news

Ute comparison: Which ute has the best Bluetooth?

In such a competitive segment, there can be a lot to take in when purchasing your next ute.


As a result, Bluetooth user-friendliness and quality often gets overlooked, but generally, it is one of the most used features for drivers - especially tradies - as a lot of business calls are conducted while on the move.

So, we have tested Bluetooth in eight utes that featured in our recent ute mega test.

With a stopwatch on hand, we assessed the process of adding a phone for the first time once the ute was started, how quickly it took to reconnect on startup, importing contacts, and the audio quality as heard from inside the ute and from the phone.

Read the results below, or listen to the audio segments.


Pairing a device wasn’t exactly easy to do, and device pairing took over 60 seconds.

Phone contact transfer took some time, and phone reconnecting once the car was started up again took 30 seconds.

Audio quality from the Triton was okay, with the engine idling heard clearly in the background, and the phone audio was clear and precise.

Apple CarPlay and Android Auto is included.


Toyota Link startup takes 10-seconds before the menu is ready to use.

Pairing a device was easy, but took its time at 58 seconds, and another 34 seconds for the phonebook to import. You can make your first call 25 seconds after starting the car.

The ute's audio quality isn’t super clear and in the audio we recorded, a couple of words were missed.

Meanwhile, the audio heard from the phone was loud and sounded a little distorted.

Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are not available.


Navigating around to pair the phone was relatively easy, taking 28-seconds from startup.

It gives you a progress reading of how many contacts are being transferred, and after a slow start, all 377 contacts were imported in 25 seconds.

Starting up the ute, the system illuminates the Phone icon a few seconds behind the rest and reconnects the phone in 40 seconds.

As heard through the D-Max, the audio is muffled and isn’t much of an improvement from the phone either.

Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are not available.


 

Startup of the infotainment system takes some time, but Bluetooth was discoverable straight away on the device. A few buttons were pressed and after 19 seconds from startup, the phone connected.

Transferring contacts took 12 seconds, taking just 31 seconds all up for both tasks. Reconnecting the phone after each ignition startup is relatively instant, taking less than four seconds.

Audio quality heard through the Amarok speakers are clear, with a thrum of the engine heard in the background.

The sound heard from the phone is even clearer, with a nice balance of treble and bass.

Apple CarPlay and Android Auto is standard, along with Mirrorlink.


Ford’s SYNC 3 infotainment system took some time to fire up.

The device pairing was very simple, but was slow at 60 seconds, adding another 24 seconds to import the phonebook.

All this was done while the SYNC 3 lady was talking instructions to you, and wouldn’t stop even though you were way ahead of her.

Reconnection of the phone took a lengthy 27 seconds, however, the audio quality was astounding, with the sound from the ute being crisp and the phone’s audio almost sounding like the person was there.

Apple CarPlay and Android Auto come standard.


On startup, MyLink boots up straight away, as does the ute being discoverable on the phone.

Connecting for the first time was impressive too, with the timer stopping at 13 seconds. By the time the Phone icon was pressed, contacts were already imported, and reconnecting to the ute took seven seconds.

Like the Amarok, we could hear the engine idling from the audio as heard inside the Colorado, and from the phone, it is as clear as you can get.

Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are standard.


A recent update to the BT-50 saw the addition of the Alpine infotainment unit, doing away with Mazda’s MZD Connect.

This system searches for your phone, as opposed to the phone searching for the car. It took over 60 seconds for us to find 'Add Device', which ended up being through a magnifying glass icon.

Another 30 seconds on top of that and pairing was complete. Phonebook importing took five seconds - which was an improvement, however, reconnecting the phone is done manually and takes over 60 seconds.

Quality of the call heard from the BT-50 sounds a tad hollow, with the phone audio much clearer.

Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are not available.


 

Nissan’s infotainment system is ready to use straight after the ute is started, which is a good start.

Pairing a device is easy to do and can be achieved in 21 seconds, with another 22 seconds to import the phonebook.

It took a speedy eight seconds to reconnect once the ute fires up.

However, the audio heard from the Navara’s speakers were just as muffled as the D-Max, and the phone’s audio resembled the sound of slow internet streaming.

Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are not available.


If Bluetooth is important to you, we hope this has helped if you're in the market for a ute.

We were very impressed with the pairing and transfer speed of the Colorado, meanwhile, the Amarok and Navara are one of the easiest to use.

However, we were disappointed with the user-friendliness of the BT-50, and the slow connection process of the Ranger, although the latter was the best sounding.

MORE:Mitsubishi Showroom
MORE:Mitsubishi News
MORE:Mitsubishi Reviews
MORE:Mitsubishi Triton Showroom
MORE:Mitsubishi Triton News
MORE:Mitsubishi Triton Reviews
MORE:Search Used Mitsubishi Triton Cars for Sale
MORE:Search Used Mitsubishi Cars for Sale
MORE:Mitsubishi Showroom
MORE:Mitsubishi News
MORE:Mitsubishi Reviews
MORE:Mitsubishi Triton Showroom
MORE:Mitsubishi Triton News
MORE:Mitsubishi Triton Reviews
MORE:Search Used Mitsubishi Triton Cars for Sale
MORE:Search Used Mitsubishi Cars for Sale
Chat with us!







Chat with Agent