Belkin TuneCast Auto with ClearScan: iPhone Accessory Review

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iPhone/iPod Accessory Review: Belkin TuneCast Auto with ClearScan for iPhone and iPod
Reviewed by: David Geguzinskis
-Official website
Price: $79.95

Have you found yourself hating radio stations, and wanting to listen to your own music instead? FM transmitters might be just for you. While they were available for a long time, not many of them are compatible with the iPhone. One such compatible transmitter is Belkin TuneCast Auto with ClearScan.

This is a relatively simple device: you have standard car power adapter, then the actual TuneCast unit and iPhone/iPod dock connector.

Car charger features a small light, indicating that there is power from the car.

TuneCast itself is well designed. It features backlit display, 2 buttons to manually select frequency and of course ClearScan auto mode. You also have 2 preset memory buttons to store your two favorite frequencies and a Pro button to select audio quality and volume.

Backlit display shows your selected frequency, if it is saved to memory and Pro choice. Screen is well thought and easy to read, and you will be able see it in direct sunshine and at nighttime without any problems.

TuneCast Auto is probably the main selling point of the unit. With just one click, it lets you quickly scan through the available frequencies (88.1FM to 107.9FM), which takes around 5 seconds, and then selects clearest frequency and appropriate Pro setting. Each time I tried, it selected frequency with none to low interference. I don’t know if selection was clearest of them all but it certainly did its job. I’ve noticed that I always ended up using highest Pro setting, since it gave me the loudest and clearest volume.

Now speaking of its main aspect – quality, I’ve found it to be rather good. I’ve tried numerous wireless FM Transmitters, and none of them worked as great as this one. Quality stayed good even when I cranked the volume up. I’ve found that even if you don’t have a clear radio station (what’s the chance of that?), it will overcast it, but you will hear some crackling.

I am also glad that this is finally the thing which is compatible with your iPhone. No more “This accessory is not made to work with your iPhone” screen. However you should only connect your iPhone to TuneCast when it’s powered. If you will plug it in, and then turn the engine, you will get a small greeting, and your song will pause too.

One slight issue is that occasionally I would get beeping sounds (TDMA Noise) from my phone. It won’t matter on moderate volumes, however if you are listening to music loudly, it might be annoying. Still, compared to my other FM Transmitters, this one has the least of the beeping noises.

Overall it is a good device. While it’s not the cheapest transmitter, I think it is worth its price for both quality and usability. It all depends whether you prefer wireless or wired transmitters.

Score: 8/10

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