If your car doesn’t have Bluetooth built in to connect to your cell phone, I’ve found the next best thing.

The Moshi BTHF205T Bluetooth Handsfree Car Kit is an easy way to make and receive calls on the road, while keeping your hands on the wheel where they belong. I’ve been driving around with this in my car and it’s impressive, with just a few limitations.

First-time pairing for the Bluetooth connection to your phone is simple and future connections are automatic.

Moshi will take commands after you say “hello Moshi” or push one of the few buttons on the device. When receiving a call, Moshi will announce the number from caller ID. Then, you can say “accept” to answer the call or “ignore” to send it to voicemail. Say “redial” and Moshi will call the last outgoing number. Or, if you miss a call, saying “call back” dials the last incoming call.

Moshi will also call up to seven of the speed dial numbers in your phone. Say “call information” and it will dial Microsoft Bing’s 411 handsfree information service.

If your phone itself supports voice dialing, like mine, Moshi can then tap into your entire address book. Saying “phone command” will activate the voice dialing on compatible phones. A very nice feature, indeed.

Voice commands can also be used to check the connection to the phone and the battery level on the phone and the Moshi. The BTHF205T is rated at six hours of talk time and 40 hours standby time. The kit includes a car power adapter and charging cord.

The Moshi is small, easily fitting in the palm of my hand. A clip slides on to the car’s sun visor and Moshi attaches securely with two magnets.

As I mentioned, there are a few limitations. Moshi’s vocabulary is not that large. For example, it’s not possible to say a phone number and have it dial (unless it’s through your phone’s voice command setup).

Voice quality is very good. I’d rate the received audio as excellent and plenty loud for most driving situations. Some of the people I called thought it sounded slightly fuzzy, but still perfectly understandable, even from the passenger’s side and back seat of the car. I listened to a call myself and agree on the slightly fuzzy description, but that’s probably due more to the audio limitations of Bluetooth rather than the device itself.

Also, it would not dial the first speed-dial number on my phone, but worked correctly for other favorites. That apparently relates to the first speed-dial number being pre-programmed on the phone to call voicemail, so I just put that number in a different favorite and in my contact listing so I could use the voice dialing.

There’s one other improvement I’d suggest—using a standard, mini-USB charging port instead of the proprietary plug on the Moshi.

This handsfree setup makes a perfect pair with the Wilson Sleek cell-phone booster that’s also in my car and reviewed here. Besides being able to successfully make calls in areas where your phone might otherwise show no signal, it also provides a handy mount for the phone when using the Moshi.

The price is reasonable—$79.99 retail from Moshi’s online store or Amazon. Moshi also makes a voice-command alarm clock that I reviewed earlier.

The Moshi Voice Control Bluetooth Car Speakerphone is an excellent alternative to a wireless headset if you find that in-ear solutions get uncomfortable after a few hours—or if you don’t want to look like a cyborg.

Some states and municipalities now require handsfree adapters when using a cell phone in your car. And the fewer distractions a driver has, the safer the journey.

Moshi Bluetooth Car Speakerphone with Voice Control at Buy.com