Fantastic Bluetooth Speakerphone by Contour Design

It is seldom that I am as enthusiastic about a product as I am over Contour Design's Bluetooth Surface Sound Compact.  This is the end of any searching for a Bluetooth speakerphone.

As you can see the Compact is a slim package that easily clips to the visor of your car or it can also rest on your desk.  The microphone is on the right and you can answer the phone simply by rotating the mike from its "rest" position at the side of the unit.  The Compact paired easily with my iPhone versions 1 and 2.  But how does it sound?

The flat speaker is capable of extreme volume and is clearer than anything I've ever heard.  It cuts through road noise and voices are not "boomy" or "crackly".  They are perfectly audible. How does it sound on the other end?  My wife drives a little VW Cabrio Convertible which is very noisy, even with the top up.  I gave the unit to her to test it out and I could hear her perfectly over the road noise (top up).  This is not something I've been able to do with other units.

 

 

As you can see the unit is very thin and the volume buttons are large and easy to find an press.  It takes up no space in the car.  The unit comes with a car charger and cord and is supposed to have 15 hours of talk time and 21 days of standby.  I didn't test this.  It also comes with a well written instruction book (that's not easy to find nowadays).  It also has a clever Voice Alert feature that tells you what is going on.

Contour Design sent me the unit, but to really let you know what I think of it I have to tell you that I'm going to buy two more - one for myself, as my wife won't return the one I gave her for testing, and another for my daughter as a present.

The Bluetooth Surface Sound Compact costs about $99 and is now available at all Apple Stores.  It should also be available from Contour's website shortly.  If you want to learn more you can check it out on their site here.