The VISOR Bluetooth Speakerphone is the latest product from the Korea-based Seecode Company.  With its rechargeable battery, compact size, LCD display, built-in dialing, and excellent speaker and microphone performance, it is a great accessory for your mobile phone, both in and out of the car.

The Visor is comprised of silver and black plastic with the black portion having a semi-rubber feel.  The basic features are:

Wide LCD display for Caller ID, Paring and Call Status, Battery and Communication Status.
Voice or Button dialing from the Visor
Detachable Sun-visor clip
Bluetooth 1.1 compliant
Headset and Hands-free profiles
Operating range up to 10 meters
Talk time up to 6.5 hours
Operating time up to 240 hours
Weight – 148g
Size – 5.5” x 3” x 1.25” without clip
Battery – Li-Ion 3.6V / 950mAh
Noise suppression up to 18dB
Echo cancellation >52dB

The Visor features a microphone built into the upper, black edge.  This can be tilted forward for clearer sound.  The microphone has good performance and quality.  Callers can hear you clearly in almost any condition, quiet or noisy.  Even on a noisy road, callers reported no problems hearing me clearly.  The sound output is excellent.  Although the volume of the speaker does not have the range and cannot be set as high as the Seecode SEEFreeKIT (the Visor is portable using a rechargeable battery while the SEEFreeKIT is not portable and must be plugged into the cigarette lighter jack) it does have a good range for most situations.  The Up / Down volume control on the right side can adjust the volume level on your phone, but I found the tilting-dial control to be difficult to use while driving.  A very light touch is needed and I had to hold the Visor in order to use the volume control effectively.  There is also an optional audio output jack next to the power jack on the left side of the Visor.

Bluetooth pairing is activated turning the Visor on or holding down the # key for 2 seconds.  The Visor is Bluetooth 1.1 compliant with a standard 10 Meter range.  Answering and ending calls are accomplished using the appropriate buttons while the LCD report the status of the Visor as well as displaying number and caller ID information.  Voice dialing and commands are possible with certain phones, but the available features will vary depending on the model phone.  Check the Seecode web site for a list of compatible phones and features.  Not all Bluetooth phones may be compatible with the Visor.

The end call button is also used for power on/off while the * button can be used to mute the Visor.  Call dialing is accomplished using the built-in number buttons on the Visor.  This is a great feature for dialing without having to fumble with your phone while driving.  However, the odd configuration of the buttons does take come getting used to and is a little difficult to use while driving and without looking at the buttons.

The Visor comes complete with an instruction manual, AC Adapter, battery, and an upgrade cable.  The upgrade cable plugs into a jack below the volume control.  This could be a really nice feature in the future.  For now, the manual has little information on this feature and there is no upgrade software included or on the web site.  The upgrade cable has a connector that seems to indicate that it uses a parallel port for communications with a PC.  It is unfortunately that the upgrade does not use a USB port since this would be easier to configure and use, plus some computers and most laptops no longer include a parallel port. 

With its circuits for background noise suppression, echo cancellation. Full duplex, digital volume control, and support for Headset and Hands-free profiles, the Visor offers excellent performance and audio quality.  It can even support pairing with up to 3 different Bluetooth devices.  With the capabilities of wireless Bluetooth, ease of use, rechargeable power, and excellent speaker / microphone performance, the Visor is a good choice for hands-free mobile phone use in the car, home, or office.

Pros
Easy to use
Simple to install
Microphone and speaker performance

Cons
Tilting Dial Volume Control
Odd number button configuration
Parallel port firmware upgrade cable

Reviewed by Harvey Lee, Senior Technology Editor