Plantronics K100 Bluetooth Speakerphone

30.03.2011
Thanks to its friendly design and consistent audio quality, the Plantronics K100 is one of the best we've used, in spite of our few complaints. The K100 ($80 as of March 8, 2011) is easy to use, and produces generally clear and effective audio.

The K100 attaches easily to a car visor with the sturdy but bulky preaffixed metal clip. The unit did not budge during my jaunts in the car, and removing it from the visor required just a quick tug.

Once I got the lay of the land--the only controls you need all sit in a row--I found the K100 a cinch to use when driving. For starters, all the buttons are large. With my eyes on the road, I could easily locate the power/call button, which sits in the very middle of the row. So when I wanted to dial by voice ("Call Tim office," say), I simply held down this main button with my thumb for about 2 seconds to initiate my phone's voice-command feature. Or I could do a quick double-tap to redial the last outgoing number. The main button is surrounded by a ridged volume wheel, and the mute button and FM-transmitter control are on either side of the main button.

The buttons delivered an excellent response when I pressed them; I liked not having to press them very hard to get such well-defined tactile feedback. Even though the clickety-clack sounds are loud, it didn't bother my passengers or me.

On the volume wheel, in contrast, I needed to do quite a bit of thumbing to make the adjustments I wanted.

Voices coming through the K100 sounded clear. At the other end, according to my callers, I sounded a tad muffled overall, but folks could hear what I was talking about; generally my words did not break up, nor did listeners complain about static. Only a handful of words here and there sounded stuttered. In fact, one caller commented that--unlike other models in this particular product category--the K100 didn't sound too speakerphone-like.