Scosche
has provided us with a first for MashButtons, a Bluetooth Car Stereo Receiver with Wireless App Control, so I jumped at the opportunity to
rip apart my dashboard and replace my two year old Pioneer head unit
with wireless access to my phone and music library. The receiver links
to your phone via Scosche’s ControlFreq app and turns your phone into
the receiver’s display and remote. The face of the receiver has a USB
input, auxiliary input, and microphone for hands free without having to
access my phone. Lower the removable face and you also have direct
access to the CD player and SD card slot.
After
a brief and easy one hour install with the Scosche provided wiring
harness, I had the receiver in my pickup truck and synced to my phone,
playing my current library. My phone would automatically link to the
receiver when in range, so I got rather curious about the numerous ways
to play music from the device and tuning to my my liking. With the
variety of inputs, you can access and play music from just about
anything you like. Having wireless access to stream music, just about
anyone in the vehicle can control what is playing, change sources,
adjust the equalizer, and volume. Being able to take and end calls from
the dash is also convenient and makes things simpler while driving. The
first thing I noticed was the sound quality when streaming wirelessly
from my phone, it dropped significantly in comparison to when I had my
phone phone connected via USB. Also, there is not much in the way of
tuning when it comes to the graphic equalizer as you can only turn the
sub on or off and have access to tuning the bass and treble levels.
Lastly, when streaming you can see the track info on the phone but it
does not broadcast the information to actual head unit, instead the
display only shows BT Remote or the time.
The
Scosche wireless receiver is an entry level receiver that adds
convenience in control via connecting and controlling the device from a
bluetooth Android or iOS device. While it did not provide a lot of
features that my old entry level receiver had, it did offer Bluetooth
compatibility which is found in head units that are significantly more
in price. This receiver would be a great fit for someone that has a
vehicle equipped with a receiver that is outdated and does not currently
have wireless capabilities or auxiliary outputs to play music from
their smart phone. While it was not a good fit for someone like myself
with an aftermarket stereo this is a solid affordable device for someone
that needs a replacement to a stock or broken head unit.
