The Supertooth Light is a visor-mounted hands free option for drivers who prefer a speakerphone to a headset. Will it make you want to toss your headset?
Review summary of the BlueAnt Supertooth Light:
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 The BlueAnt Supertooth Light gets it right in many ways, most importantly in sound quality. We don't have extensive Bluetooth speakerphone experience, but the Supertooth Light sounded as good as talking directly into our cell phone, which is the best we could expect from the device. Battery life was very good, and BlueAnt offers a few convenient charging options. We wouldn't mind attaching the device permanently to its clip, as the magnets caused us occasional problems, but the design never got in the way of our conversations, so we don't consider this a big deal. For $100, we definitely prefer this option to a high-end Bluetooth headset, which we would only use while driving anyway. Release: March 2007. Price: $100.
Pros: Excellent sound quality. Convenient charging options. Intuitive controls.
Cons: Boxy design. Magnets may not be the best solution to secure the device.
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Full BlueAnt Supertooth Light Review:
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Design - Good
The BlueAnt Supertooth Light is a simple box with a retractable microphone arm. It isn't very attractive, but the buttons are big and rubbery, so the device is easy to use while driving. Depress the microphone and it pops out, and this action also turns on the device. To attach the Supertooth, you clip a piece of metal to your visor, and the device sticks to the clip thanks to two strong magnets on its back. In practice, the magnets were enough to keep the device secure even while driving over potholes in lower Manhattan, but if we were overzealous about pushing in the microphone, the lateral force would cause the Supertooth to fall to the floor. Still, it was never a problem during calls, and it never happened while pushing the "talk" or "end" buttons.
For feedback, the Supertooth uses simple LED lights, which were easy to see at a glance. The device charges over USB, which is a nice touch, and comes packaged with a car charger as well as an AC adapter. While charging in the car, the magnets are strong enough to hold the unit in place, resisting the pull of the coiled car charger cord. Still, having a cord stretched from the visor isn't the most attractive option. We can't knock BlueAnt for this, though, since the company does provide multiple charging options. And, the Supertooth was able to hold a charge for about four days worth of conversation while commuting an hour each way into New York City.
Sound - Excellent
We were pleasantly surprised at the sound quality of the Supertooth Light. The device not only sounded better than most Bluetooth headsets we've used, it sounded at least as good, if not better than our Treo 700p. Callers agreed that we did not sound like we were using a speakerphone, let alone a hands-free device, and listening to messages we recorded, we have to agree. With the windows down, we obviously had some noise issues, but no more than if we were talking directly into our cell phones. The speaker on the device is quite loud, and in a closed car we found ourselves turning the volume way down, though even at its loudest the speaker didn't distort voices. We've never been a huge fan of speakerphones nor Bluetooth headsets before, but the Supertooth Light could change our minds about both.
Calling - Very good
Pairing the Supertooth Light with our phones was easy, even with multiple phones at once. The Supertooth can pair with up to five devices, though we only paired a couple at one time. The Supertooth was also adept at reconnecting to our devices when we turned it off, then on again. When we opened the microphone, it found our Treo quickly and took control of the sound during a call, which was convenient when we passed the watchful eye of a New York City traffic cop. The device supports voice dialing activation, redialing and call rejection, all of which we were able to use without once consulting the manual. This is a nice change from devices which require a Morse code-like series of long and short button depressions.
Odds and ends
One test we didn't try, but would have liked to, was a comparison between the Supertooth and an internally installed Bluetooth car kit. We wondered if the quality was similar, and if we could recommend the Supertooth over a more expensive installation job, though we couldn't imagine being happier with the sound quality of the device. Also, while charging the device using our laptop's USB port, we made a nearly-fatal error. In the morning, when we grabbed the device to take it on the road, we noticed it stuck strongly to our Powerbook's case, and only then remembered the very strong magnets on the back. Luckily, we had left it resting over our optical drive, but leaving magnets atop your hard disk drive could lead to disaster. We'll chalk this up more to our own carelessness than design flaw, but we offer the caveat nonetheless.
Price and availability
The BlueAnt Supertooth Light is available now for $100.
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