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SuperTooth touts in-car call quality with HD Voice

Supertooth launched the HD Voice Bluetooth speaker phone for cars at CES 2013, noting that it has two speakers and two microphones for superior call quality.

Wayne Cunningham Managing Editor / Roadshow
Wayne Cunningham reviews cars and writes about automotive technology for CNET's Roadshow. Prior to the automotive beat, he covered spyware, Web building technologies, and computer hardware. He began covering technology and the Web in 1994 as an editor of The Net magazine.
Wayne Cunningham
2 min read
SuperTooth HD Voice
The HD Voice includes two speakers and two microphones to maximize call quality. Wayne Cunningham/CNET

LAS VEGAS--Almost every new car comes with a Bluetooth hands-free phone system, but SuperTooth believes there is still room for a Bluetooth speakerphone car kit, as evidenced by its launch of the HD Voice at CES 2013. And with the HD Voice's advanced features, SuperTooth may be right.

A spokesperson for SuperTooth suggested the call quality was so good, the HD Voice would be preferable to use in cars over the native hands-free phone system. A bold claim, but the HD Voice does come with two microphones and two speakers, hardware that will not only enhance call quality, but should give the voice command system better command recognition.

Voice command features let users initiate calls by speaking a contact's name, and the HD Voice will also notify a driver of an incoming call by the name of a contact, making it easy to screen calls.

A range of about 10 yards makes it useful outside of a car. Battery life is rated by SuperTooth at 20 hours talk time and 1,000 hours standby, so it can sit in a car for a long time without need for a recharge. As it uses a USB charging cable, it can be plugged into a car's 12-volt power point with an adapter.

The HD Voice also supports A2DP audio streaming over Bluetooth, which should play in stereo over the devices' two speakers. A nice touch, but music playback probably won't sound better than a car's built-in audio system. The HD Voice also does not come with an auxiliary port or other means of connecting it to a car's audio system. However, the HD Voice is portable, so can be taken out of the car to a hotel room, for example.

The HD Voice will retail for $79.