Parrot 3400 LS-GPS Bluetooth Car Kit Review

Parrot are a French manufacturer that uses the Bluetooth technology as a base for all of their products, no matter if they're intended for use in your home or your car, like the one we review. About three years ago we reviewed the Parrot DriveBlue which was one of the first car kits that did not need installation. This time we're testing Parrot 3400 LS-GPS – a high-level car kit, featuring color display and an integrated GPS for navigation via smartphone or Pocket PC.

The kit is attached to your car's speakers so there are a few cables included in the package, as well as a universal muter which connects the device to almost any radio with ISO or other standard jacks. This box actually mutes the sounds of the music player when commencing a new call or when an incoming one occurs – this way you will make a conversation and you will hear the other person's voice clearly through the audio system of your car.

The navigation is done via a separate unit that features a color display, two buttons, Navigation Wheel, and GPS and Bluetooth antennas. This module is connected to the mute box via cables and to your phone via Bluetooth.

3400 LS-GPS Package Content:

• Control Unit + attachment tools

• Universal Radio Mute

• Cables for connecting the Universal Radio Mute to the car cables and to the radio.

• Microphone + attachment clips

• User Manuals

TECHNICAL AND COMMERCIAL SPECIFICATIONS

Parrot 3400LS GPS Bluetooth hands-free car kit
Bluetooth hands-free kit with color screen and active GPS Antenna for 12 channels
LCD Color screen
160 x 128 pixels, 262144 colors
Adjustible brightness and contrast
Customized color interface with wallpapers
Caller photo display
Display of the last numbers dialled, missed calls and calls received

Audio

Echo cancellation
Full duplex
Voice recognition up to 150 names
Hi-fi polyphonic ringtones

Dimensions and Weight

LCD Screen/keypad: 64 x 58 x 20 mm (without antenna) – Weight: 60g
Parrot universal radio mute unit : 54 x 104 x 20mm – Weight 72 g
(Installed under the dashboard)

Pairing

Up to five mobile phones registered
Address book synchronization

Documentation

Directions for use included

Standards

CE, e2, FCC, RSS210

Warranty

One year from the date of purchase

BLUETOOTH® TECHNOLOGY

The Bluetooth® technology enables voice and data transmissions to be performed via a short-distance radio link. It connects a wide range of electronic equipment without requiring additional cables.

PHONE COMPATIBILITY

The Control Unit is a small black box. It measures 2.15 x 2.15 (3.15 with the antenna) x 0.6 (1.2 with the wheel) inches (WxHxT). At the upper left corner of the device, there is a small stub antenna that is used by the integrated GPS Receiver.  There is a 2-inch 262144 colors display with a resolution of 160x120 at the front panel. The display's Brightness and Contrast can be adjusted and it is bright enough to be seen clearly when installed on the car's dashboard. It is also easily read in the dark too. The display dims after a while so that it does not glow annoyingly if it's dark and if you don't use it at the moment. There are three buttons under the display: TALK, HANG UP and Rotating Wheel (that can also be pushed), which is used for navigation through the menus. The TALK and HANG UP buttons are relatively big and are easily pressed. They are made of glossy black plastic and have a good response. They're lit respectively in green and red. The Rotating Wheel between them is made of rubber. It is solid and it does not slip even if your hands are wet due to sweating while driving. It is a pity that it's not lit, but this is not a big problem because the wheel's rugged surface combined with the light from the display and the other two buttons make it easy to find even in the dark. At the lower left side of the device there is a 2.5mm connector for the microphone.

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The other part of the car kit is the blue box of the Universal Radio Mute. It measures approximately 4 x 2 x 0.8 inches (WxHxT). At the front side there's a logo and the web site of Parrot, and there are two connectors on the side: one for the display, and the other for the cables connecting the radio to the car. At the opposite corners (upper left and lower right) there are holes used for installing this box inside the car's dashboard, so that it is not seen in a completely installed system.

Installation:

In fact, you should have no problems with it unless the connectors in your car are not ISO standardized.
You should remove your car's radio in order to install the kit. Remove the two jacks (the one for the speakers and the one for the power supply) and connect them to the corresponding female ones of the kit's cables (power to the grey jack, and the speakers to the black one) (*Note: your jacks may be in different colors as is in our case).

Kit's female connectors	Car's male connectors	Already connected to the car

The male ISO jacks of the kit's cables are plugged into the radio in the place of the two we removed (respectively the black into the speakers and the grey – into the power supply) and then you find the jack which you should plug into the big connector of the Universal Radio Mute box; the display is connected to the small one. Take notice that the cable connecting the Mute box and the display can not be detached from the latter, which causes troubles during installation you cannot detach the display when you're not using it, in order to prevent an eventual theft.

All the parts (except for the display) are installed in the car's dashboard so they're not seen at all after the radio is put back into its place. The display is installed where the driver wants it to be, for example at the central console.

There is a installation manual, for cars with standard ISO connectors, included in the user manual. It is very useful that there are manuals for different car brands and models on Parrot's site. For example we wanted to install the car kit on a BMW E39 (5-series) from 1998, but after experiencing a lot of difficulties while removing the radio we found out they did not use the standard ISO jack. The manual on the Parrot site explains how to connect the car kit to it using alternative means with cables. This is quite helpful. Moreover, all the diagrams are in English.
It is a pity most (maybe even all) American brands are not on the list.

The microphone, which is attached to the control unit, can also be installed anywhere in the car. Where the driver wants it to be – it can be on the wheel, to the left of it, on the central console, or on the rear-view mirror. Parrot recommend it to be installed at the left side of the mirror for best sound quality. The microphone is attached to a jack that is placed on the Control Unit. Moreover, there is an additional jack at the end of the cable connecting the Control Unit and the Universal Radio Mute. The manufacturer has provided three different kinds of attachment clips for it, all suitable for different situations. In order to avoid vibrations on the microphone, you should have in mind that it should be attached in a way that it has no physical contact with the surface it's installed on.

Pairing:

Connecting the kit with a phone is easy. From the menu, go to Setting – Pair with phone, where you can choose from different predefined phone models, as for each of them the car kit gives you a unique Code. You choose the type and search through the menu of the phone (T-Mobile MDA, a.k.a. HTC Wizard PPC Phone, in our case) and connect using the code given to you. Once paired the kit connects automatically for less than a minute upon turning on the ignition key. Up to five phones can be connected to the kit at the same time.

The following paragraph concerns HTC Wizard (T-Mobile MDA / Cingular 8125) and it could be different with other (WM 5 PPC) phones; the software used on the phone is TomTom Navigator:
In order to connect the GPS receiver, an Outgoing Port is created on COM6 after the phone and the car kit are connected. Open the TomTom – Change Preferences – Show GPS Status – Configure – Other Bluetooth GPS – COM6. After this is done the car kit indicates GPS Connected which is shown by two semicircles under the satellite on the display, depicting transmission of waves.

During the test we compared the Parrot`s GPS receiver and the Holux Bluetooth GPS with Sirf Star III chip. Despite being smaller and the absence of a stub antenna, the Holux performed better overall and ackquired more satellites. We tested the two GPS devices in different positions and the most significant difference occurred when we placed them low, next to the gear shift. That's where the Parrot totally lost the signal, while the Holux with Sirf Star III had no problems.

		on the dash board
		at the central console
		next to gear shift

The main menu consists of five choices. You can see only one icon at a time, and going through the options is done by moving the Wheel left or right. It is a little uncomfortable that when you get to the fifth (last) option (GPS), you cannot go to the first (phonebook) by turning the wheel right again – you have to go back in the left direction. The options are as follow:

1. Phone book
2. Calls
3. Dial number
4. Settings
5. GPS

After a correct pairing and connection of the phone with the car kit, the phonebook of your handset automatically downloads to the kit if your phone supports it. After entering the Phone book menu you can choose the letter of the contact you're looking for. For example if you choose B, we see the contact called “Brother” followed by other contacts arranged in alphabetical order (note: the contact here is displayed twice because that's how it is saved in the phone and sim, and not because of device error).

Receiving a Call

The Calls menu shows Missed Calls, Received Calls and Calls Made. This information is taken from your phone, which should have this feature. You can only see three rows at a time and you can use the wheel for scrolling.

The Third menu is Dial a Number – quite useless menu – you see the phone keypad on the screen, and choose a number by moving with the wheel and pressing it. In case you make an error you can use the “C” button. There is no voice support, which can be expected of a Bluetooth Hands-free car kit. If there was a voice digit dialing, then this menu would be worth it. But in this case, dialing through it is even more uncomfortable than with the phone.

The Settings menu contains the standard preferences that one would expect. An interesting feature is the support of different Wallpapers and color themes. You can also set the brightness of the display from this menu.

There are voice commands, or to be more precise – Keywords, which are:

• Phone
• Home
• Work
• Cellular

In fact, they are auxiliary words for Voice Dialing. When you use the Voice Dialing feature of your phone (by pressing the Answer key) you say a name, which is already saved. If there is more than one number saved to it and your telephone supports it, then you will be asked which of the numbers you want to dial – and you can choose whether it will be the one saved as Phone, Home, Work or Cellular, but you must do some training saying them beforehand.

Voice commands

Keywords options

Training a keyword

We are totally disappointed of the voice controlling of this car kit. As a high-level hands-free it should have a lot of capabilities for navigation with commands. That's not the case here as you have to go through numerous menus. As the device is powered directly by the car, there should not be a problem supporting something like the “MagicWord” by SonyEricsson, and to be awaiting commands all the time so that you can control it without taking your attention off the road while driving. There's no support for even simple commands like “Answer” or “Reject” when you have an incoming call. Not to mention navigation through the menu or other more complex tasks. That's the major drawback of the 3400 LS-GPS.

Information of the unit we tested

Sound Quality is what Parrot 3400 does best. But lets explain it in more detail. The sound you hear comes from your car's speakers (so the power and quality depends on them) and in most situations there's no room for comparison with any phone's earphone or with any other car kit. In our case we used factory installed speakers in the dashboard which were enough to reproduce the sound correctly and loud enough.

The outgoing sound is also very good. During the test it was clear to understand was what said even at a speed of 60 Mph and the front windows of the car being opened. This is quite a heavy task for any device of this kind but Parrot 3400 LS-GPS did well without any problem. At a speed of 60 Mph there are a lot of different sounds in your car that should not occur in your conversation – the sound of the wind when you pass by the various objects around you, the road's imperfect surface, etc. – but the car kit somehow manages to leave all those sounds out, and to transmit your voice as if you are in a totally quiet and calm place. Featuring various modern technologies for voice transmission, it copes with this vital task in a really good way!

We'd like to note the way we place the microphone in the car is very important. During the test we had a problem with a strange noise that sometimes occurred even with windows closed and at a low speed – it should be positioned so that it does not vibrate because these vibrations are transmitted as noise.

Conclusion:

Parrot 3400 LS-GPS is a really good car kit! Although the installation is hardware, it is easily done. After that you can make use of your car's stereo while making a conversation – the sound quality is very high in both directions. The GPS is a nice and useful option in a car, but the bad thing is that it has to be in the upper part of the car's dashboard in order get any signal at all, and the latter cannot be removed. It's a pity the voice control of the kit is very badly implemented, in contrast to the menus which are logically structured and big enough to be easily seen on the color display.