Sound Advice: Bluetooth car adapter also streams music

Q: Have you ever reviewed Bluetooth hands-free car kits? With more states requiring hands-free phone use, I am looking to purchase a Bluetooth car kit where the callers not only sound great but also can hear me just as well.

A: Yes, I have evaluated Bluetooth car adapters in order to get one for myself. My search led me to one that is a real winner. It can be purchased for less than $20 and not only is it good for phone calls, it is great for entertainment, as well.

The VicTsing Bluetooth FM adapter with 1.44-inch display sells on Amazon for only $16.99. When you pair it to your phone it comes up as "T1," so I will refer to it that way.

The T1 plugs into the lighter socket. You set it to transmit, pick an FM frequency and then tune the car's FM radio to match. The T1 pairs to the phone, and whenever you get a phone call it will send the sound through the car's speakers.

Many FM adapters have poor sound quality, but not this one. The output is clean and strong, and people I have conversed with say the clarity is exceptional.

It doesn't stop there. The T1 also can stream music from your phone. It has two USB ports, one for fast charging and one for playing back media from a USB flash drive. There also is a TF Card (MicroSD) slot so you can load your music or audiobooks on a memory card and play them directly from the T1.

If your car does not have Bluetooth, give the T1 a try. Besides sounding good, it might even keep you out of an accident because you will have both hands on the wheel.

Here's another installment of our headphone coverage.

I am often asked for recommendations for wireless, noise-canceling headphones that "have good sound like the $300 Bose headphones, but are not so expensive." For a long time I had to tell people about wired noise-canceling headphones that sounded better for less money, but that Bose had the premium, wireless, noise-canceling category all to themselves. Not anymore.

At the 2018 Consumer Electronics Show I got a demonstration of the new Audio-Technica ATH-ANC700BT Bluetooth noise-canceling headphones ($199, audio-technica.com). The sound quality was impeccable, and I could hardly hear anything other than the music that was playing. When they took off the headphones and I heard all the hubbub from the show floor, it was rather jarring. It not only made me appreciate the fine sound quality of the headphones but also the extremely effective noise cancellation.

Send questions to Don Lindich at donlindich@gmail.com. Get recommendations and read past columns at soundadvicenews.com.