Scosche Solchat CBHSOL2

The Solchat (or CBHSOL2 to give it its full name) is a hands-free speaker for your mobile phone, connecting over Bluetooth.

It’s designed to be used in the car (it comes with a mount that attaches to the windscreen with sucker-cups) but can be used elsewhere too.

There is a micro-USB socket for charging (a mains adapter is supplied) but there’s also a solar panel on the device’s back, which will charge it fully in about 18 hours of sunshine. Using it was fairly easy – the supplied instructions are clear, and pairing the speaker with the phone was painless, not always the case with Bluetooth.

Sound quality was very impressive, and the speaker quite loud, and if your phone supports voice-dialling the device will too (otherwise dialling a number as normal on the phone will put the call through to the Solchat). Picking up incoming calls was simple too, and it can switch between calls simply. When a call comes in the Solchat will read out the number, but sadly not the name, even if it’s in the phone’s directory.

One annoyance was that the Solchat continued reading out the caller’s number after they had cut off, and in trying to stop it we ended up calling the last-dialled number.

Though the Solchat is more expensive than many car kits that do a similar job, the extra convenience makes it good value.

The Solchat is available from www.qfonic.com.