SuperTooth Visor Voice review

Will this free up your hands?

14 December 2007 13:00 GMT / By Davey Winder

It is rather hard these days to come up with anything approaching a unique selling point as far as hands-free Bluetooth headsets are concerned.

Indeed, I am filled with dread when yet another device is sent my way for review as I honestly fear that I’ll be able to say nothing more exciting than it looks Ok, it sounds Ok, it doesn’t cost too much. But the SuperTooth Visor Voice is different, for a start it isn’t a headset and to finish things off nicely it has that elusive USP.

First things first, this is a visor-based device. By using a combination of a metal mounting clip that installs on the sunvisor of your car and a magnetic mount on the device itself, it is easy to attach to the drivers’ side of the visor whether it is up or down.

Importantly, it is also easy enough to detach and remove from the car when you get out. At just 122 x 60.2 x 18.2mm and weighing 115g the SuperTooth Visor Voice is pocketable enough to carry around when away from the car.

Talking of which, the 50mm speaker is loud enough to allow the device to be used as a table-top loudspeaker for mobile conference calls when at home or in the office. Which is nice.

But not as nice as the innovative Text-to-Speech system which is more often associated with computers than mobile phone accessories. This is the elusive USP as far as I am concerned.

The full duplex device announces instructions for use in any of six different languages, as well as letting you know the status of the Bluetooth device and connection when you want it. The real doozy though is that is announces the phone number of an incoming call, and if that number happens to be in your contact list it will even announce the name of the caller. To answer the call you simply reply "OK" and that’s that.

Sure, voice dialling is nothing new, and in-car kits have long had this sort of capability at a price. However, when you consider that this is a fully portable unit which will not cast an arm and a leg, can be moved from car to car, car to home, home to office, it is a remarkable bit of kit.

The sound quality is good, courtesy of full internal DSP noise cancellation and echo cancellation, by filtering both mic input and speaker output, the clarity of your mobile handsfree communication can only be described as crystal clear.

The battery charges fully in 3 hours, and will run to 800 hours in standby or a little more realistically 15 hours in use.

Verdict

It looks cool and the text-to-speech call announcements work well in use. Portable, practical and providing good value for money. We like the SuperTooth Visor Voice...