Top positive review
1 people found this helpful
Awesome Compliment to Windows Phone 7.x/8.x
By Matthew J. Hunt on Reviewed in the United States on October 7, 2013
In Maryland, we recently had our laws change so that mobile phone use and seat belt violations are prima facie offenses. Being a traveler to Washington, D.C. for business, I've managed to NOT be pulled over there, but now that my entire state does the same thing, I needed to come up with a solution for long stints in my car while still handling client phone calls and text messages. (I'm not one who likes Bluetooth ear pieces, etc.) On a few of my business trips, I rented Ford vehicles with "Microsoft Sync" included in the onboard packages. I absolutely LOVED the way my phone interacted with that system and responded to my voice. It made trips safer, IMHO, and also kept me from being dinged with fines and points on my license. Plus, using the AT&T Navigator application on my phone (provided by TomTom) through the system eliminated the need for a separate GPS device stuck to the windshield. So... my goal was to find a device that let me have as much of this functionality as I could get. The nice thing about Windows Phone is that you "pretty much" have all of the Sync voice functionality already built-in at SETTINGS | SPEECH. Once enabled, your phone will sound and behave just like the familiar Microsoft Sync system in those newer Fords. NOT being an Apple device fan, it's pretty apparent to me that there is a lack in the marketplace for anything specifically designed for Windows Phone. So, I went to the official Windows Phone website and looked over the devices they recommended and offered. This led me to the Jabra Freeway. First, the Jabra Freeway is by no means a large and clunky device. Rather, it has a sleek design and the button areas for the functions are intelligently placed and blue LED lit. I wondered how much tension the visor clip had because I was concerned that it might drop off of my visor and make me nuts while driving... No worries there! They, also intelligently, made it a VERY stiff clip so there's virtually no chance of that happening. The speakers are very loud and clear and the built-in microphone is sensitive enough to discriminate your voice over ambient sounds. When using the Windows Phone speech features, you are prompted when to answer, etc... so, you are stepped through what to do and have little room for mistake. (Plus, the voice recognition algorithm is scary-accurate.) At first, I thought maybe I didn't need to mess with the VoiceAssist system used by Jabra, but since you get one year of it free included with the purchase, I gave it a whirl. It works by calling their system via your phone... then answers in a very "Microsoft Sync" fashion. There's a bit of an annoyance with setting that feature up through their website and then exporting your contacts to the system... but, if you can dump your data to a CSV file, you'll be fine. The reason I have stuck with VoiceAssist thus far is that unlike the Microsoft Sync systems in those Ford vehicles, I haven't figured out how to "trigger" my phone to listen for a command. The Sync equipped Fords have a steering wheel or dash-mounted button to do this. The Jabra doesn't (at least not as I've discovered yet) do that. This is where VoiceAssist comes into play and works very well. So, if I specifically want to call someone in my contact list, I tap the VoiceAssist button and it dials out, answers, and then I simply tell it to call whoever or send a message, etc. For incoming calls and texts, Microsoft's Speech Services does everything, using the Jabra as a Bluetooth speakerphone, responding extremely quickly by answering a call, reading back a text, letting me reply, ignore or whatever. There is virtually no discernible lag or anything like that and signal quality is perfect. All-in-all, Jabra does Bluetooth the right way and they've done some serious thinking to make this device seemingly flawless. For that alone, Windows Phone users should get this thing if they need this kind of solution because of changing laws or for just some added safety and convenience. You won't find that you bought a device targeting Apple or Android and you just "deal with not having everything" function-wise. Your Windows Phone does everything with this Jabra Freeway.
Top critical review
2 people found this helpful
BEST SPEAKERPHONE EVER!
By Steven on Reviewed in the United States on January 30, 2015
I need to update my at first wonderful review. I'm having problems with the Freeway and Jabra that are potentially hazardous that you need to consider BEFORE buying one. I'm leaving my original review which this one adds to now that I have had time using it. IT IS DANGEROUS AT NIGHT! Jabra creates a "hands free" device that does some great stuff indeed that I love. But not all the time. The unit is sleek and wonderfully designed with the 5 buttons being so integrated into the unit that you can feel them as there is no actual button or even raised plastic that you can feel where the buttons are. Each button is illuminated but ONLY when you touch them except for the top center On/Off button that is bright blue when you're on a call. THE PROBLEM: when it's dark and you presumably have your Freeway above you attached to your visor. If you want to press a button to: make a call, play over FM, press the Voice button, Mute or to raise or lower the volume you have to take your eyes off the road and look up at the Jabra to see where the button you want is and then reach for it. Since these buttons aren't lit AT ALL and if it's night or dark, you have to have your eyes off the road longer than if Jabra would simply have these button lights, lit so you could look up for just a nano second to press. Some times when on a totally dark street with no street lights I either have to pull over or turn on my overhead dome light just to be able to read: FM, Voice, Vol -, Vol + or Mute. So the Jabra is neither hands free and definitely NOT eyes free. I have almost gone off the road twice while looking for a button and just not realizing how much time my eyes were off the road. I have written Jabra and called about 5 times warning them that someone is going to get in an accident and possibly hurt or worse just because you can't see or feel the 5 buttons. The sad part is their people instantly go into defense mode about how great their product is as opposed to listening to real world use response that they NEED to hear. All they need to do to fix this otherwise amazing speakerphone is have the 5 button lights, light up dimly but enough so you can see instantly their position and then when you press one, that button should go to full brightness. Because each button is already lighted, I'm sure with a simple firmware or programming change they could have their buttons light up at night either on a schedule or simply by the user pressing a button(s) to turn them on. The do have a "night mode" as it turns out they love to tell you about, but what this does is turn the lights on and off totally so that when off and you press a button it doesn't light up at all. I'm not sure what on Earth they would go to the trouble of doing this and not doing what I'm suggesting. Why would you want your Jabra to be totally light-less in the dark? To invoke night mode you hold the two Volume buttons, if you can see them, and toggle this "feature" on and off. What this SHOULD do is turn on the lights dimly as I'm suggesting. So when you get yours, be careful and if you agree with me, call and write Jabra until they bend to creating a truly hands free device that is safe. The current Freeway at night is a terrible danger as you'll see if you get one or have one. ------------------------------------------- This is the BEST speakerphone EVER! It's loud, clear, easy to use, pairs with iPhone instantly when I get into my car and the FM which I thought wouldn't be that good, is quite good. I need to check but it seems to pre-set to 88.1 FM which in NYC area can have static. But not much actually. and when playing music thru iPhone to Jabra and then FM to my car's radio, the static you hear in quite music moments, is not unlike what you hear when listening to the radio anyway. So it really isn't disturbing because we're used to this when listening to the radio. Of course if you have a newer car with an AUX plugin for your smartphone, you have a totally noise free experience. But if you have an older car before the AUX inputs were made, GET THIS JABRA. You actually don't even need to use the FM because the 7 watt 3 speaker system is quite loud, clear and amazing. I couldn't be happier and I'm not easy to please on these kinds of tech things. Thanks Jabra!
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