Antec Smartbean Bluetooth Receiver Review

Peter Donnell / 10 years ago

Final Thoughts

Price

The price makes the Smartbean an absolute bargain, with many retailers listing the Smartbean for under £20. Right now, it’s only £16.90 on Amazon with Prime shipping available; incredible value for money. There are similar devices for around the same price, but I don’t recognize any of the brand names, whereas Antec are a well-established brand.

Overview

The Smartbean is a great little device for improving your device connectivity. It doesn’t matter if you’re at home, in the car or in the office, there’s no doubt something you can use this for. My car doesn’t support Bluetooth, but it does has a spare USB port and 3.5mm line-in, so it’s the perfect place for the Smartbean and it means I can have hands free calls, clear Sat Nav audio and listen to music streamed over 4G on Spotify while I’m on the go!

It’s a really nicely designed accessory too, being small enough to keep in your pocket or bag without any concerns. Build quality is great too, it’s a small, durable plastic device and I doubt you would break it without throwing it with force into something fairly hard; which I obviously don’t recommend for any device.

The included USB cable and 3.5mm jack are really good too, giving you everything you need to connect and charge the device. Of course, it’s just a standard 3.5mm cable and MicroUSB cable, so you could always swap them out for longer cables of your own to suit your personal needs.

The battery life is excellent, although admittedly 5+ hours doesn’t sound a lot, but for something this small and affordable, it’s very good indeed.

Pros