Roav Bolt with iOS 10.3.3 on iPhone SE (Review)

#21

I had recorded a video for Bolt when I was testing the bolt, saw similar delays of more than 4-5 seconds, will check if I have the video still with me. Had planned to write a review, then decided not.

1 Like
#22

After updating the Bolt to version 0.5.16, call routing issue has resolved and it is working as expected :grinning:

4 Likes
#23

The more I use Bolt the more I miss the media buttons on it.
@AnkerTechnical we need media buttons on Bolt. That will make it an unbeatable product.

#24

I picked up the ROAV Bolt on a recent trip to the US as it’s not currently available in the UK. My experience has been slightly tarnished by the fact that iOS support is very limited and buggy; not quite what I thought would constitute ‘beta’.

Pros:

  • No ground loop noise
  • iPhone automatically connects every time I get in the car without the need to do anything (my old Anker car dongle required you to push a button every time)
  • Call quality is a lot better than my old Anker kit, and the volume is correct - before calls would be much quieter than music playing

Cons:

  • It’s very difficult to tell when something fails because there’s no cellular reception, as opposed to Assistant not understanding. By which I mean, if there’s no data connection it fails silently. Coupled with the delay in responding (2-3 seconds) I have to pray it’s doing something every time I talk to it!
  • Google assistant can transcribe a text message, and read it back to me but sending fails every time and I have no clue why
  • Music playback works fine from my iPhone’s internal storage but not from Spotify (which is a known limitation)
  • The Google assistant app on iOS can search Spotify and display the result, which you have to tap on, but ROAV Bolt does nothing
  • Google Assistant cannot play podcasts from internal storage, nor from the web it seems
  • Similarly it refuses to play radio stations “You cannot do this on this device”
  • I can trigger Google Maps directions, but they don’t come up on the screen even if I unlock it - instead I get notifications on the home screen which I can then tap on
  • Despite the more sophisticated mic setup, it is sometimes hit and miss on a motorway whether ROAV Bolt will hear correctly what I’m saying. Mostly anything that requires multiple responses (e.g. a game) is fairly hopeless

In summary, it does a better job than my previous Anker bluetooth kit for my car but fails miserably on many of the things I hoped it would do. Fingers crossed it can improve.

1 Like
#26

Thank you for an honest review!!

#27

Some further thoughts:

  • The text messaging doesn’t work because Google Assistant itself only pastes transcribed text into a message window, it won’t send it (you have to press the button). So if you check the Assistant app after transcribing a message, you can press a button which pushes the text to a message window, but otherwise you won’t see it.
  • The Bolt is less functional than using the Google Assistant app with Siri Shortcuts; e.g. using Siri shortcuts I can request navigation to a place, and Google Maps will appear and the navigation will start.
2 Likes
#28

Nice review and pics

#29

@robertcurtis it would be great if you can create a separate post in Product review for Roav and add your details there, this will add credit and do justice to your well thought written review

1 Like
#30

Yeah, my bolt has a bunch of problems too. Makes me sad :sob:

#31

Great review! I had issues setting up the Roav Bolt with iOS 12.3.1 on a MINI Cooper. It took over 30 minutes. I was finally able to get it set up and it works, but not as seamlessly as I was hoping. I will try it on another vehicle and hope it works better. The MINI can be finicky with Bluetooth’s.