater then the Universal kits. Integrated Kits also have many additional features over the universal kits. Making & answering calls is usually easier too so if your looking for a good all round performance Integrated is the way forward. However the universal kits are portable and can be easily transferred from vehicle to vehicle. The sound reproduction is still good however you may have to fight with the radio for volume control.

In summary, if you want an all singing & dancing bluetooth car kit you should go down the integrated route, however if you want some thing more simple and portable the universal kit is the one for you. However both are excellent options and are much better than manually talking on your mobile phone while driving.