Sony MEX-BT5000
One common feature I noticed in most car buyer’s, is their need to enhance certain characteristics found in their cars. Adding accessories or upgrading them has become a norm. So, I decided to have a section specially catered to such topics, Car Accessories. Being this the first post, what better way to start it off then to share a review of the latest trend these days - Bluetooth. One item that can be associated to this term would be Sony’s very first Bluetooth-enabled car audio player, the MEX-BT5000.
Imagine driving your car whilst listening to the radio and then suddenly the cell phone rings, and you try to answer the call with your attention now drawn on finding the volume controls of the player. Chances are you might manage to answer the call in time, hopefully without endangering other road users out there. So in situations such as this, it would be wise to have a hands-free cell phone and better still, a Bluetooth ear-piece.
Thanks to Sony, they have made life so much easier for us, not to mention safer, by inventing their first ever Bluetooth-enabled AM/FM/CD receiver, the MEX-BT5000. While it can be considered as their first Bluetooth-enabled car audio, the MEX-BT5000 undoubtedly has built upon Sony’s experience and technology, from their line of Bluetooth-enabled laptops and also from their Sony Ericsson cell phones. Besides having features that enable the driver to have hands-free phone conversations with their Bluetooth-enabled phones, the MEX-BT5000 also has the technology that supports Bluetooth audio streaming. This would allow the audio from a portable Bluetooth-enabled music source to be passed through, and directly controlled by the Sony unit.
If you look at the cosmetic’s or the exterior of this player, you would notice that the MEX-BT5000 has a striking silver and black coloured flip-down faceplate and to compliment it, there is a multi-function joystick and large fluorescent display panel. If you decide to adjust the volume, you would have to rotate the joystick, and if you want to change the radio presets or albums, just toggle the given joystick either up or down, and tracks or radio frequencies can be changed by toggling it left or right. This multi-function joystick allows the user an easier mode of navigation once in the MEX-BT5000’s menu, where multiple features are shown on a noticeably large display.
If you address this as a Bluetooth hands-free kit on the whole, I figure that the MEX-BT5000 has proved it’s worthiness. Another aspect that makes this a good buy is that the Bluetooth circuitry is inbuilt into it’s single-DIN Chassis, no extra modifications, connections or even accessories whatsoever are needed to operate the MEX-BT5000’s Bluetooth to it’s full potential. On average, it will only take a couple of minutes to configure the Sony unit with a particular cell phone. Take note that the full capability of the Bluetooth features that the MEX-BT5000 supports, also has to depend on the capabilities of the particular cell phone itself. So, due to this, certain supported features of this great creation may not be enjoyed fully, like for example, the transfer of the ‘phonebook’ from the cell phone to the player, certain cell phones may not be able to do this. Because one of the great things about using Sony’s MEX-BT5000’s Bluetooth technology is that it allows the user to transfer up to 50 phonebook contacts and up-to six speed-dial entries from their mobile phone to the player.
Normal phone functions like making and receiving a call are functions that all cell phones are able to do, so this was not an issue for the Sony MEX-BT5000. Just like a cell phone, the callers ID will appear on the display panel when a call comes in and the player automatically mutes. The callers voice would normally come out from one of the front speakers and in some cases, from both the front speakers.
The Sony MEX-BT5000’s hands-free microphone which is inbuilt onto the faceplate does a good job of picking up dialog. If your callers say that you sound a mile away, do some minor adjustments to it’s echo canceller and their noise canceller button settings which are on the radio, this should help. Just as answering a call, making calls through the Sony MEX-BT5000 is also a breeze. You can decide to make or end a call by using it’s player faceplate or through your cell phones wireless remote.
Overall the MEX-BT5000 handles both capabilities well, be it as an in-dash source unit or as a Bluetooth hands-free device. The MEX-BT5000 operates well as a source unit due to it’s ability of playing multiple formats of compressed audio. Sounds are crisp clear and filled with power. As for it being a Bluetooth hands-free device, the Sony MEX-BT5000 performs well to its name.
To sum it all up, I think the star quality about this product would be it’s Bluetooth advanced audio streaming, and adding the fact of Sony’s experience in compatible Bluetooth electronics and car audio thus far, the MEX-BT5000 is undoubtedly a very much versatile and worthwhile player in today’s car audio world.
