In the world of Bluetooth, most head-units are very costly and out of a lot of peoples ideal price range. The Panasonic CQ-RXBT490W is the bridge of the Bluetooth Head-Units in my opinion as it is a very affordable unit!
The sound quality of the Panasonic CQ-RXBT490W is pretty good considering it only has a 3-Band equalizer (Bass, Mid, Treble). Only having a 3-Band equalizer or EQ-3 as some people put it can make adjusting your EQ relativity easy, on the other hand this also makes your sound options limited which can be an issue for some people but definitely not everyone.
The Bluetooth hands-free that is built in was surprisingly good, with the ability to sync your contacts onto the head-unit which made calling people a breeze. Also the external microphone made it easy for the person receiving the phone call to hear you talking and the on-screen caller ID is an excellent feature just in case you receive a call you don’t really want to answer.
The Bluetooth Streaming was a little confusing at first as you have to select Bluetooth via the source-button, then press the 4 (iPod) button to change it from the Bluetooth hands-free to the Bluetooth Streaming. Once I got my head around this it was very easy to use and to be honest if I had just read the manual I wouldn’t of ran into that issue in the first place. The sound quality of the Bluetooth Streaming was excellent though and the head-unit was very responsive.
The LCD Display on the Panasonic CQ-RXBT490W is very basic but also very functional at the same time, allowing the user to select between 7 LCD backing colours.
Features:
General
1 Din size
Front USB, AUX-IN
WMA / MP3 Playback
Variable LCD colour + Amber button colour
-There are 7 LCD colours that can be chosen
iPod 2 Way control (ipod mode, ipod control)
-When connecting iPod / iPhone, can select control by Audio or control by iPod
Flip-Down, Detachable Face Panel with Alarm
USB Command Music Search
Audio
50w x 4 Power Output
3-Band EQ / Bass Treble
2 Pre-out (5V)
Rear / Sub Switchable
Overall this is a very affordable Bluetooth Head-unit with more than enough features, easy to use and with two 5v Pre-outs helps give that little bit more grunt out of your amplifier! The USB flap is sturdy and folds away into the face-plate to avoid damage, plays Bluetooth/USB music flawlessly and also comes with an external microphone for the Bluetooth Hands-free.
This Head-unit is very bang for buck!