Gadgetory

Bluetooth is now a standard feature in almost every modern car but with older models that's not always the case here are the three best ways to add bluetooth to any car short of buying a brand new head unit the easiest and most common way to add bluetooth to a vehicle's radio is by using a Bluetooth receiver pair your phone to the Bluetooth receiver and any audio you stream from your phone will be sent to the receiver which then plugs into the 3.5 millimeter input jack or the auxiliary in in your vehicle this is typically found around the center controls or sometimes inside the center console switch the audio source on the radio to aux in and you should hear your music because every car is different bluetooth receivers come in a few different configurations sambar 12-volt or USB powered and others are battery operated if you have an auxilary import that's near the 12 volt socket or USB port it's best to go with the former if not the cords may not reach and you'll need a 3.5 millimeter extension cord or a battery operated Bluetooth receiver which you will also need to keep charged if your car or radio doesn't have an auxilary input you'll be better off with an FM transmitter effectively the FM transmitters of today are also bluetooth receivers but instead of sending the audio to the stereo through an auxiliary cable it broadcasts it over an open FM radio frequency you then tune your stereos FM tuner to the correct frequency and you should hear the music being streamed from your phone a big boon for the FM transmitter is the lack of wires but depending on which one you buy you might also suffer the occasional audio dropout or static if you don't mind not being able to stream your music through your car's stereo and you just want to make hands-free calls you can opt for a dedicated Bluetooth speakerphone however in a lot of cases these are more expensive than the other two options they clip to the Sun Visor above the driver and pair to your phone like any other Bluetooth speaker when you answer a call both the audio and microphone input are handled by the visor mounted speakerphone for more tips and tricks and other how to's be sure to check out cnet.com forward slash how-to