Review: Scosche Bluelife Bluetooth Wireless Home or Portable Stereo Kit

[Editors’ Note: On November 1, 2006, iLounge published The 2007 iPod Buyers’ Guide, with more than 30 brand new, capsule-sized product reviews – only for products we considered to be amongst the very best we’ve seen throughout the year. The short review below is excerpted from the Guide, which you can download here.]

The single most impressive thing that Scosche has done with BlueLife – a series of $200-250 Bluetooth 1.2 audio kits – is to deliver a complete vision for a wireless iPod future: the $200 Headphone Kit competes with FreePulse and the naviPlay Stereo Headset Kit, while separate $250 In-Home and In-Car Kits turn home stereos and many car stereos into wireless Bluetooth receivers. Hook up everything and your iPod can go wirelessly from portable to in-home to in-car use. But pricing, comfort of the headphones, size of the iPod pack, and BT1.2 are issues – a BlueLife 2.0 could be huge.

(From our earlier First Look: As another iteration of Scosche’s Bluelife Bluetooth 1.2 audio system, the iPod Transmitter and Receiver Kit (also known as the Bluetooth Home or Portable Stereo Kit) contains all the pieces you’ll need to transmit audio wirelessly from an iPod to a wall-powered stereo system. Full-sized iPod, mini, and nano cradles (some better than others) attach the battery-powered transmitter to your iPod, while the receiver unit attaches with included cabling to your stereo. Wall power adapters for both units are included, as well as stereo audio cables. Scosche also sells receivers separately for $130, if you already have a transmitter from one of their other systems.)