I had such high hope for the Spotify Car Thing. I drive and 2013 Jeep Compass and my hopes were the Spotify Car thing would help me have an updated experience in my car and it did to a point but not as much as I wanted to let me explain.
To start with my car is older and dated as far as the dashboard tech so I thought this would be perfect I listen to Spotify a lot in the car for music and while I use Pocketcast for podcasts I could always use Spotify in the car for convenience with this device.
Setup
When I got the Spotify Car Thing the setup was very easy just scan a bar code pretty much and everything is connected but the issue came again in the form of my car tech limitations since I have an older Bluetooth setup my phone kept disconnecting so I needed to use the aux cable to connect my phone to the car. While this is not a breaking point for me this is kind of what I was trying to avoid.
I like the mounting kit I mounted mine using the cd player mount since I never use the cd player anymore. They have two other mounts vent mount and a dash mount.
Usage
I can see the appeal of this device your phone just sits on the seat or in the cupholder. The device comes with programmable presets like any other radio did your presets are playlists which I think is a cool take on presets for an on-demand service. I like the scroll nob that lets you scroll through playlists, songs, and podcasts or adjust the volume.
When a phone call comes in on the phone you can see who is calling on the Spotify Car Thing display. The issue is on my car since I am using the car aux port, I have to disconnect the phone to talk I think if I could get the Bluetooth working this would be better. Limitation of my car tech is not the device but still a pain.
Price
This device works with both Spotify Free and Premium but comes with a price tag of $89.99. I do think the device is great but in the end, it’s remote to control Spotify on your phone. To be honest I have an Apple watch and I think it’s kind of redundant. I think if you are someone like my wife who listens to Spotify a lot and does not have a wearable this might be the right device for you in the car. I just want to make sure everyone understands you must have a car with Bluetooth or an Aux port to make this device work.
Conclusion
I think Spotify Car Thing feels a need that many have they want to drive and not look at their phone this device fills that space with a great device. For people like my wife, this is the perfect device that fills a need. I think the price point is a little high if Spotify should drop the price we will know the Spotify Car Thing was priced too high.