Best phone for CX-5---Suggestions?

R

rianoel

Member
Hi All,

My husband and I belong to the class of people with prehistoric cellphones. Well, ok, not that bad---there's no little case attached---but they're old. They're also starting to die. And we're moving to CA, land of hands-free cellphone use only in the car. I want to replace our phones with the phones that are most compatible with the car. Also, with phones that have some capability beyond text-messaging and talking. I'd love to know what kind of phones you have and how compatible they actually are with the car.

Thanks!
 
Iphone's hook straight up to it...show everything on the screen. BUT, I hate iPhones and more specifically AT&T. Verizon and Sprint have them now as well. I use Android phones, they work fine with the CX-5 but mine is about 1.5 yrs old...so it is also a dinosaur. The phone and music works fine through the CX, so in reality a new Android or IPhone would be fine. Not sure about BlackBerries (going out of biz is likely) or Windows Phones, but I would assume if they have a good bluetooth function or can hook up via USB they'll be fine.
 
My iPhone works flawlessly also. I'm also in CA. and have had zero problems with AT&T. Check the area where you're moving to see which carrier has the best coverage.
 
Dblcorona said:
iPhone user here also. Love the interface with it.
Click to expand...


+1 We even use both phones to be paired at the same time, my phone is for phone purposes but her phone is doing the A2DP (streaming music from the phone).

OP, do you want a smartphone, or just a phone that will pair with the car? Most new phones will have bluetooth capability and usually work. Mazda might have a published list of phones but the market changes so rapidly, anything new would work (99% sure).
 
I think we want to get smartphones. My current phone is actually 10 years old. DH's is 6 years old...he goes through them faster than I do. I figure what's top of the line today will be a clunker in 5 years, but if it's new now, it'll still be good then. Thus we got the GT. :) That said, I don't have much experience with new phone technology. I'm hoping for something that doesn't cause a lot of headaches.
 
I use a windows phone and it works well. Also plays songs stored on my phone through blutooth. Although I have lost the capability to hear my text messages read to me and to be able to send text messages through voice which was working well when I was using a motorola T505 blutooth speaker in my old car.
 
You don't really need a fancy smart phone.. only a phone with bluetooth capability and you should be fine.

But if you do buy a smart phone... just about anything is
fine. If you look at the forum, iphones, as well as androids
have their issues with this vehicle.. Little quirks ... and some
Are significant.
A simple plain-jane phone with bluetooth will work well enough if supported. Check
With mazdahandsfree.com for a list of supported phones
and pick what best suits your needs. The smart phones
require data plans and they add a lot to the basic
cell phone bill . You don't really need that to simply connect
To the car.

Excuse my typimg... im sending this from a smart phone :)
 
I've been browsing these forums pretty hard since I got my CX-5 on Tuesday and I have read about a number of issues with phones and BT, but I use an iPhone and have had none of those issues. I can control radio apps on my iPhone from the head unit; sound cloud, pandora, DI radio, and spotify all let you pause, skip forward and back, and see meta data on the head unit. Some of the people with android have said that BT audio is unreliable or nonfunctional. As far as phone functions I was able to flawlessly download all my contacts, call history, and see everything I expected to see on the head unit.
 
Same on my Android Razr. But in this forum you will find problems with both species.
For a short period my mazda had issues with holding the BT connection
with wifi on.... but when I upgraded to the latest
Amdroid OS, everything worked fine since.

My advise to the OP is check with Mazda's hand's free site
and get the list of supported phones as a guide for
your future purchase.
 
How does the iPhone work with the standard radio in the Sport model? Will it charge through the USB? Will song titles show up on the screen?

I don't mind if I have to just run to the Aux. That's what I do with my head unit now, but it would be cool if the USB input worked with the iPhone cable.

As far as Bluetooth, not worried because I can get one of these https://www.amazon.com/dp/ (commissions earned)

Think I can beam my music with it as well using the FM Transmitter.
 
rianoel said:
I think we want to get smartphones. My current phone is actually 10 years old. DH's is 6 years old...he goes through them faster than I do. I figure what's top of the line today will be a clunker in 5 years, but if it's new now, it'll still be good then. Thus we got the GT. :) That said, I don't have much experience with new phone technology. I'm hoping for something that doesn't cause a lot of headaches.
Click to expand...

If you want a phone without any headaches, get an iPhone. Its the easiest phone to navigate IMO. I know the Android guys will say I'm wrong, but after having an Android, and switching to an iPhone, there's no way in hell I'd go back. And go for the 4s. Its $100 more than the 4, but has 16G vs 8G (on the base models), a (slightly) better camera, and Suri, which works pretty good. And the new operating system thats coming out int he fall looks like its going to have a lot of neat features.
 
Thanks for all the advice! I think we'll wait until the new phones come out this fall and go look at them in the store. I plugged my ipod into the aux and it works just fine. We'll check the list on Mazda's website and bring it with us when we go to the store, but it sounds like the iphone works the best. It's occured to me that my brother has one, so when he comes to visit next month I think I'll try to sweet talk him into hooking it up to the car for the duration of his visit and see how we like it.
 
nation845 said:
I've been browsing these forums pretty hard since I got my CX-5 on Tuesday and I have read about a number of issues with phones and BT, but I use an iPhone and have had none of those issues. I can control radio apps on my iPhone from the head unit; sound cloud, pandora, DI radio, and spotify all let you pause, skip forward and back, and see meta data on the head unit. Some of the people with android have said that BT audio is unreliable or nonfunctional. As far as phone functions I was able to flawlessly download all my contacts, call history, and see everything I expected to see on the head unit.
Click to expand...

believe this guy. i own an android and not everything works, but the iphone is compatible out of the box with everything! it's is the easiest to use without having to figure out too many things. the iphone 5 should come out in a month or two also. you should definitely get that.
 
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