A good car charger is another must have. My aforementioned Duracell charger, which I picked up for about $15 in Marshalls, has served me faithfully for well over a year but I have been favorably impressed with my new Incipio dual port USB car charger. With two USB ports you can charge twice as many devices from a single 12V car receptacle, great if you want to charge multiple devices, or if there are others in your vehicle who also need to plug in. The Incipio charger comes in two versions, with or without an attached cable, and is certified to work with both iPhone and iPad, a handy feature since Apple has started cracking down on the use of non-Apple accessories.
If your car doesn’t come with built-in Bluetooth capabilities, a good Bluetooth is a must. I had a trusty Motorola on-ear unit for several years and it worked perfectly well, but the Jabra Freeway Bluetooth Speakerphone that my wonderful husband bought for me last Chanukah was definitely a step up. With voice-activated calling and answering, 14 hours of talk time and up to 40 hours of standby before it needs recharging, this sun visor-mounted device does a nice job handling my in-car calls and saves me from having to hook an annoying little device on my ear.
Finally, while most of the ads I saw for Native Union’s retro Pop Phones, a corded receiver that attaches to your cell phone, showed people carrying the bulky device in their bags, I use mine frequently when taking calls at my desk. As cell phones have gotten thinner, it has become increasingly difficult to balance a cell phone between your ear and shoulder so that both your hands are free and the bulkier Pop Phone works wonderfully, allowing me to type as I talk and, more importantly, prevents me from accidentally disconnecting calls with my face, something that has happened on several occasions. While the Pop Phone receiver is actually a little longer than the standard phone receiver, placing the mouthpiece just a hair too far away from my mouth, I can usually compensate for the longer length by putting the receiver a little further from my ear, getting both my ear and my mouth in almost the right place. A little complicated, but it works!
As always, when it comes to electronics, you get what you pay for. If you find an item with no-name brand, or priced way lower than average, think twice before you buy it. Chances are good that these items might just let you down at the worst possible moment, making them a bad investment, no matter how inexpensive they may be.