It's nice that Car Thing comes with three different types of mounts. Unfortunately, there are more things to nitpick about Car Thing than there are to praise. Adding more complexity, if you use a newer phone without a headphone jack for that aux cable, then you'll need an adapter, too.īasically, connecting Car Thing to an old car could be a nightmare and connecting it to a new one may be pointless. If your car is so old enough it doesn't have Bluetooth, then you'll need to connect your phone to Car Thing with an auxiliary cable. It's connected to your phone via Bluetooth and becomes the interface for the Spotify app in the car. Remember when I said it was a glorified music controller? I meant it. There's also no speaker on the unit itself. What it doesn't have is an internet connection. It has four microphones to listen for voice commands. Car Thing has a 4-inch diagonal touchscreen. TYLER HAYESīefore we get into how Car Thing works, let's start with the basics. The time and date aren't even shown on the screen. What Is Spotify's Car Thing?Ĭar Things is just a Spotify interface. Ideal consumer: Dedicated Spotify subscriber with a vehicle that's 10 to 12 years old.īuy at Spotify. Needs constant power and to be plugged into a 12-volt outlet.Still needs your phone for internet connection.Multiple ways to use it: voice, buttons and touchscreen.But this is its redeeming quality: It has easy song navigation, especially for recent and heavily listened to music.ĭespite not needing it in my vehicle, I tried out Car Thing to see if I could get a grasp on what it's good at, and who might benefit from it.
I found myself asking repeatedly, Why does Car Thing exist? Spotify's marketing answer centers around letting your phone do phone things while presumably this new device handles music things.Ĭar Thing does feature a touchscreen, buttons and knob as well as voice controls. It needs to connect to a phone that has a data connection and Spotify's app installed to work.Ĭar Thing is a glorified music controller. Even more perplexing is that Car Thing doesn't even stream audio itself. So in 2021, going into 2022, it's a bit of a head-scratcher as to why Spotify's first piece of hardware, Car Thing, exists.
The need to buy a dedicated, third-party device to stream music in your car is fading fast-if it isn't completely gone already.
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