iSimple ISFM22 TranzIt Universal Bluetooth Enabled FM Transmitter Car Kit for iPhone or iPod, Blue

For the most part, it does what it is supposed to but it isn't perfect. My car is a 2005 Nissan Altima with the Bose sound system. For the most part, I've been happy with it. I have a Sirius Satellite tuner, 6-disc CD changer and navigation. Unfortunately, there is no auxiliary input. I have seen even more expensive options that would eliminate my satellite tuner to provide the auxiliary input I like having satellite radio too. My issue is, I would LOVE to play content via my iPhone, such as Pandora, music I own, audiobooks and podcasts. I know that FM radio is one of the lowest quality methods of getting audio into a system, but it is by far the cheapest. I have tried FM modulators in the past but they all have several flaws. This corrects three of the problems I've had before but still not the greatest. One problem with many FM modulators that is fixed with this device is that the FM frequency is selectable and can be relatively easily changed; many give you one frequency or a selection of maybe three frequencies. If a broadcaster is in your area, it can overpower the low-power FM modulator, causing audio to fade back and forth between broadcast and your own audio. Changing frequencies is one solution but even better is to attenuate (decrease) signal strength from antenna. When on, this device attenuates the incoming antenna signal and superimposes your own FM signal directly into the antenna line, not needing to be picked up by your car's built-in antenna. So that is the first two improvements but the third is more of convenience... Bluetooth. I don't need to plug an audio cable to the headphone jack on my phone but rather wirelessly send my audio. Unfortunately, this is both a blessing and a curse. I have a Bluetooth hands-free speakerphone device but my iPhone can't be connected to both the speakerphone device and this device at the same time. If I turn the speakerphone device on, the audio gets relocated to the tiny speaker on my hands-free device. Finally, I'm not sure if it is due to signal compression with Bluetooth or the sucky quality of FM modulation, but the fidelity of music through this device is aweful. It has a very tinny, echoey sound to it. It is fine for speaking audio with minimal music, such as audiobooks, podcasts and sports (not already readily available over my Sirius tuner), but it is terrible with quality music. Overall, it works but it is definitely not the panacea.

I may have only given this three stars but it is a limited market for this kind of device. The sound is great and being wireless makes it really convenient that anyone in the car can control the music with my phone. But the flaw is that its just my phone that can use it. Yea, any droid can download the app, configure the app, and pair with this device... but who really wants to do that. It also doesnt work with Iphone. Again all of this really isnt a problem since anything I could ever want to listen to is either on Spotify or Youtube, but it is kind of annoying. Also the time it takes for you phone to connect once you turn on the car is a bit too long. I think this device only looks for your phone to pair with it once every minute or so. This feature saves battery im sure but waiting a minute gets old.Yea i have a few complaints, but overall it is very simple to use once you get used to the limitations. Its very nice to just get in my truck and and click play on my Spotify radio without having to worry about cords.***Oh, and installing the on/off switch is a must. I have noticed a couple of times that the device wont connect with my phone and the only way to do that at first was to power my truck off. Once i installed the switch this wasnt a big deal.

I took this unit to a local Best Buy for installation. My feeling is that Best Buy has one installation price if you buy their kit and a higher cost if you bring in your own kit like I did. But, still, the price for this kit from Amazon was so much lower than Best Buy's similar kit that I still came out ahead.My iPhone 4S paired up with this unit quickly. I was advised by the tech at Best Buy (who said they have sold and installed quite a few of these units) that all will work well as long as only one phone is paired up with the unit at a time. That is no issue for me.You have a choice to make. This unit has an automatic 8-second recognition sensor built in. Once you tune your FM radio to the frequency specified for the unit and then activate your phone by simply unlocking the main screen, in 8 seconds your radio antenna will be inactivated and this unit will take over that frequency playing whatever you have selected on your phone. Then, if you kill the player on your phone for any reason, you will get 8 seconds of silence then the radio antenna is activated and if the radio frequency is an active station, that station will play. This really works reliably. Your other choice is to have a manual on/off switch installed. In that case, you can activate or deactivate your radio antenna by a flip of the switch. I went with the default 8-second auto-recognition. After using this unit a couple of days, I wish I had had the switch installed. Why? Well, I play a lot of podcasts. So, I tune my radio to the desired frequency (I did download their app, which works flawlessly, BTW) and start my podcast. 8 seconds of silence and then I start hearing the podcast, which has been playing. I get a phone call, which immediately stops my podcast. This Tranzit unit does not play phone calls over your radio, so I use a separate battery-powered device for that. But, if I forget to power off my radio, in 8 seconds the radio will begin blasting a song in the midst of my phone conversation! Ha! So, it's a minor issue, for sure. But, I think in retrospect the on/off switch would be more precise.I find this unit to be a great alternative to buying an expensive bluetooth-ready radio. One day those aftermarket radios will be more available and the prices will come down and they will have more features to make your older vehicle iPhone connected. But, until then, this device works well. I might also add that previously I used a different device from iSimple that used a wired connection to connect my iPhone to the AUX input in the radio system. This device worked well until the plug inexplicably broke down. Yes, I could have replaced that module. But, soon I will be upgrading my phone and the new phone will use the lightening connector. So, I would have had to replace the current connector and then soon buy yet another connector module. The cost of doing that versus installing this bluetooth device was about even. I like not being tied to a wire!