BlackBerry Remote Stereo Gateway Bluetooth transmitter review

Will this let you share your BlackBerry tunes with a wider audience?

24 December 2008 12:00 GMT / By Stuart Miles

So you've got yourself a BlackBerry and you've been crazy enough to put some music on it - it's not just for email you know - well RIM are hoping you'll use the Bluetooth capabilities of your BlackBerry and a new dongle to share your music via a nearby set of speakers. Will this get the party started? We get streaming to find out.

The BlackBerry Remote Stereo Gateway Bluetooth transmitter is a simple device. Pebble shaped, the small black box offers a flashing blue and red light, a 3.5mm jack and mini-USB power socket. Aside from the RIM logo and a bunch of usual Ts and Cs on the back that's it.

Plug it in (no cable or power adapter included) by either using your BlackBerry power adapter (not the BlackBerry Storm however, that uses micro-USB) or a mini-USB cable to your PC and the unit powers into action allowing you to connect it to your phone via the standard Bluetooth connection.

Once connected - it takes around 10 seconds - all that's left for you to do is plug in a 3.5mm cable to connect it to your stereo. In the box you get a 3.5mm to 3.5mm cable as well as a 3.5mm to phono cable giving you most options for connecting it to a set of speakers.

The only requirements seem to be that you have a BlackBerry with OS 4.2.2 and above, which is most of the latest ones, and that's it. Press play on your media player and music is fired through the air (within 10m) to the connected device, and since everything is controlled via the music software on the BlackBerry in question, the BlackBerry Remote Stereo Gateway Bluetooth transmitter can be hidden out of sight.

So what does it sound like? Pretty good, although it will of course depend on your speakers. We tested it with the BlackBerry Storm and the BlackBerry Curve (8300) and in both cases it worked a treat.

Verdict

Simple and effective the BlackBerry Remote Stereo Gateway Bluetooth transmitter does what it says on the tin - lets you stream music from your BlackBerry to a set of speakers without the need for wires.

However, as with all Bluetooth devices you've got a range of around 10m, which begs the question of why would you pay £60 to wirelessly transmit your songs when a £2 3.5mm to 3.5mm cable will probably do. If you're planning on using this on your travels you've then got to worry about the extra power cable and the 3.5mm cable.

If you really must ditch the wires this is good because it will allow you to use your existing speakers, but at this price it's probably too expensive for most. Drop the price in half and then you might be talking.

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Review Recap

Made by: RIM
Price as reviewed: £60
The good: Small, easy to setup, works with any BlackBerry with OS 4.2.2 and above, comes with phono and 3.5mm leads in box
The bad: Needs power adapter
Quick verdict: Small and compact (well apart from the plug) this will get your music from your BlackBerry to your music stereo easily
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