Need Bluetooth Mobile For Isuzu Trooper

[Phog Allen]

Gents, I am in a bit of a pickle. She really needs to have a bluetooth mobile phone module of some sort formsafety's sake. My mum's 2004 Isuzu Trooper is of course not exactly tech friendly. The easiest soultion in most cases would be to instsll a cheap 75-100 car stereo that has the function baked in. This is not a real istic option. Namely, there isn't a carmstereo made anymore that has a decent user interface. WAY too many tiny buttons, cascading menus, etc. The whole idea is to make things a little more essy and intuitive.

She is 81 years old and tech was never her thing so futzing around with a stereo interface or menu is a non-starter. She uses her smartphone but mostly for basics. I want to find a solution that is more like; hear phone ring, answer or ignore with push of button. Need to dial, prefer voice activation but maybe live with dialing handset but connects automatically so conversation is hands free.

Motorola use to make some nice visor mounted models but I don't see them much anymore. I am willing to hack something together as long as the end result is fairly simple to use. She would never be steaming music or audio books or whatever but capability would be nice for later.

Ideas? I would like something that powers up and connects when it senses her mobile. I can handle the wiring in the vehicle for permanent power and all that but need ideas of which hardware to start with. Thanks.

 

[StillShaving]

Is she happy/comfortable with the phones interface? Meaning could possibly place phone in cradle and interact with it directly with out any in car integration. I have tangentially seen apps that claim to auto answer but I am not aware of there specific behaviors. And I am not sure if there is any support in the relatively new Google Assistant or otherwise "ok Google" voice command interface to answer or make calls.

Something like the Jabra FREEWAY Bluetooth speaker might be another alternative.

I am not sure I totally understood all you were looking for or if there is any good solution. But like you I think there must be someway to come up with a solution. She could also get one of those fancy Bluetooth headsets which should help with the answer scenario but I don't think that fits what you are asking about.

 

[Phog Allen]

Stillshaving, I think I found what I need at Amazon. After I posted I kept looking and found a YouTube video forma product from Avantree. I am not familiar with the brand but noted ads for them showed a typical street price of around 79-99 dollars. Amazon had the model I was interested in for 24.99. It is on order.

Sorry if I was none too clear about what I wanted in the product. I was moslty misspesking about what the devise should be called. It is what is referred to(I believe) as 'handsfree bluetooth speskerphone'. It is more than a bluetooth headpiece. They typically look like a big candybar and mount on your visor or even the dash area if you have the room. There used to be quite a selection of units out there of good quality and features. Since most newer vehicles come with it built in and 99% of aftermarket head units have it, the visor mounts have dwindled. Hence why I can buy it for 25 dollars instead of 100.

The main issue with most of them is they do not auto sync. You have to turn them on each time you enter the vehicle. I want hers to be as automatic as I can. I will provide a link to the devise I chose. Allegedly it will do what I need it to do. It has an occupancy sensor buuit in so when the door opens it powers on and syncs. Same when you park. If it loses connection it turns off. We will have to see if her parking space is far enough from the car to break the connection.

As to her using the handset I really don't want her to. She manages the phone calls and photo taking okay but does not use the phone otherwise. And thank goodness she doesn't text. She wouldn't fiddle with that while driving anyway but I don't want the notifications distracting her in any case. She has had no big issues, I am trying to be proactive.

 

[Phog Allen]

A further bit of investigstion reveals Avantree has these at suggested retwil of around 29 dollars these days. And a newer model to arrive at Amazon in a few days that allegedly supoorts Siri and Google Assistent voice features. Oh well. I would rather use a more mature product than try a possibly flaky new item that would drive her crazy with errors. We shall see.

 

[Macfrommichigan]

Sounds like she is doing well! I can barely manage a dumb phone and Tracfone minute phone cards. For true Luddites and real old farts there is Jitterbug, of course. Tee hee.

 

[Phog Allen]

Mac, sometimes we were just better off with the old flip phone. Ring>answer hello>done.

 

[Macfrommichigan]

 

[imatabor]

Mac, sometimes we were just better off with the old flip phone. Ring>answer hello>done.

 

[thematthatter]

My truck doesn’t have an aux input so my wife got me a cigarette lighter blue tooth rf transmitter, one of them set to an empty radio station, it has a knob in the middle to press to answer calls and hang up. Only limitation I can see is sound quality isn’t that great and transmitted power is limited due to the fcc

 

[Phog Allen]

Got it today. Much smaller than I had imagined. About one inch shorter than a Hershey chocolate bar and maybe one and three-fourths inches wide. Thickness is about one-half inch. A very compact and as far as electronics go, attractive unit. It is a semi-matte grey/silver colour that is unobtrusive and does not look cheap or garish. Should fit in the Trooper's tan interior okay but a larger unit would of course be much more noticeable on the visor. If space permits, I may mount it to the dash somewhere. This would put it much closer to the required 12 volt power socket. Will update with performance experience later.