Rating: 3.5/5
What I Like:
- Appearance blends into the car dashboard without standing out too much
- Audio quality is generally good with a decent mix of low, mids and highs
- No noticable hiss with my vehicle
- Steady Bluetooth connection
What I Don’t Like:
- Does not auto power on when the vehicle is started; requires pressing the button to turn it on
- USB and audio cables are very thin and flimsy and not user replaceable
- USB and 3.5mm cable barely have enough separation to reach my USB and my 3.5mm line in port
- Buttons don’t feel very obvious to the touch
- No lighter-jack to USB adapter included
Conclusion: While the Anker SoundSync Drive is on the cheaper end of bluetooth adapters, the audio quality is generally very good, with no noticeable distortion. It makes sacrifices in other areas though, notably the cabling is very thin (see the attached photo for a comparison between a regular USB cable and the Anker cabling) and there’s no way to easily replace it if it breaks. Another thing about the cabling is that the USB and 3.5mm cables have only a couple inches of separation. This is not ideal for vehicles where the USB port or line in cable is located somewhere obscure like the centre console. Since the cables are not replaceable it’s not as easy as installing a separate cable. To make it work a 3.5mm cable extender would be needed. The other thing to note is that this receiver does not automatically power on with the car, and that is a deal breaker for me – I’ll find myself driving and wondering why there’s no music, only to remember that I forgot to enable the Bluetooth adapter. Call quality is about as expected in terms of car Bluetooth – it’s not that bad, but don’t expect miracles here. The closer this adapter is mounted to your face the better the call quality will be. In terms of buttons, there isn’t a very obvious ‘feel’ to them and occasionally I find myself having to feel around to find exactly where to press. I would have preferred a more obvious raised ridge or just a little bit more to denote that there is buttons there. A bluetooth adapter shouldn’t need to be looked at to find where to press. That defeats the purpose of ‘hands free’. I’m going to end up sticking this receiver to my stereo in my home as the audio quality is fine and there I won’t need to worry about the cabling issues or the lack of auto start. This adapter will work well for you if you don’t require auto-start or your vehicle supplies constant power to the lighter jack, as it auto shuts down after being disconnected for 5 minutes and won’t drain the battery. Don’t forget to grab a power adapter too.
Where to Buy
Anker SoundSync Drive:
Amazon U.S.A. | Amazon Canada
Price at time of review: $16.99