Unfortunately, you can’t completely ditch your phone - Car Thing requires its internet connection for streaming - so it’s not a true stand-alone device.
Using a combination of a four-inch touchscreen, a large jog wheel, preset favorite buttons, and voice commands, Car Thing gives you a lot of ways to get to the content you want to listen to without having to rely on your phone.
Car Thing doesn’t offer any functions that you can’t get through your phone or your in-car infotainment system (if it has Apple CarPlay or Android Auto), but if you’re one of the many folks who don’t want to use (or can’t use) one of those options, Car Thing is a $90 convenience. and have a Spotify Premium account and $90 burning a hole in your pocket, you can grab one of these devices for yourself.Īs a quick refresher, Car Thing is a device that’s meant to make it a lot easier to navigate and play audio from Spotify in your car. If you took note of Spotify’s very limited release of its Car Thing music player and thought that it might make a good addition to your vehicle, we have good news: It’s no longer an invite-only exclusive. Now, just five months later, the Thing is no longer in production (though you can still buy it on the Spotify website for now, at 50% off. Finally, in February 2022, the dashboard accessory became available for general sale in the U.S.
Then, the company released Car Thing in a limited, invite-only launch in April 2021. The device was first hinted at in 2019, via a Spotify press release. But all it does is sit on the sidelines, hogging the one precious power port, while a smartphone plays content from Spotify over a car stereo via AUX or Bluetooth. The dashboard accessory was meant to enable a “seamless and personalised in-car listening experience” for Spotify’s music and podcast streaming customers. In both name and purpose, Car Thing has been vague and silly from the beginning. This initiative has unlocked helpful learnings, and we remain focused on the car as an important place for audio. Existing devices will perform as intended. A Spotify spokesperson told Tech Crunch that, “the goal of Spotify’s Car Thing exploration was to better understand in-car listening, and bring audio to a wider range of users and vehicles.” On the discontinuation of the device, the spokesperson further said the following:īased on several factors, including product demand and supply chain issues, we have decided to stop further production of Car Thing units.
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