- Pros
Good sound quality. Effective voice recognition. Reads SMS and e-mail messages aloud (with companion smartphone apps). Easy to use.
- Cons
Text-to-speech only works with Android and BlackBerry phones. A few bugs.
- Bottom Line
The BlueAnt S4 is an excellent-sounding, voice-enabled, hands-free speakerphone that's a must buy for anyone sick of wearing a Bluetooth headset in the car.
Everyone with a car needs a hands-free device these days—for convenience, for safety, and (in some states) for complying with the law. The voice-controlled BlueAnt S4 is the company's best speakerphone we've tested so far. With a compatible Android or BlackBerry phone, the S4 will read aloud caller names, and (in some cases) SMS and e-mail messages. It's a great buy for anyone who wants to drive and talk more comfortably, and who doesn't already have a car with built-in Bluetooth.
Design, Setup, and Voice Commands
The S4 is about the size of a touch screen smartphone. It measures 4.9 by 2.4 by 0.6 inches (HWD). It's made entirely of plastic, though the contrasting textures, tapered edges, and charcoal grey accents look stylish. The package comes with two metal visor clips of differing sizes, plus a car charger, a very short USB cable, and a user manual. For this review, I tested the BlueAnt S4 with an Android 2.1-powered LG Ally ($99.99-396.99, 
) on Verizon Wireless.
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The front edge features three touch controls: two for the volume and a multi-function button in the center. A green LED lets you know the unit is listening for voice commands, while a flashing blue LED signifies the current status. The S4's bottom panel features two industrial-strength magnets, which grab onto the metal visor clip with a loud "thunk." The resulting marriage would probably survive an earthquake.
The idea behind the S4 is to use it in the car without ever having to touch your cell phone. You activate the S4 by saying "BlueAnt Speak to Me." At that point, the S4 wakes up and waits for your voice command. From there, you can make calls by saying "Phone Commands," at which point the system transfers to whatever Bluetooth-enabled voice dialing system your phone has. (In the case of the LG Ally, that means none.)
The S4 transfers and stores up to 2,000 contacts from a paired cell phone. This lets the device read out the names of incoming callers, if they're one of the stored contacts. The first time you pair the S4 with a phone, the S4 will attempt to transfer its address book. At any point after that, you can say Update Contacts to synchronize the two devices. You can handle incoming calls by saying "Answer" or "Ignore." Saying the phrase "What Can I Say" cues up a tutorial, just like with BlueAnt's earlier Q1 ($129.95, 
) and V1 ($129.95, ) headsets.
Voice Quality and Text-to-Speech
The S4 sounds excellent. In a series of tests, voices were loud, full, and clear. Callers had no problem understanding me; in fact, one thought I was talking directly into the handset, even though I was driving at about 40 miles per hour. Another caller could tell I sounded a bit further away than usual, though. In a back-to-back test with my own car's built-in Bluetooth, which uses the car stereo, callers actually thought I sounded better with the S4. Voices sounded a little clearer and fuller through the car stereo speakers than through the S4—as well they should, since they're much larger and have a separate amp.
Saying "BlueAnt Speak To Me" all the time became annoying, though. Chalk up a serious victory for BlueAnt's marketing department, which gets S4 owners to say the company name repeatedly, and sometimes in front of other passengers. That said, the device always understood me, and responded to all of my commands quickly.
Things get more interesting if you have an Android or Blackberry smartphone. BlueAnt markets two free apps called BlueAnt S4 (Android) and Vlingo SafeReader (BlackBerry), both of which read incoming SMS messages out loud; the BlackBerry app also reads incoming e-mail. The Android app requires a phone running Android 2.0 or newer. Sadly, the text-to-speech function didn't work with our LG Ally, even though it is running Android 2.1; rebooting and reinstalling the app didn't help, either. BlueAnt representatives told us that it's because our LG Ally isn't running a standard version of Android, but that's not a great answer, since few Android devices run a completely stock version of the OS.
Bing-411, Other Features, and Conclusions
The S4 supports A2DP streaming. That's not novel in and of itself, since plenty of devices let you stream music and podcasts. But the S4 will also hook into cell phone GPS apps via AD2P streaming in order to amplify the voice prompts, which is a nice touch. The S4 also hooks into Microsoft's BING-411 service, for delivering voice-enabled stock quotes, movie times, weather information, sports scores, news, and traffic updates. This was a little clumsy in practice; often I found myself saying "News" once to the S4, only to have to say it again to Bing-411 once it connected. It also took a pretty long time, including numerous voice commands, to navigate to what information I wanted.
Other details: the S4 charges in about four hours, and it lasts for up to 20 hours of talk time on a single charge. With about a month of standby time, you can leave it powered up in the car; each time you get in the driver's seat, the unit pairs automatically with your phone. Should a firmware update ever become necessary, you can do so online. The Android app checks automatically for S4 firmware updates, but it can't install them; you'll need a PC or Mac for that.
There are other, less expensive hands-free speakerphones on the market. Many newer model cars offer hands-free Bluetooth that works with the in-car stereo. But the S4's voice-recognition and text-to-speech capabilities put it in a class of one, at least on the standalone hands-free speaker side. As long as you don't mind that passengers hear your conversation with you, the S4 is more comfortable and more enjoyable to use than having to wear a Bluetooth headset. If I didn't already have Bluetooth in my car, I'd buy one for myself.
