Parrot Asteroid head unit tested

August 2011

Price: £299.99
Contact: 0844 4722360, www.parrot.com/uk

Get your own personal DJ in your car. The new Parrot Asteroid head unit provides voice control over digital music. Plus, as you’d expect from the hands-free expert, phone calls relayed through it are among the best quality we’ve ever experienced from an in-car stereo.

The voice-activated search works best when your iPod is plugged in. Simply click the speech button and say the name of an artist; the unit will find them, an album or a song. This means you don’t have to take your eyes off the road to scroll down the list manually.

A large dial to the left of the screen makes navigating through the menus simple, and a range of apps is about to be launched – including maps and Internet radio.

But we couldn’t tether to our smartphone's data connection to access these; you’ll need a 3G dongle plugged into one of the many rear USB ports. We’d expect digital radio for the £300 price, too, although the maker reckons Internet stations are the way forward.