Amazingly, the phone communication works better than any of the 4 speakerphones I've had in the past year. People can finally talk to me in the car. On other units my transmission was awful! My phone is an HTC One (M7), and they are notorious for not working well with most Bluetooth devices.
Apparently, the i Sport model has a non-up-gradable base stereo, so no infotainment for me. It seems that there a currently no aftermarket stereos as well.
So where are the oddities?
1. Have to crank up the volume on the music if I even want to hear it. I keep the volume on the phone @75%, but when it plays to the Mazda, well I have to crank the stereo up from 22-26 to 35 before I can hear the volume. I don't have to do this on my Bluetooth headphones. Also, no love for the android music player and road travel so if you have a suggestion for a better app for travel I'd like to know. I have not tried the AUX jack as of yet.
2. Never receive my turn by turn directions form Google maps. Also, alerts for messages are never received. However, if I'm on a phone call, all these sounds are received. I really miss having my emails and txt message read out to me.
3. Does anyone have a solution for a location to put your phone? Seems they really want you to lock it in the center console box. Honestly, I don't even really see a place to put a standalone GPS unit. The one spot I'd place it is used by the radio, the other is right in front of the cd player and that is a bit too low for me.
I'm seriously considering getting a tablet for this car and devising a holder to place it on top of the radio, then using Bluetooth for phone calls and aux for all other audio. Devising a holder may well be easier than it sounds.
Apparently, the i Sport model has a non-up-gradable base stereo, so no infotainment for me. It seems that there a currently no aftermarket stereos as well.
So where are the oddities?
1. Have to crank up the volume on the music if I even want to hear it. I keep the volume on the phone @75%, but when it plays to the Mazda, well I have to crank the stereo up from 22-26 to 35 before I can hear the volume. I don't have to do this on my Bluetooth headphones. Also, no love for the android music player and road travel so if you have a suggestion for a better app for travel I'd like to know. I have not tried the AUX jack as of yet.
2. Never receive my turn by turn directions form Google maps. Also, alerts for messages are never received. However, if I'm on a phone call, all these sounds are received. I really miss having my emails and txt message read out to me.
3. Does anyone have a solution for a location to put your phone? Seems they really want you to lock it in the center console box. Honestly, I don't even really see a place to put a standalone GPS unit. The one spot I'd place it is used by the radio, the other is right in front of the cd player and that is a bit too low for me.
I'm seriously considering getting a tablet for this car and devising a holder to place it on top of the radio, then using Bluetooth for phone calls and aux for all other audio. Devising a holder may well be easier than it sounds.