Samsung HS3000 Bluetooth Review (HTC Stereo Clip alternative)

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Product links:
http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Stereo.../dp/B0057WWK5E
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16875982446

High Resolution Image Gallery (Close up of buttons, and dimensions): http://imgur.com/a/b5HyR#0

In short, at half the price of the HTC Stereo Clip, I don't see why you would buy anything else. (A simple male to male adapter and it'll plug into your head unit just the same.)

Audio Quality: It's great! The new APT-X codec(?) is awesome. It would take a double blind hearing test for me to tell the difference between the Samsung and a wire. Can you tell? Maybe, but requiring a double blind test is good enough for me in my car.

Note: I have the bluetooth feeding directly into an amplifier that feeds my speakers. I no longer have a headunit.

For me, there are so many benefits of this unit vs the Stereo Clip.

• Less than half the cost ! ($30 vs $70 for HTC Clip)
• I can plug ANY set of headphones into the bluetooth and have "wireless" headphones
• Has a built in mic, so I can answer calls with it in the car or out
• Great battery life
• Comes with a nice pair of short corded ear buds that have decent sound isolation as well

A minor gripe: If you look at the photos, the buttons are really small with no tactile differentiation. I always have to look at it to figure out what side I'm going push. It would have been so easy to make one side have some tactile difference.

Nice review!!! I just received mine yesterday and I love it as well. Definitely worth 30 bucks. Agree with everything you posted!

Sent from my EVO using xda premium

Ordered mine earlier today! Looks like I made a good choice....now I got to go set up some new Tasker profiles

can you pair two devices to this thing (i.e. ELTE for me and 4S for my wife)?

I'm looking for an a2dp adapter to do a fixed install inside my car. Can I leave this hooked up to a usb power source constantly and hide the reciever in my armrest? Also is there any problem using these for a2dp only and using my car's built in hands free?

Originally Posted by donatom3

I'm looking for an a2dp adapter to do a fixed install inside my car. Can I leave this hooked up to a usb power source constantly and hide the reciever in my armrest? Also is there any problem using these for a2dp only and using my car's built in hands free?

I would be interested to know if it would automatically power on or stay on for a fix car install. If you just want a2dp fixed install, check out the isimple isfm21. It does hard wired fm modulation or rca line out and has an Android app to change fm frequency.

Originally Posted by Ph33zy

can you pair two devices to this thing (i.e. ELTE for me and 4S for my wife)?

I don't see why not. In fact, it supports two simultaneous connections as well (if the devices support it).

Originally Posted by donatom3

I'm looking for an a2dp adapter to do a fixed install inside my car. Can I leave this hooked up to a usb power source constantly and hide the reciever in my armrest?

Originally Posted by dmacias

I would be interested to know if it would automatically power on or stay on for a fix car install.

I have mine hooked up in a sort of fixed install. I have a USB and 3.5 mm cord running through my dash up to my sun visor where the Adapter sits, I was also going to do a totally fixed hidden install, but that would have hidden the built-in mic negating the hands free calling functionality. As long as your armrest isn't surrounded in metal (blocking the bluetooth signal), you should be fine. I briefly had it in my center console to test and it worked fine, then I realized, hey I won't be able to use the mic if I do that.

My USB is hooked up to a secondary cigarette socket I installed that is only live when the ignition is on. You definitely could leave it hooked up to a constant power source, but I don't know what that would do to the battery over time (the bluetooth battery and your car battery). I've decided to play it safe and not kill the battery. Having said that, if it's permanent, it shouldn't be an issue even if the bluetooth battery stops taking a charge. I've seen laptops that have dead batteries, but ppl are able to still use them plugged in.

It doesn't turn on and off automatically, so here it may be different from the StereoClip (I don't have a StereoClip so I don't know). It does work while hooked up to power so you could leave it on all the time as mentioned above. I turn mine off although I did forget one time and left it on, no biggie since it's connected to power. I'm going to set up a tasker profile to remind me to turn it off.

Also is there any problem using these for a2dp only and using my car's built in hands free?

I don't know. I do know that it supports a2dp, and it supports two simultaneous bluetooth connections if the devices support it to play music, but I'm not sure how that works with calls and whether or not it would try to play the music through your car's hands free system and whatever you have plugged.

I've never had a car built in hands free system so I don't know how that works. There's a small section in the manual about simultaneous bluetooth connections if you want to try and find the manual online.

Originally Posted by couragedragon

I don't see why not. In fact, it supports two simultaneous connections as well (if the devices support it).





I have mine hooked up in a sort of fixed install. I have a USB and 3.5 mm cord running through my dash up to my sun visor where the Adapter sits, I was also going to do a totally fixed hidden install, but that would have hidden the built-in mic negating the hands free calling functionality. As long as your armrest isn't surrounded in metal (blocking the bluetooth signal), you should be fine. I briefly had it in my center console to test and it worked fine, then I realized, hey I won't be able to use the mic if I do that.

My USB is hooked up to a secondary cigarette socket I installed that is only live when the ignition is on. You definitely could leave it hooked up to a constant power source, but I don't know what that would do to the battery over time (the bluetooth battery and your car battery). I've decided to play it safe and not kill the battery. Having said that, if it's permanent, it shouldn't be an issue even if the bluetooth battery stops taking a charge. I've seen laptops that have dead batteries, but ppl are able to still use them plugged in.

It doesn't turn on and off automatically, so here it may be different from the StereoClip (I don't have a StereoClip so I don't know). It does work while hooked up to power so you could leave it on all the time as mentioned above. I turn mine off although I did forget one time and left it on, no biggie since it's connected to power. I'm going to set up a tasker profile to remind me to turn it off.



I don't know. I do know that it supports a2dp, and it supports two simultaneous bluetooth connections if the devices support it to play music, but I'm not sure how that works with calls and whether or not it would try to play the music through your car's hands free system and whatever you have plugged.

I've never had a car built in hands free system so I don't know how that works. There's a small section in the manual about simultaneous bluetooth connections if you want to try and find the manual online.

Sweet man.. I just bought one based on your review. Do you think you can take a picture of your setup?

I purchased one too, along with a whole host of cables to do a permanent hidden installation.

My only fear is leaving it on all of the time, only charging when I am in the vehicle. Hopefully it has a "standby" mode to conserve power when the power switch is on but nothing is connected.

OP, I won't get mine until Tuesday, is there anyway you can test a permanent always-on installation like I'm talking about by seeing how yours does leaving the power switch on for a day or so?

The tech specs list a 130hour standby battery life. Should be more then enough when the car is not moving. my delema is that I cant find any decent Y adapters to split my one usb socket in my car into 2, But that is another story.