Hands-on with the Parrot Minikit Slim Bluetooth speakerphone

Don't like earpieces? Bluetooth speakerphones offer a great alternative to the annoyances that in-ear hands-free devices provide. The market for these types of devices is growing steadily, with the latest entry being the Parrot Minikit Slim.

The simplicity of this device is its strongest point. Once you charge the device via a USB port or the included car charger, you power it on, and then it immediately goes into pairing mode. I found the Minikit Slim easily with my BlackBerry 8820, and after entering the four-digit passcode, I was done. Contacts were then immediately pushed to the device's memory, which can support up to 1,000 contacts per phone (you can pair up to 5 phones, with a maximum of 2,500 contacts total). Then, I was ready to rock.

The Minikit's voice-recognition and voice-synthesis technology made sending and receiving calls very simple. Press talk, the device asks, "Who do you want to call?" and you simply say who. Can't get much easier than that

Call quality was very good for the device on both sides. Audio output was clear and had little-to-no distortion except for at the highest volume, though I do wish the volume could go a little higher.

One neat feature that the Minikit Slim offers is the ability to dial touch-tone numbers by using the rotary dial. This allows you to navigate through voice mail-type computer prompts that require dial presses without having to use your phone. However, you cannot use this method to actually dial a number, so if you have to call a contact that is not in your phonebook, you must pull over and hand dial it in.

However, a few annoyances irked me: First, the clip that attaches to your visor felt a little flimsy and almost seemed like it could break from a light amount of abuse. Secondly, there is no status light to let you know what state the Minikit Slim is in. There's no way to know if it is properly connected or even turned on. And finally, as mentioned previously, there was no possible way to dial numbers that are not in the phonebook, via voice or button presses. For example, saying, "Call five-five-five, two-one-two-one" would get you nowhere.

Even with a few annoyances, the simple, easy-to-use nature of the device and the good voice quality makes the Minikit Slim a goodl choice for those that aren't the most tech savvy.

The Parrot Minikit Slim will retail at $99 and will be available in time for the holidays.