Name:
Kanex AirBlue
What it is:
A small Bluetooth receiver that connects to the Aux In of your car stereo or home music system so you can stream music from your smartphone or other Bluetooth device with the A2DP profile (a Bluetooth device bought in the last couple of years). You also can control the music via the AirBlue from about 30 feet away. It’s powered by an internal, rechargeable 10-hour battery.
The good:
Small and convenient, AirBlue can connect to sound systems that have 3.5 mm inputs or RCA phono inputs so you can listen to your phone’s or tablet’s music over big speakers, even in your car, if it has an Aux In jack.
The bad:
Like most Bluetooth receivers, playback will have some hiss, but music files encoded in the AAC format (music purchased from the iTunes Music Store) will fare better than MP3 music. If you’ve paired Bluetooth devices before, the AirBlue isn’t hard to figure out, but the instruction booklet is printed in type so small that it’s almost unreadable, and the booklet is not available online. Fortunately, a video at kanexlive.com/airblue (click the “Videos” tab) will tell you everything you need to know. If you don’t have Internet access when you’re ready to use AirBlue for the first time, you’ll need a magnifier to read the instructions.
Cost:
$49
Available from:
kanexlive.com
