We’ve never met a road trip we wouldn’t drop everything for. And we love few things more than the perfectly selected road-tripping playlist.
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Fortunately, most cars built in this century offer aux-in jacks that allow drivers to plug their portable media devices or mobile phones into the car’s audio system. Unfortunately, that typically involves a mess of cables cluttering the dash or console.
Enter Kanex’s AirBlue Portable Bluetooth Music Receiver:
Kanex AirBlue Portable Bluetooth Music Receiver
The Skinny
In Kanex’s own words:
The Kanex AirBlue™ is a portable Bluetooth-based music receiver that simply enables you to wirelessly play, listen and control all your favorite media from your iPod touch, iPhone or MP3 player through your home [or car] stereo or speakers.
Simply connect the receiver to your stereo system with the included cables, and then pair your device to the AirBlue. Stream wirelessly to listen to, share, and control your music from up to 33 feet away.
In Detail
Like most flashpackers, we love simple gadgets that do one thing and do it well. The AirBlue is a small, thin device about the width of a hockey puck but one-third as thin that does just that. Simply turn it on, pair it just once with your mobile phone or other Bluetooth device, and you’re good to go.
After two weeks of daily use in the Vagabondish.com daily driver, we love it. It’s simply designed and hasn’t failed us yet. The audio is crystal clear and the only time we’ve experienced any skipping or dropouts is when the battery starts to peter out.
Battery life is rated at approximately ten hours and, although we haven’t done any hardcore, scientific testing in the lab, we estimate that’s just about right.
Pricing & Availability
Available now for $49 USD direct from Kanex.com.
Bottom Line
At nearly $50, we admit it’s a bit pricey, but we love not having a mountain of cable clutter inside the car. Toward that end, the AirBlue does exactly what it’s supposed to.