Review: Sony’s Xplod Car Stereo Rocks Out With the iPhone

My beloved truck used to be behind the times. The factory-installed stereo had a cassette deck. Remember them? No iPod/iPhone connection and worse, no hands-free cellphone.

But now its got a shiny Sony Xplod aftermarket stereo, which features both iPod and Bluetooth connectivity.

There’s a lot of replacement stereos, but the Xplod has the easiest Bluetooth setup ever, and it always makes a seamless connection with my iPhone. It just works, every time, period. Now I’m always chatting it up in while I’m driving, and I love streaming music via Bluetooth. I should have got one years ago.

Full review after the jump.

For donkeys, I’ve carried things like Bluetooth headsets and sun-visor speakerphones in the truck, but I hate them. Too fiddly.

It makes all the difference to see calls displayed on the stereo, which automatically pauses the music, then hit the main volume button to answer the call. Couldn’t be easier. You have the conversation through the car’s speakers and an external microphone, which is mounted up near the rear-view mirror. Before, I used to ignore calls while I was driving. Now I’m chattier than Kathy Lee.

For this review, Sony provided a $299.99 Xplod MEX-BT5700U car audio system with iPod/iPhone front end integration.

The unit features a USB port on the front that charges the iPod/iPhone while also controlling music playback via the stereo’s controls. Music can be selected by artist, genre, playlist and so on, and the song info is shown on the unit’s 4-line LED display.

The faceplate flips down to reveal the CD player and is detachable. The Xplod plays multiformat CDs (MP3/WMA/AAC) and supports satellite radio and HD Radio (via adapters sold separately. Didn’t test). Of course, there’s a FM/AM radio built in.

It’s easy to switch between modes. Hit a button to toggle between CD, FM radio, Bluetooth Audio, and Aux.

The front auxiliary jack is a blessing. On long trips, the kids watch movies on my MacBook with the soundtrack blasting through the trucks’ speakers. Instead of using a cassette adapter, the MacBook now just plugs straight into the stereo with a standard 3.5mm audio cable.

The kids like the included remote control, which allows them to control the stereo from the back seats. But I hid it after they kept switching from 107.7 The Bone (Led Zeppelin) for stations that play the Black Eyed Peas and other abominations.

Controls are pretty straight forward although a little cramped. I sometimes hit the wrong button because they’re so close together and not easily distinguishable in peripheral vision. The LED display is also prone to glare.

What I really enjoy is the Bluetooth. Wireless music streaming is great, and oddly magical and miraculous. Still get a kick out of it.

Thanks to the iPhone OS 3 update, the iPhone and iPod Touch can now stream music in glorious stereo. Too bad Apple didn’t other Bluetooth features. The Xplod supports a ton of Bluetooth profiles, including PBAP (Phone Book Access Profile), which is not supported on the iPhone. Instead of importing my full address book, I have to enter caller IDs manually into the unit, which I gave up on after about three entries. It’s easy to recognize most numbers anyway.

There’s only four problems with the unit:

* Voice calls can be a bit quiet. I have to crank volume to max sometimes to hear properly.

* The controls are a bit small and fiddly. It’s easy to hit the “source” button when aiming for the radio seek control.

* There’s no RDS (Radio Data System), which displays song and artist info playing on the FM radio. Several of Sony’s other head units do (but lack many of the other features of the 5700U).

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* The menu system isn’t the easiest to navigate. I had to crack the manual several times to figure out what to do. Still, it’s not as bad as your average Nokia phone.

As you’d expect, the stereo sounds pretty good. It pumps out 52 watts of peak power to the speakers.

It sounds even better than the factory stereo it replaced, part of the highly-regarded Harman Kardon sound system built into all Land Rover Discovery IIs. It helped that I fiddled with the EQ, pumping up the subwoofer a few notches.

So the sound is better than before, and its got modern conveniences like Bluetooth and a wireless remote control. The Xplod is highly recommended. Time to bring your creaky old car stereo into the iPhone age.

Full disclosure: Sony provided the unit to keep and paid for installation.

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