There's 3 main ways to connect your favourite audio to your car dash, so you can enjoy music and audiobooks and even phone calls - but which is best in 2025?
While most of these wireless audio connections revolve around Bluetooth, you'd be wrong to think this makes them identical in use and performance!
From the humble car Bluetooth plug adapter to the fanciest of integrated stereos, how is the way the technology is implemented any different?
Get to grips with the 3 main options you have for wireless car audio in 2025, and maybe even reassess the effectiveness of the classic FM transmitter for cars, vans and trucks.
Adapters? Why Not Use Integrated Connectivity?
It's 2025, and everything comes with proprietary systems and networks and connections. Your home speaker links to your lights which links to your phone which links to your family group who can "seamlessly" interact with the whole shebang.
Except, "smart homes" are more often than not overly restrictive, requiring certain accounts, certain brands of technology, and even certain releases of that technology to not be "Outdated"!
It's a similar story with integrated audio for cars.
As soon as you complicate your connection with a branded app, integrated wi-fi identification checks and more, you are adding layers of separation between you and your music.
With usage tied to having a registered account, and setup requiring a pin (Not to mention a proprietary app) audio connection becomes far from "seamless". Guests and the all-important Front Seat DJ will have an almost impossible time getting their phones connected.
Bluetooth Car Adapter with FM Sync
From one end of the spectrum to the other now: FM Bluetooth adapters!
Bluetooth is one thing, but why is FM getting involved? Isn't that how we get radio stations?
Well, FM (Frequency Modulation) is a way that we can access specific radio stations across the nation, but there are all sorts of other frequencies in the range that could be used for our own communication too.
These "empty" frequencies provide a great vessel for wireless connectivity, perfectly suited to car stereos which come as standard with an inbuilt FM tuner.
Since your car already has an FM radio built in, the idea is a car FM transmitter utilises that technology to provide wireless audio passthrough without any apps or accounts needed.
It works like this:
- You plug in the adapter and it draws power from the dash.
- You pair your Bluetooth device with the adapter.
- You set the FM Frequency on the adapter to an "empty" frequency.
- You set the FM frequency on your car stereo to match.
- Audio is passed wirelessly from your phone to the adapter, then from the adapter direct to your car stereo output!
By creating your own private radio station you guarantee that all your cars speakers will be used and the audio will be the same quality as you are used to hearing via radio.
Another way in which these adapters utilise current tech, saving you time and money, is by connecting through the "cigarette port" in your dash. A somewhat outdated term now, but the port itself has endured not for cigarettes but for Sat Navs, FM adapters and the like.
To top it all off, integrated microphones means these adapters can take phone calls hands-free, keeping you safer on the road.
Audio Cable Bluetooth Adapters
Finally, the 3rd way you can get your hands on wireless car audio is another type of Bluetooth adapter, but one that doesn't use FM.
This wired portion of the circuit can help reduce bottlenecking if you have sufficiently powerful Bluetooth, but does of course require a cable. For users wanting true wireless communication, this might be a dealbreaker. You can't slot the adapter into the dash itself like an integrated or cigarette adapter, so you need to trail the cable across the cockpit to a suitable ledge to pop the adapter unit itself.
Like the FM transmitter version, these adapters at least don't need apps and logins to work, they are plug-and-play all the way. This all sounds comparable to the FM version, so what's the catch?
The thing is, audio cable versions will need recharging. They aren't connected to the car dash power port like the FM version and they aren't integrated either, so they're just sitting in the cockpit losing charge while in use.
You can get 8+ hours of working time out of them, but if you forget to charge up the adapter once or twice you could find your audio suddenly cuts out mid-drive! Not ideal, and so the FM transmitter version remains more reliable in that sense.
Bluetooth FM Transmitters - The Best of Both
Looking over the range of integrated and adapted options for Bluetooth in the car, it's clear that an FM transmitter provides the most reliable solution. You don't need any audio cables, you don't need any power cables, and you don't need any proprietary apps and accounts.
Integrated Bluetooth car stereos often need apps and accounts, while AUX cable adapters require both audio cables and power cables (or frequent removal from the vehicle to recharge). Not to mention, audio cable versions seldom have a built in microphone like the FM variants do!
FM solutions are a balance of the two approaches, providing a permanent solution that doesn't need recharging, while also providing your own Bluetooth connection to use as you see fit.
Drive where you want, with the music you want, and even take calls hands-free, it's a win-win-win!
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