The penalty for using your phone whilst driving is enormous. In the UK, if you’re caught using a hand-held phone while driving or riding, you get 3 penalty points on your licence and a fine of £100.
Beyond the penalty points and the price to pay, you can put both your life and that of others in danger. According to Think! drivers using a hands-free or handheld mobile phone are slower at recognising and reacting to hazards. Even careful drivers can be distracted by a call or text – and a split-second lapse in concentration could result in a crash.
Logitech ZeroTouch is a smart car phone holder accompanied by a voice-command app that allows you to use your phone whilst driving, without taking your eyes off the road. Although it still takes some of your attention in terms of thinking about what you want, it’s still better and safer than using your phone handheld.
Depending on which mount you opt for (you can get a vent mount or a dash mount, both with a magnetic attachment to your device), the installation process would vary – for this review, we used the dash mount.
Installation is so simple, you actually don’t need to read the manual. The essential part is that you attach the magnetic metal plate to your smartphone either directly or on your phone case, attach the main holder to your dash and you’re good to go.
Logitech ZeroTouch is easy to install
For you to actually see something happening, you have to install the ZeroTouch app from the Google Play store for free and follow the instructions for getting it all connected. Once you go through the guided installation process, you just need to snap your phone to the phone holder to trigger ZeroTouch.
ZeroTouch will require various permissions for the likes of using maps, NFC, and access to other apps it works with like Spotify then it runs in the background – before you ask, it doesn’t drain your phone battery.
Logitech’s ZeroTouch is designed to replace the dangerous look down and touch driver behaviour to a look up and talk action so that you always have your eyes on the road and drive with less distractions, you simply wave or high-five your phone and using the built-in proximity sensor, it gets activated, ready to take your voice commands.
What can you do with the ZeroTouch?
Using voice commands, you can send text messages by speaking, control your music via native music player or Spotify, voice navigation, share your location with friends and family, hands-free calling and even reply to messages.
For navigation, ZeroTouch is compatible with Google Maps and Waze. To reply to messages, you can use Facebook messenger, WhatsApp and Google Hangouts. Besides Spotify, you can also control Pandora, Google Play Music and Soundcloud without touching your phone.
Verdict – Should you buy it?
The Logitech (Logi) ZeroTouch is a smart, forward-thinking gadget for drivers who care about their safety but also have the need to use their phone while driving. Voice command works seamlessly with the odd situations where it doesn’t understand words spoken.
It does exactly what it says on the tin and if I have any issues with the ZeroTouch, it would be that it doesn’t support iOS yet and the mechanism for attaching it to your phone can be annoying for some – it’s just another thing to attach to your phone and live with.
Even if you have something in your car already like Android Carplay, or a built-in voice command/Bluetooth system, you will soon realise that the ZeroTouch is better when it comes to understanding commands, its app compatibility and how it keeps your focused on the road, so yes you should invest in it.
The ZeroTouch was sent to us to review and all opinion are UNILAD Tech’s. The ZeroTouch is available from $59.99.
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