Switch to a modern-day car phone

The day when the stereo systems of all new cars come with USB ports for instant iPhone connectivity isn’t far off. In the meantime, lots of late-model vehicles–and aftermarket car stereos–have auxiliary jacks but still lack the built-in hands-free Bluetooth systems that connect your car speakers to your phone.

Griffin’s latest cable lets you go hands-free without Bluetooth.

If that’s how you roll, all you need to get rocking and talking from the driver’s seat is Griffin’s Hands-Free Mic + Aux Cable. This heavy-duty three-foot cable has a 1/8-inch stereo mini jack at one end, which plugs into your phone’s headset jack, and a small but powerful microphone at the other end–along with a plug for your car’s aux input. You can set the phone on the center console or passenger seat while you drive, taking and placing calls virtually hands-free, piping callers’ voices and your iPhone music through the car’s speakers. A function button on the cable about six inches from the mic end lets you start or stop calls, click over to another call, and control music playback.

Audio quality was excellent in our tests, and callers didn’t have a problem hearing us as we drove and talked hands-free. Using the iPhone 3GS’s built-in voice commands also worked without a hitch. The only downside to connecting via auxiliary rather than the iPhone’s Dock connector is that your phone can’t charge. And without a mount or other place to stash your phone, things can get a bit cumbersome. But for owners of a dash mount, the Hands-Free Mic makes an excellent add-on.