Best Marine Radios With Bluetooth

UV Protection: Continuous exposure to extreme sunlight can damage your marine radio. This could lead to overheated, bleached out, or broken equipment. Since spending time at sea usually means spending a lot of time in the sun, your marine stereo should be designed to strongly withstand destructive UV radiation. Your remote control and faceplate are some of the sensitive parts prone to UV damage. Avoid installing the head unit of your stereo in locations under direct sunlight.

Water Resistance: Being waterproof is an important feature for all marine stereos. Your selected marine stereo should be able to withstand some splashes of rain and water here and there without getting damaged because that’s bound to happen. In fact, some products can be fully submerged without any form of damage. It is good to note that not all marine stereos are completely water-resistant. Depending on the manufacturer, the degree of water resistance varies. In some cases, just the faceplate of the stereo is water-resistant. Problems could arise when underneath the dashboard is exposed to water. Your device should be coated to resist saltwater damage.

Power Output / Sound Quality: Unlike within the confined space of your car, your marine stereo would be playing sounds in the open. Hence, your stereo should have high power for good clear sound.  The sound quality of a good marine stereo radio should be powerful enough to drown out the sound of the waves, wind, motors. 

Amplifier: Standard quality marine receivers have 4 power channels. Getting additional amplifiers is recommended if you want louder sounds. They might be external or internal depending on your preference. You connect external amplifiers for your speakers to your marine receiver with a preamp RCA output. Normally, a marine stereo comes with either 2 or 3 RCA output sets. Two sets for the connection of a pair of speakers or a 2-channel amp. While the three sets can be used for one subwoofer amp and two speakers.

Fit/Installation into your Boat: At some period, the dimensions of most marine stereos were 7" by 2". Although a lot of stereos still have these specifications, you should not assume. You should take into consideration that some marine stereos come with much larger faceplates. For that reason, it is necessary to take measurements of your DIN size. The size specifications should be compared with the size of the stereo you intend to purchase. This applies to both new and replacement installations to avoid unnecessary challenges.

Music Options: There are Equalizer (EQ) bands to allow you to alter your music settings to your taste. You can adjust sound frequencies using graphic EQ bands while parametric EQ bands give room for more sound fine-tuning. The level, center, and range aspects of frequencies are controlled by the parametric equalizer.

AM/FM Radio, Sirius XM: For enhanced reception for AM/FM radio, marine stereos have super tuners. The super tuners bring the level of distortion to the barest minimum. The reduction is the result of the combination of digital and analog tuner technology. Sirius XM is in charge of the satellite radio hardware of your marine radio. The satellite radio tuners enable you to talk for about 200 miles offshore and listen to your preferred music and favorite sports games. You will need to purchase an antenna and a receiver kit to make use of your satellite radio. Take note of the compatibility of the external kit you purchase with your marine stereo. This is important to avoid buying the wrong fit. 

Bluetooth Streaming: Allows you to play songs from your mobile device wirelessly. Many Bluetooth devices also have inbuilt microphones that give room for hands-free calls. 

Media Ports - Aux, USB, SD Slot: Marine receivers have ports or slots for playing music from iPods, MP3 players, smartphones, other devices, and even your memory card. Auxillary inputs are normally the same size as the input jack of a headphone. Unlike the USB ports, you cannot control or charge your devices with the aux input. You can also listen to your favorite music playlists stored on your memory card through the SD card slot.

Display: Most stereos come with a digital display with knobs for controls. They are also the touch screen variants that are easier and more convenient to use. These digitized controls allow you to control numerous functions.

Built-in Microphone: Modern marine stereo radios have inbuilt microphones. This feature allows you to make phone calls and give voice commands without actually holding your phone. Your phone should have been previously connected to your stereo via wireless means.