Windows Mobile vs. Your Car: Wireless Clarion FB275BT

If you saw our first "Windows Mobile vs. Your Car" video, you may be wondering how the same phone based voice recognition, media player, and GPS navigation integration might work on a stereo with integrated Bluetooth handsfree and advanced audio distribution profiles. Today we show you how a Windows Phone would work with the Clarion FB275BT car stereo head unit.




Pros
- AV Remote Control Profile lets you control the media player using hardware buttons that you can feel with your fingers (especially useful for touch-screen phones since you don't have to take your eyes off the road)
- No wires and Bluetooth connectivity means you can leave your phone in your pocket
- Voice prompting navigation
- Navigate to contacts as synced from Exchange or Outlook
- Plan trips without sitting in the car
- Voice recognition control of music library (via Artist, Album, Genre, or everything)
- Voice recognition for dialing contacts
- Text to Speech announcements of incoming caller names, text messages, emails, and appointments
- Voice recognition can be activated from Bluetooth headset
- Download and listen to Podcasts & Video Podcasts while in the car

Cons
- You'll still have to plug a battery charger into your phone for long trips
- No voice control for setting navigation destination addresses
- Music library limited to phone's storage capacity (which is expandable in many cases)
- The Clarion FB275BT's microphone tends to be less accurate with Voice Command than an in-ear headset with noise cancellation
- The Clarion FB275BT only auto-connects to the phone's handsfree profile, not the wireless stereo (A2DP) profile. This requires manual activation of wireless stereo every time you turn the car on

While I really like having hardware buttons to control the media player via the Bluetooth A/V Remote Control Profile, it becomes very annoying having to set the car stereo as the wireless stereo output device every time I get into the car. If it automatically connected as many Bluetooth stereo headphones do, then it would be much more useful. There's also the problem with having to plug a charger into the phone thus negating the point of using a wireless stereo. Having a single jack to plug in that does both charging and audio output (as in my first video) requires far fewer steps.

If anybody knows of a Bluetooth car stereo headunit that automatically connects to a phone's A2DP profile when powered on, let me know.