What is bluetooth car radio

What Does It Mean To Have Bluetooth In A Car?

For the many of us, Bluetooth technology is nothing but a way of taking/making wireless calls in the car. However, many do not recognize that there is more to it than we might probably know. So in this article, let’s answer the question, “What does it mean to have Bluetooth in a car?”

What is Bluetooth?

It’s a wireless technology allowing two devices to connect and communicate. Using it in your car, you can operate your phone hands-free, letting you use it without holding when taking a phone call, let’s say. [But while Bluetooth has become a car industry standard, compatibility varies from phone to phone and car to car.]

What Bluetooth Allows

It lets you connect your phone to your car’s system, providing a total wireless access to the functions of your phone through the car via a control screen, voice commands, steering wheel buttons or the dash.

With Bluetooth connectivity, you can focus on the driving and keep your eyes on the road.

What Bluetooth-Capable Means on Car Stereos

Just like in any device, Bluetooth-capable means that the stereo on your car recognizes Bluetooth-capable devices and communicates with them.

Example: If your computer and mobile phone are capable, they can be paired with each other. Bluetooth technology has been around for quite a while, and now even the car industry has adopted it on car stereos.

How to Connect Bluetooth

There are general steps to use Bluetooth for audio in your car. However, some specific car models or makers might have their own instructions. It is best to consult your manual for the specific steps. The following is only a short preview on how to activate the function on your car.

1. Get your phone and activate its Bluetooth.
2. Proceed to your car’s menu in the settings under audio or phone.
3. Choose the ADD A BLUETOOTH DEVICE, and then locate devices.
4. From the list, choose your device. You can also choose the car from your mobile phone. In other cases, the car might also have to ask for a code into your phone and/or car.
5. To play music or audio, turn on your car’s stereo and choose Bluetooth as the source. The car audio system will play the song on the device connected to it.
6. If making a phone call, proceed to the phone menu and choose a contact. Once you receive a call, the car is going to ring, and then you can decide whether to ignore or answer the call.

That’s about it! The devices are now paired. You can start playing music, accept calls or send message through your car’s stereo or entertainment system. *Functions and features vary from one car to another.

Benefits of Bluetooth Connectivity in Cars

MAP text messaging

This text messaging is the most recent adoption in the car industry – the MAP. It allows for Bluetooth connected receiver, and in this case, the car. MAP gives bidirectional access to your phone’s SMS messages.

It can also read aloud your messages, getting rid of the temptation of holding your phone each time you’re get a message. You can also fire up a quick template response when busy if using a newer car stereo. Examples: “I will call you back shortly. I am driving now.”

Hands-free calls

The hands-free profile lets speakerphone calling possible. It’s an old technology with which you might already be familiar.

Once the pairing process has been done, the microphone and speakers will take over the input/output of audio while making calls.

A universal support

Almost all phones support Bluetooth connection for A2DP, HFP and MAP, including Android and Apple phones. Also, every car on the market offers this type of connectivity, as an inexpensive or standard option.

Apps and data tethering

Bluetooth phones can do data tethering, allowing its handset to share the internet connection to the device connected to it.

This feature makes it good for answering your emails using a laptop; however, it is not as good when doing image-filled internet browsing.

On the other hand, there are car infotainment systems, which can make use of Bluetooth in controlling your phone apps.

It also lets you open possibilities, such as using voice command when opening a radio station from your app. In this Bluetooth feature, you can connect your favorite apps as well.

Audio streaming

The Advanced Audio Distribution Profile lets the connected audio system in your car to receive a stereo audio from your Bluetooth phone.

Without even saying, you can now use the technology for listening to phone-stored music or songs from Spotify and other internet music services.

The A2DP also works with the audio or video remote control profile, enabling the receiver to get metadata coming from the phone and letting you control the playback options. The metadata displays information on album, song and artist name.

Final Thoughts

So, “What does it mean to have Bluetooth in a car?” It means convenience, portability, comfort and safety. You can answer phone calls, send messages, play music and do so many more! It lets you do all these things without compromising safety because it gives you the power to operate hands-free. These capabilities give you options in everything you desire. Now, you can use your phone without any physical contact. Finally, we can expect a whole lot more in this evolving Bluetooth technology standard.

Article credits: This article was provided by the authors at toptooladvisor.com, Tools Blog Reviews and Guides for Every Tool Guy with articles discussing interesting morning

About the Author

Guest Contribution of guest authors towards Techno FAQ blog

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Bluetooth Car Stereo Basics

Jeremy Laukkonen is automotive and tech writer for numerous major trade publications. When not researching and testing computers, game consoles or smartphones, he stays up-to-date on the myriad complex systems that power battery electric vehicles .

In This Article

Bluetooth is a feature that can be found in both original equipment (OE) and aftermarket car stereos, and it’s not limited to any particular car stereo configuration. This wireless communication protocol allows devices to communicate with each other across distances of up to 30 feet, so it is ideal for creating a small, personal area network (PAN) inside a car or truck.

The safety, convenience, and entertainment features offered by Bluetooth car stereos are fairly diverse, but they’re not limited to head units that have the functionality built in. Even if your head unit doesn’t have Bluetooth, you may still be able to take advantage of features like hands-free calling and even internet audio streaming with the right add-on kit.

What is a Bluetooth Car Stereo?

A Bluetooth car stereo is just a car stereo that has built-in Bluetooth capabilities. In most respects, a Bluetooth car stereo is a lot like any other car stereo. Also known as a head unit, since it controls every other audio component in your car, a car stereo will usually include a radio, may be able to play CDs or MP3s, will have either a built-in amplifier or pre-amp outputs, and also connects to the speakers.

In addition to all of that, a Bluetooth car stereo also includes Bluetooth connectivity. This typically allows it to connect to your phone, a wireless earpiece or headphones, and other portable electronics. Many of the best car radios on the market include Bluetooth.

What is Bluetooth and How is it Used in Cars?

Bluetooth is a communication protocol that allows devices like cellular phones and head units to share data back and forth, but some Bluetooth-enabled devices offer more functionality than others.

The specific features that any given Bluetooth car stereo offers are dependent on the profiles that it is designed to make use of, so some head units offer significantly more functionality than others.

Some of the most common features offered by Bluetooth car stereos include:

• Hands-free calling: This extremely common feature allows you to place calls using a Bluetooth earpiece, a built-in microphone and your car speakers, or your phone’s speakerphone.
• Audio streaming: This feature allows you to stream music, podcasts, and other audio from your phone to your car audio system.
• Remote app control: This is a two-way feature that allows you to control your phone, or specific apps, with your car stereo.
• Access to stored contact information: This feature allows you to pull up information from your phone, like your address book, on your car stereo.

Each feature makes use of one or more profiles in the “Bluetooth stack,” so the head unit and any paired devices all need to be on the same page for everything to work properly.

Bluetooth Car Stereos and Hands-Free Calling

While it’s illegal to use a cellular phone when driving in many jurisdictions, most of those laws have exemptions for hands-free calling. And though many cellular phones offer speakerphone options, and a Bluetooth-enabled cell phone can be paired directly to a headset, a Bluetooth car stereo can offer a much more integrated experience.

There are two profiles that Bluetooth car stereos can use to facilitate hands free calling:

• Headset profile (HSP): Usually found in hands-free calling kits. Offers basic functionality only.
• Hands-free profile (HFP): More fully-featured. Usually found in Bluetooth car stereos.

HSP is more commonly found in aftermarket hands-free calling kits, while HFP offers deeper functionality. When you pair your cellular phone to a Bluetooth car stereo or hands-free calling kid that uses HSP, it will usually just work like a Bluetooth earpiece and provide very basic connectivity.

When you pair your phone to a device that supports the hands-free profile, the head unit will typically lower or mute the volume when a call is initiated. Since that saves you from having to remove your hands from the wheel to operate the stereo, this type of Bluetooth integration offers a significant level of convenience and increased safety.

Access to Stored Contacts

When a Bluetooth car stereo supports either the object push profile (OPP) or Phonebook Access Profile (PBAP), it will typically allow you to use the head unit to access the contact information that’s stored on your phone.

OPP sends contact information to the head unit, where it can be stored in the memory of the Bluetooth stereo. That allows you to access the information for hands-free calling, but you have to manually resend contacts after updating them.

Phonebook access profile is a little more advanced, in that the head unit is able to pull contact information from a paired cellular phone at any time. That makes it easier to update contact info, but it can also result in an improved hands-free calling experience.

Audio Streaming

Head units that support Bluetooth audio streaming allow you to wirelessly send music and other sound files from your phone to your car stereo. If you have music, audio books, or other content on your phone, a Bluetooth car stereo that supports the advanced audio distribution profile (A2DP) will be able to play it.

Additionally, you may be able to play Internet radio like Pandora, Last.fm and Spotify. And if your Bluetooth car stereo supports the audio/video remote control profile (AVRCP), you can even control the streaming audio from the head unit.

Remote Bluetooth App Control

In addition to controlling streaming media via AVRCP, other Bluetooth profiles can provide remote control over various other apps on a paired phone. Using the serial port profile (SPP), a Bluetooth car stereo can actually remotely launch apps like Pandora on your phone, after which A2DP and AVRCP can be used to receive and control the streaming media.

Bluetooth Car Stereo Alternatives

If your car stereo doesn’t have Bluetooth connectivity, but your phone does, you can still take advantage of many of these same features. The experience won’t be as seamless as a Bluetooth car stereo can provide, but there are a variety of kits and other hardware that will provide you with hands-free calling, audio streaming, and other features. Some of the potential Bluetooth car stereo alternatives include:

• Bluetooth hands-free car kits
• Mounted speakerphones
• Bluetooth audio streaming kits

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