Simplicity, cost could make BlueAnt's hands-free Bluetooth speakerphone a great buy

I've looked at my share of Bluetooth-based hands-free speakerphones here on ZDNet's Testbed and if there's one thing they often lack, it's simplicity. Enter BlueAnt Wireless with its Supertooth Light Bluetooth-based hands-free speakerphone that can work in your car, or on your desk. Although I can't vouch for this part, the company also claims to have noise-cancelling technology that's so good that you can use its Bluetooth gear (including the Z9 headset that I covered from CES January) in a car with the windows down. Well, maybe. One of the problems that I've experienced with these wireless speakerphones is that their speakers simply aren't loud enough to hear in noisy conditions. I don't know how the Supertooth fairs on this point. I didn't get a chance to test it.

As you can see in the video above, the Supertooth's user interface (a green button for answering calls, red button for ending them, a separate volume rocker, and a retractable microphone that doubles as the on/off switch) is dirt simple. Another cool feature of the Supertooth Light is that it can paired with as many a five devices. So, let's say you keep the Supertooth Light in a car that's driven by more than one person, each with their own Bluetooth-enabled cell phone. There's no messy fussy unpairing and re-pairing that has to take place every time the Supertooth Light needs to switch between phones. The company claims the rechargeable battery offers 15 hours of talktime and 33 days of standby time (this makes me wish companies with rechargeable devices provided a third sample rating like 15 days of standby when used for 4 hours of talktime).

For an MSRP of $99, it comes with both a wall charger and a car charger (it uses a mini-USB port for charging) and, according to BlueAnt's senior vice president Peter George (interviewed in the video), it's available through major online retailers such as Amazon.com (where I found it for $72.06).