I would appreciate some swift advice as I want to place an order soon. 

 

Does Superb III L&K have the same bluetooth connectivity as Superb II Elegance does, without the £250 bluetooth+ with phonebox option?

 

If someone in the know could confirm I'd be grateful.

 

Around the same time as the car might arrive I have the option to ditch Vodafone, so I'm expecting more than a 20% increase in signal strength anyway, but that's a different issue :-)

 

 

A second area where I'm looking for advice - does the heated windscreen tend to impact phone signal?

Yes all the trim levels (in the UK at least) have bluetooth, not sure about the heated screen effecting signal, but I never had an issue in my MKII or the Yeti which both have OE heated windscreens

Great - thanks for the info...

You might want to be wary.

The heated screen uses a microns thick layer of metal sandwiched between two layers of glass across the entire windscreen and this does impede the radio signal, more so than the wired screen.

For the telephone signal I guess it's the difference between trying to look through railings or a wall.

 

An early review on Evo mentions this (page 2)...  http://www.evo.co.uk/skoda/superb/15933/2015-skoda-superb-review-specs-sale-date-and-price/page/0/1

Quote:-

A nifty feature in the Superb is its optional wireless heated windscreen. It’s made up of an extremely thin layer of metal sandwiched between the windscreen’s two layers of glass, and unlike wired systems, is completely invisible. The tech was first developed for fighter jets, and comes as standard on range-topping Laurin and Klement Superbs. These models also come as standard with a phone signal booster – the metal in the heated windscreen can hamper signal strength.

 

This review was 6th May and one thing I've discovered is that many reviewers have been supplied with over-specified cars and reviewers seem to think that what's in the car comes as standard. Therefore I'd take the "come as standard with a phone signal booster" with a pinch of salt as there's no mention anywhere else of this being "standard", otherwise why would they offer the Phone Box as an option?

 

The spiel in the Superb III brochure, under the heading Infotainment, says...

 

Bluetooth®+ with Phone box provides a safe place to store your phone whilst driving, and also amplifies your phone signal for better quality hands-free calls.

 

and in the optional extras section...

 

Bluetooth®+ with Phone box By placing a mobile phone in the tray in front of the gearshift lever the strength of phone signal can be improved by up to 20%. This provides better sound quality during phone calls and helps to improve phone battery life.

 

My understanding is that the "Phone box" is connected to an external aerial.

Yes, it's an expensive option at £250, but one I decided to go for because of the screen issue.

 

Seems for every positive there's always a negative hiding somewhere.

 

Other than that, Bluetooth connecting your phone appears to be even easier than before, if the video reviews are anything to go by - and no, the Phone box is not a prerequisite to enable the bluetooth pairing between your devices.

This may help a little more :-

 

PhoneBox

​The PhoneBox is a mobile phone storage compartment in the centre console. The highlight is a planar antenna in the bottom of the compartment, facilitating an “inductive exterior antenna connection”. The PhoneBox can make and receive mobile calls even when the signal is weak.

 

and

 

Phone box

The car's body blocks phone signals, and thus hinders phone use in locations with a weak signal. The Phone Box phone compartment is located in front of the gearshift, and wirelessly "brings" a boosted signal from the roof antenna to the phone, resulting in up to 20% signal improvement. This improves not only call quality, but also reduces the phone's battery drain.

The telephone is connected to car systems either wirelessly via Bluetooth or via USB cable.

Thats interesting info about the heated windscreen BillyJim 

Well, I have the heated windscreen in my Octy 3 and in the I had Mondeo before.

None of those have had any noticeable impact on cell reception. And that is in the deep fjords and Mountains of Norway were the reception can be spotty at best.

Well, I have the heated windscreen in my Octy 3 and in the I had Mondeo before.

None of those have had any noticeable impact on cell reception. And that is in the deep fjords and Mountains of Norway were the reception can be spotty at best.

 

Are those screens the type that have very fine wires embedded in the glass, or the newer type that uses a very thin film of metal across the whole screen ?

 

My understanding is that the original, fine wires type (which I'm pretty sure you'll have had on your Mondeo, maybe the Octy as well) don't cause much of a problem, but the newer metal film type have more of an effect on phone signal.

Are those screens the type that have very fine wires embedded in the glass, or the newer type that uses a very thin film of metal across the whole screen ?

My understanding is that the original, fine wires type (which I'm pretty sure you'll have had on your Mondeo, maybe the Octy as well) don't cause much of a problem, but the newer metal film type have more of an effect on phone signal.

Good question.

The Mondeo had the thin wires zigzaging up the windscreen.

The ones on the Octy is less visible, but I honestly dont know if its the new kind.