A little less than a year after that “for a select few” debut Spotify Car Thing is available on a large scalethat is, for all those who want to buy it in the United States. For us, in short, there will still be a wait, and despite the lack of official indications regarding marketing in Europe, our being one of the main markets for the music streaming platform availability is unlikely to remain confined to the US.
It will take some time, but on the nose we would say that the chances of seeing Spotify Car Thing in our area are not lacking. Car Thing is the curious and certainly original name that the Swedish giant has attributed to a car accessory, in fact a kind of remote control which acts as a link between the smartphone and the car entertainment system. In other words, the goal of Car Thing is not to replace either one: it is a very small tablet with just 4-inch touch display and a flashy rotor that promises to simplify content management on the platform to reduce distractions behind the wheel.
Also present four physical buttons on the upper back (what a rarity, today, the physical buttons!), which can be configured to quickly reach your favorite artists, playlists, stations and podcasts, and on the contrary, the possibility to keep hands and eyes on the wheel and street delegating everything to the voiceissuing a command preceded by Hey Spotify. It weighs less than 100 grams and can be attached to the air conditioning vents, the slot of the CD player of the car radio or on the dashboard with the suction cup. It is compatible with Android 8.0+ and iOS 14+ smartphones, it must be powered via USB (in the package there is the power supply for the cigarette lighter), the connection to the phone is via Bluetooth and to the car via Aux or BT.
Car Thing by Spotify it does not seem an essential accessory on today’s carsequipped for the most part with large screens on the dashboard and even on the dashboard, but as the age of the car grows, its usefulness grows at the same pace: for example, imagine a car with about ten years on its identity card, with an “old-fashioned” car radio, perhaps even with a monochromatic display on a single line. This is probably Car Thing’s reference clientele.
In the USA until yesterday Car Thing was available for free for a very limited selection of Spotify Premium customers, who only had to pay the shipping costs to have one in test. Standard shipping is now included and the accessory is on sale for everyone at a higher price than the one anticipated a year ago: 89 instead of the promised $ 80, probably due of the semiconductor crisis which spiked the cost of components. We remain vigilant for any communications regarding availability in Europe.
