Reviews for Belkin TuneBase Direct with Handsfree for iPhone

This was a Christmas present from my 3 children however I was at the store when it was purchased. Wanting a hands free unit for my iPhone and having just purchased a Subaru Impreza 2008, I wasn't sure what to buy but the sales person said it was the best on the market. Yesterday I installed the Tunebase with no dramas and had a number of 'test' incoming and outgoing calls. There was no echo as reported elsewhere, I followed the instructions regarding volume, the stand didn't move around, the sound was great and overall I am delighted with the product. I am able to listen to my downloaded audiobook with no drama and I'm looking forward to my long drive tomorrow to try it out full on.

... the unit performs poorly as a handsfree. Very bad microphone. The charger works excellent though!

Junk junk junk. It spins around in the cigarette lighter. The sliding bracket for the iPhone gets permanently stuck real easy. Idea is good. Too bad implementation is so flawed.

I read reviews here before I bought this Belkin and I ignored one of the reviews saying it did not stay in position while driving. After few days of use, it became loose and eventually knocks to the left or right while driving not to mention during turning. I had to use a masking tape to hold but not recommended. I'll never buy this product again if I need to.

There is too much static that comes out of the sound. It simply ruins the quality of the music. Why can't they make the signal stronger? No one can hear the speakerphone so it is a useless feature. Screen went blank as well. An overall poor quality product. Don't waste your money.

Every time I talk to somebody using my tunebase the person on the other end asks me what's wrong with my phone. I tried calling someone who was sitting in my car talking on the tunebase and noticed a really annoying echoing of my own voice, combined with fairly average sound quality of their voice. Belkin's solution to the echo is to turn the phone volume up to full, and the car stereo volume down, thus making it impossible to hear the call.
In addition to this, the arm from the 12V plug to the cradle is far too long, resulting in a lot of play/movement in the phone while driving, which is incredibly annoying/distracting.
Overall, I wouldn't recommend this product to anybody. Save your money and put it towards a decent bluetooth handsfree system

To everyone that is complaining about it flopping around when you turn corners, you should check to see if it is actually the 12v socket that is moving.

I have used this in 2 different cars (2007 Subaru Impreza & 2010 Nissan Rogue). It barely moved in the Impreza, but my Rogue's outlet isn't secured as well and the whole socket actually rotates about 15-20 degrees when I turn. The service guys at the dealership said that they can't do anything about it, although I might try superglue!

I really like the product otherwise, but all the movement has worn out the rubber ring on the tip which is supposed to stop it from moving, so it's getting worse and worse now.

Really interesting design, but I think it needs a secondary means to support it because not all 12v outlets are created equal.

I bought this Belkin TuneBase for my new iphone 3GS, just as a cradle to hold the phone, as I didn't need the rest. Have the microsoft sync in my car, which does every thing else I need. It falls over every time I turn my car, even with the additional adaptor for the cigarette lighter. IT DOES NOT WORK. The plastic holder is very poorly made. My husband has had to adjust it for me so many times. It is just not stable. Fortunately, I'm able to mount my iphone with the cover on, so I have not scratched my iphone, but the cover is already badly scratched, with having to adjust it all the time. I would not recommend it to anyone!

I've had this for 6 months and only came on this site to see if the iphone 4 was compatible and was amazed at all the negative reviews.

I think the one reviewer said it best that it depends on the vehicle - I have a Pontiac G6 and have successfully used it for 6 months. This is the TuneBase Direct (the FM transmitter one is a different product so I can't comment on the transmitting part).

I listen to Podcasts and the iPod all the time on my 30 minute commute, I don't even charge the phone at home anymore since I plug the phone into the Tunebase and it charges during the commute. I find the cradle works well and you don't have to adjust it, changing to landscape is a breeze. Plugging the headphone jack in each time is no more bothersome than inserting headphones so I have no issue with it.

I use a bluetooth headset for calls since I don't want the distraction of reaching over to touch the TuneBase (I also buy stereo controls on the steering wheel in all my cars). The iphone mutes the ipod when a call comes in so it works great.

For all those that complained about the unit turning, I experienced the same when I just pushed the unit in, but if you use the additional ring and take the time to see which 'finger' is needed on the ring you get a really nice tight fit -- and mine never moves now (Pontiac G6)

The only reason I didn't give it five stars is:
1) The cheap jack cable, they could have spent a few more pennies on a little heavier duty. I replaced mine about 3 months in just because it felt cheap - didn't notice any difference in sound quality though.
2) The aux out and extra USB port is on the bottom, you need a 90 degree cable to make these work in my car -- Tunebase came with the aux out (see comment above) and I found a good USB cable that works to provide power to my other devices in the car.

Glad to see the iphone 4 is compatible, at least the website states. Once I get the new iPhone I'll confirm - but I'm not standing in line so it may be a few weeks.

I needed something that would both charge my iPhone while driving and plug directly into my car audio system. I wanted to avoid having to buy two separate products but this may have been a mistake.

My car has built-in bluetooth phone integration so I didn't need the phone interface but you can't switch it off, which is a pity on a device with this cost. As a result my iPhone got so confused that it froze completely and had to be restored, leaving me on a long trip with no phone or music. You could, I suppose, switch off the sync between the car and the iPhone, but this defeats the purpose of a very superior feature on the car!

The charger function is also very slow, so that my iPhone wasn't charged up even after three hours, which was disappointing.

Designwise, it's very neat and the iPhone's protective cover doesn't need to be removed when you put it in the holder, but the plug itself has a plastic flange around it, presumably designed to stop movement in the socket as you got over bumps but I could see this breaking or weakening very quickly after repeated unplugging. (I don't want to keep the device plugged in permanently as this is inviting an opportunist break in.)

So, to sum up, the product is potentially great, but it would have been nice to have had a warning not to use with a car enabled with bluetooth phone integration.