On first glance, the Jabra Cruiser looks a bit like a computer mouse. It’s shiny, smooth and black with an inner chrome ring to add a touch of bling and three clickable buttons on the top (for play, fast forward and rewind).

Flip the device over and it looks not unlike a giant paper clip. In fact, we were a bit worried we were going to break the wire the first time we tried to mount the Cruiser in our car.

Other controls are minimalist in design, with a volume rocker to one side and an on/off switch and FM button to the other.

There are also indicators at the top for battery level and signal above the multimedia controls that light up when you need to take notice of them. You also press the black area of this section when you want to take a call while at the wheel.

It’s certainly light (weighing in at 84g) and its form factor (60x17x127mm) makes it highly portable and durable too just so long as you’re not too heavy handed and mindful of its paper clip-like rear.

Set up is a doddle and there’s a little voice inside the device that guides you through the process.

This is where the paper clip comes into play as you just attach the Cruiser to your car’s sun visor then grab yourself a phone with Bluetooth and sync the two up. You’ll need to type in 0000 on your phone for this bit.

During our tests, when a call was received the slightly robotic voice only announced the caller’s number rather than their name, which would have been handier as we don’t know everyone’s number off by heart.

Bearing in mind you’re at the mercy of two tiny blink-and-you’ll-miss-them microphones at the top of the Cruiser, sound quality for calls was average to good with little background interference. That said when interference did occur it was borderline ear bleeding, so thankfully this only happened once during our review period. Music streaming quality also faired quite well, although it’s probably not quite the ticket for longer journeys.

If you’re feeling adventurous, you can use the FM transmitter to make calls too although you might get nearby truckers or taxi drivers listening in.
Charging the Cruiser is easy and Jabra reckons you get 14 hours of talk time and up to 13 days of standby for your troubles, which is more than enough juice for the average user and then some.

Bluetooth handfree kits for the car have been around for some time now, so stand out from the crowd a new one has to do something interesting. So it’s an immediate score for new brand NitroX’s X835, thanks to an eye catching angular futuristic styling and pleasingly compact dimensions.

But it’s not just about the looks - it also has a couple of neat tricks up its sleeves, to make it worthy of attention.

The top of the X835 consists of three sections – a mono speakerphone at the top, an angled OLED screen in the middle and a bottom section, which is actually the main call accept button. This large button makes it easy to accept or cancel calls - you just reach out and stab your finger.

The 15 hours of battery life from the device is impressive considering its size too, and thoughtfully you can charge it in the car as an adaptor is supplied. A mini USB port sits at the front of the handsfree for charging and a cable is supplied for charging, as is an in-car adaptor, though there’s no wall charger.

A clip is supplied for attaching to a sun visor in the car, but this can be removed so you can lay it flay on the table to simply use as a desk speaker phone.

The look of the X835 is kept clean by having all the other buttons at the sides – a simple power on/off slider on the right, a volume up and down on the left and a hold button that's temporarily defeats the main buttons.

This is to let you move X835 without accidentally making a call, so you don't have to turn it on and off and re-pair each time. Also, ingeniously, it will detect the vibrations when you start your car engine, and initialise itself to pair with your phone.

Initial pairing on our test handset, an iPhone, was straighforward. The X386 got itself ready for connection as soon as it was turned on and by entering the default 0000 pairing was done and dusted in a matter of seconds.

The real highlight of the X835 is the bright clear OLED screen which vividly displays text and icons. Once paired, you can see the three bar battery charge indicator, volume, Bluetooth, and a lock sign for the hold button.

When an incoming call is received the X835 trills loudly and clearly and the screen displays the caller ID from the phone as a scrolling name, so if you're phone is out of sight, you can still see whose calling.

The best party trick though is that there's an on-board accelerometer that detects which way up the X835 is so that text is always displayed the right way up, whether you have it flat on the desk or attached to the sun visor.

All this gimmickry would be nought if sound quality wasn't up to much, but pleasingly our voice was always received loud and clear and volume from the speaker was sufficient when driving, and without distortion – the echo cancellation and the dual-mic seem to be doing their job.

The only challenge was that when attached to a sun visor it hard to tell which way to press the volume control buttons, so it’s best to set it and then forget it.

If you prefer an external Bluetooth handsfree device rather than an in-ear device, or want something that can double as a speakerphone then this is as good as it gets.

Sometimes the best ideas are not original. Sometimes they simply take two seemingly disparate technologies and slap them together. When it's done well you want to scream: "Why didn't I think of that?" which is exactly the reaction we had to the curiously named 'Avantalk Sunday Pro'.

What the Sunday Pro does differently, compared to a regular speakerphone, is it fits a large panel of solar cells on its back. Now for the really neat part- leave it in daylight for just two hours (it doesn't have to be bright sun) and you’ll have enough energy for one hour of talk time. Furthermore, a full charge can last a whole 13 hours. Get your charging schedule right and you can throw away your wires forever.

So the practicality is good, but what about the actual performance? Happily this measures up too. The Sunday Pro isn't the loudest speakerphone you can buy, but it is clear and conversations are fluid thanks to Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR, some quite effective noise cancelling and support for full duplex. Also pleasing is its voice dialling recognition and multi-point connection, which allows the Sunday Pro to pair with two handsets simultaneously.

Operating it is extremely straightforward too, using just four buttons: volume up and down, mute and the large 'Multi-Function Button', or 'MFB' as Avantalk refers to it. The MFB certainly lives up to its name too, with a 3-second hold switching the Sunday Pro on and off, a 5-second hold triggering the pairing sequence, a quick press answering and ending calls and a long hold sending incoming calls to voicemail. Meanwhile, a double tap of the MFB redials the last number. Child's play.

So are there are downsides? Yes, a couple. Firstly, build quality isn't brilliant. The Sunday Pro's materials feel cheap and the buttons are clunky, though it is by no means fragile. Secondly, while there is nowhere else for the solar cells to go other than on the back it does mean the device spends a lot of time left upside down, and this way round it has no grip to any surface. To counter this somewhat, the Sunday Pro ships with a cigarette charger and handy suction case, which allows it to be stuck to a car window giving you the best of both worlds.

The final coup de grace is the price. At £39.99 the Avantalk Sunday Pro isn't pocket change, but for a device that successfully doubles as a handsfree speakerphone and Bluetooth car kit it represents excellent value.

A Bluetooth headset or a handsfree car kit is a necessity nowadays if you want to make phone calls while driving, and the LG HFB-500 looks to be a simple but cost-effective means to that particular end. It allows you to lawfully make and receive phone calls on the move, with the added benefit of solar charging.

The device itself is very small and minimalist in design (around the size of your average mobile phone), with one single button on the front and volume buttons to the left and right. It comes with a clear plastic case adorned with suction pads, allowing it to be stuck to your windscreen.

This case is important in a couple of ways. Firstly it allows you to remove the speaker while parked, so that thieves don't spot it, but more importantly it allows the driver to charge the device using solar rays hitting the windscreen while the car is moving. It also gives you the freedom to place the HBF-500 in an optimum position for listening and speaking.

You can charge it using the cigarette lighter, but testing showed that the sun from an everyday glum English day was perfectly adequate to keep the HFB-500 charged for use.

Pairing the device with a mobile phone caused no problems (you can connect to two devices), but the sounds that came from the speaker sounded slightly robotic and metallic- but perfectly acceptable when it came to listening to people during an average drive. However, there was a bit of background noise, but nothing that seriously affected how intelligible peoples' voices were.

Using presses of the main button, you can switch between various modes, such as voice dialling and redial. You can activate the mute option using the volume keys on the side.

The voice dialling feature was useful, but a little hit and miss. It recognised the names of some contacts perfectly well, but wouldn't connect to others, no matter how we pronounced their names. Although this isn’t a deal breaker, it was nevertheless an annoyance.

If you’re looking for cheap Bluetooth handsfree car kit that doesn't lumber you with the chore of charging, this is a very good option. It's nice to look at and very effective at the job it needs to do.

Want to use your mobile while in the car, but don't want to risk a ticket or wear a goofy looking headset? The Jabra 2900 drive 'n' talk Bluetooth handsfree kit is like a speakerphone for your car.

It's a big clunky piece of plastic, but don't worry – it clips up neatly the car's visor to keep it out of the way. At the bottom of the Jabra are the microphone and speaker, while at the top is a big round button to answer or end calls. It's pretty easy to find and push with just a glance off the road, but those with a less robust visor might find theirs moving about.

The big main button can also be used to access voice mail, activate voice dialling, redial the last number called, mute and reject calls – you'll just need to learn the various taps, long taps and double taps for each situation.

The best feature of the Jabra SP200 is the smooth sliding volume control dial at the top of the device's rounded head. It takes little effort to adjust the volume to perfect pitch, while still letting you keep one hand on the wheel and your eyes on the road.

Because the Jabra SP200 can so easily be removed from the visor, it can be brought with you out of the car, or slid somewhere unnoticable, for security. As the manufacturer notes, it works rather well as a general speakerphone; if you need a handsfree device when in the office or elsewhere, the Jabra SP200 works just as well for that, and can be propped up on its clip on any flat surface.

But you won't need to bring it in the house to charge it. The Jabra SP200 offers 10 hours of talk time on a single charge, and promises three weeks on standby. On top of that, it comes with an in-car charging kit, so if it starts to fade on the go, you won't be forced to revert to your handset.

Sound quality is for the most part crisp and clear, although there's a bit of background fuzz when the volume is really cranked up. Listeners will hear you loud and clear, as the Jabra SP200 has noise reduction to cut through the sounds of the road.

For first time users, it's simple to set up. The Jabra SP200 automatically goes into Bluetooth pairing mode as soon as it's turned on, so any fiddly bits will be on the side of your mobile device.

Easy to use, good call quality and it doesn't look half-bad on the kitchen counter – for the roughly £30 to £40 asking price, it's not a bad deal. Much cheaper than the traffic ticket alternative...