Seat Portable System help please.

[a900ss]

My company car has just gone back so I have taken over my wife's 2014 Ibiza ST Ecomotive.

I really need hands free phone calls and would like to be able to stream Bluetooth audio from my iPhone. I'm therefore considering buying a Seat Portable System.

Lots of questions so if you can help, i'd appreciate it.

What is the quality of phone calls like?
Do you see track name/artwork when streaming from phone?
Do the steering wheel audio controls allow fast forward/rewind of track as well as volume control?
What's the navigation system like (I'm used to a TomTom)?
Any idea on the costs of map updates?

Thanks in advance.

 

[a900ss]

I've also been told that they 'pair' themselves to the car when you fit them.

Is that the same for secondhand Portable Systems?

Thanks.

 

[Fletch]

Hi,

For my system...

I find the phone call quality to be very good, clearly understand people and the other people havent had any problems hearing me.
For my phone (OnePlus 2) when streaming audio i cant see the track name/album art, the radio part just says Portable, and the portable system just has the device name for bluetooth.
Im not too sure if you can fast forward/rewind using the steering wheel. You can go to the next/previous song and you can use the volume.
I've only used the sat nav a few times but so far its good, i like if you listening to music it quiets it down when it tells you the directions. (i havent used any other system so cant give any in depth opinion!)
Garmin at first glance wanted £70-80 for 1-2 years of updates, there was a booklet in the box which gave you a discount to £20 i think. But a quick google search 'might' tell you how to download the up to date (quarterly) maps for free ;-)

Cant answer the second post im afraid.

For the music part tho instead of using the bluetooth, ive brought a SD card (cheap £2.50 from eBay) and use that to play the music, that shows the tracks/album art, can easily move between albums/songs and still use the steering wheel controls.

 

[Fr2013]

I have an iPhone 6 and find the calls nice and clear (been on both Vodafone and 3)
The track names show (artist and track title) for me but unfortunately no album art when streaming through Bluetooth. That's using Spotify 100% of the time, I don't use Apple Music, nor do I have any music stored on my iPhone.
Yes the steering wheel controls work for both going backwards and forwards between tracks and also for turning the volume up and down. The iPhone always acts as the 'master' for volume. I just stick the volume up to max on my iPhone and do all the controlling via the car volume.
To be honest I find the navigation pretty decent. Its got lane guidance too so you know which lane to be in on the motorway or slip road etc. I've not used TomTom for years and years so couldn't comment on the differences.
No idea on the cost of the map updates. Mine are still on 2013 maps from when the car was purchased.

They do pair to the car once fitted but once they are factory wiped, I believe you have to pair them again so for instance, If I were to sell mine to you, I'd factory wipe it and then when plugged in to your car, it would then pair itself to it. I think it's so that I can only be used in one car at a time. Don't take my answer as gospel on this one though!

Radio stations also show logos on the screen along with RDS info (track currently playing etc) if the station supports it.

As stated above I also have a micro SD card installed with loads of tracks on. These work on a folder by folder basis and also display album art if you have it in the folder.
I have had to fully turn mine off/on again sometimes as it doesn't like to connect to the phone and play music sometimes, sometimes is can freeze too, but this is quite infrequent. Just make sure it's on the latest software version using the 'Garmin Fresh' application on the PC.

 

[a900ss]

Thanks both.

 

[a900ss]

Other than the change from Navigon to Garmin, has there been any other hardware changes over the years or is it just software updates.

Just trying to establish if I should buy secondhand or new.

 

[a900ss]

Sorry, one more question....

Can you select your phone playlists (I use Apple Music) via the Portable System or do you need to select that on the phone?

 

[Fr2013]

Any playlist selection has to be done via your phone if you're streaming with Bluetooth.

Choice between Navigon and Garmin... Go Garmin 100%. It's the newer hardware of the two. As for hardware revisions of the Garmin unit, I wouldn't know, sorry.

 

[a900ss]

Thanks