Cootree® Wireless Bluetooth FM Transmitter, Multifunction Car Kit with Hands-Free Calling, Music Controlling, Radio Adapter and USB Charging Port for Smartphone, iphone, ipad

If you are like me then you have an older car without an audio in adapter built in to the dashboard of the car so you cannot plug your smart phone or tablet or mp3 player into the car stereo and play your own music or audiobooks in digital format.

This device attaches to your device via Bluetooth and then transmits what your phone is playing to your vehicle's radio and plays it over a frequency of your choosing so that you can hear what you want to hear over your car's stereo system.

The Cootree Bluetooth FM Transmiiter with the "head"
detached. The USB charger is on the base close to
the back of the pen. The pen is there for size comparison.
Photo by DWD.

What you do is plug the base of this very odd looking device into your cigarette lighter/adapter and use the removable "head" to dial into an FM station that is as far away as possible from any FM station on the dial. Then, make sure that your car's radio is set to the exact same station on the dial. If you do not pick a spot on the dial that is far away from an existing station you will hear your music and the radio station at the same time.

The base has a USB port so that your smart phone or tablet can be charged while it is Bluetooth streaming (or not - it does not have to be in Bluetooth mode to be charging). The "head" is attached by magnets. It detaches easily but it does not just fall off - the magnet is strong enough but not too strong.

So, how does it work? That depends on a lot of things, including the device that you are streaming from. In my case, when my phone plays back audio that is stored on the phone itself it plays back about 30% quieter than audio that is streamed. So, when I tried to play an audiobook that was stored on my phone I was underwhelmed - in fact I could not clearly hear what was being said. But, when I played streaming music, I was much happier. It is not perfect, but it is very good. 

For me, the bigger issue was finding a space on the radio dial where radio stations did not bleed into the spot I was trying to use. I live in a medium-sized city and we have a lot of stations. In a bigger city I can only imagine that this issue would be worse. 

The phone feature works but, once again, this depends on your situation. If your car is noisy, like mine is at highway speeds, this would not be a good option. 

At the time of this review, this device cost $34.99. Click here to check current pricing: Cootree® Wireless Bluetooth FM Transmitter.

I rate this device 4 stars out of 5. 

Note: I received a sample copy of this device for testing purposes in order to create an honest review of the product.