0. Disclaimer

1. What's in the Box

The CarPhone

Tray

Lateral bracket + plate

CarPhone's Cable

2. Installation

2.1 Mounting the CarPhone

The CarPhone is held with a tray that offers different mounting solutions to accommodate the interior of your car. You can decide whether to mount it with screws or adhesives, which, despite offering a less secure grip, will offer a fully reversible installation.

The tray can either be mounted flat onto a panel or laterally, using the included bracket and screws. The bracket can be screwed down to the tray using the included screws.

Please note: The 3D files of the CarPhone are available on demand if you're looking to build your own mount.

2.2 Wiring

The CarPhone's wiring consists of 4 wires, but only two are mandatory.

Connect the CarPhone's wires directly to your car's wiring. Please refer to a mechanic if you are unsure where to locate the needed wires, and how to splice them.

On my cars, I've personally spliced the on-board computer wiring, which provided all the necessary signals (VBAT, ground, Accy and lights), but using the cigarette lighter's power supply typically works too.

3. Start Up

3.1 Powering on the CarPhone

Now that it's wired, let's power on the CarPhone! You can do so by pressing the dedicated button , or simply by switching the ignition on (if ACCY is wired).

The device can be turned off the exact same way, and will automatically power off after one hour of inactivity.

3.2 Bluetooth Connection

As is, the CarPhone is only a cool-looking prop, as not much can be done with it without a Bluetooth® connection to your smartphone.

So let's connect it!

With the CarPhone powered on, please go to your smartphone's settings and find a Bluetooth® signal called "CarPhone". "BT Connected" will be displayed once you have it connected. Your smartphone will now auto-pair with it every time you get into your car!

Please note: The CarPhone can work in parallel with a Bluetooth® head unit radio with no consequences, other than what's described in "4.3) During a call".

4. Using the CarPhone

4.1 The Home Screen

Congrats on successfully installing your CarPhone, now let's discuss how to use it.

Turning on the CarPhone displays the home screen, where:

• A is your smartphone's cellular signal strength
• B is the time
• C is the Bluetooth® status (Logo = connected)
• D is the battery level of your smartphone

4.2 Receive and Dial Calls

With Bluetooth® connected, all calls received on your smartphone will be routed to the CarPhone.

From the home screen, you can use the following keys to dial and receive calls.

Key	Function
	Dialing numbers*
	Erasing a number / Decline a call
	Call / Accept Call

* Long pressing "0" will input a "+"

4.3 During a Call

During a call, the CarPhone will display:

• • Contact's number or name (if known)
• • Call duration

The following controls can be accessed:

Key	Function
	Mute microphone
	Enable loudspeaker / route call to car's Bluetooth® audio system
	Increase volume
	Decrease volume
	Hang up call

If your car is equipped with a Bluetooth® head unit, you can route your call to the car's audio system for a clearer, louder conversation, using the Loudspeaker button. (Loudspeaker mode needs to be set beforehand - see section 5.2)

Ending a call will take you back to the home screen.

4.4 Using the Phonebook

The sole fact that you purchased this CarPhone means you are a pretty cool human being, which implies you have a thriving social life, and might have to reach out to a few dozen people on a regular basis.

Sadly, humans aren't capable of remembering more than a few numbers, which is why the early 90s saw the appearance of phone-embedded phonebooks, which this CarPhone also features.

Anyway, the following keys can be used to interact with the phonebook:

Key	Function
	Access / Close the phonebook
	Browse down (alphabetically)
	Browse up
	Call
	Close the phonebook

⚠️ Your iPhone might deny access to its phonebook, which you can solve by going into your settings → Bluetooth. Then under "My Devices" find the CarPhone and press "i". There, turn on "Sync Contacts".

The process should be very similar on Android devices.

4.5 Searching the Phonebook

Upon my recent discovery that some people know more than a dozen other people, I've decided to add a search function that you can access with the keypad in T9 mode. Simply input a letter to search for it.

Here's an example for my fellow Zoomers: "BMW" can be searched by pressing the following sequence: 2 2 6 9.

Key	Function
	Input letters in T9 mode to search
	Call

4.6 Speed-Dial

Searching the phonebook works great, but let's assume you are very busy and want a faster method of reaching your contacts - then you will love the speed-dial shortcut! From the home screen, pressing will reveal the speed-dial screen, which associates each keypad digit to a contact of your choice.

Pressing any digit will immediately call the associated phone number. By default, only Siri is mapped on Key 1, but let me show you how to map up to 8 additional contacts.

To do so, please access the phonebook and search / navigate to a desired contact. There, press once, and press the digit of your choice to map it there.

Enough with features now, let's discuss some styling.

5. Customisation

To access the settings, please use

Key	Function
	Access the settings
	Navigate up
	Navigate down
	Enter
	Exit

5.1 Setting the Mood

The CarPhone can truly elevate the styling of your interior by matching its color to it, which can be done by setting your preferred theme, under "Theme" in the settings. Four different options are available, each coming with its own set of colors and ringtones, which I'm excited for you to discover. The CarPhone's looks will really shine in the dark, with its backlit keys glowing to the color of your theme, as soon as you turn your headlights on.

The brightness of both the display and backlit keys can be adjusted in the General → Brightness setting.

Custom Ringtones: Ringtones can be customized by accessing the SD card. Simply store 22kHz WAV files in the /Ringtones folder of the SD card to add your own ringtones.

5.2 Various Settings

Most settings are self-explanatory, so I'll only describe the following:

6. Firmware Update

V2
A new firmware update was released in May 2026. Here's what's new:

• 3 new applications: media controller, voltmeter, and even a game...
• New welcome speech feature
• Bug fixes and improvements

V3

V3 is a minor update released in July 2026 bringing:

• Custom splash screens
• Faster and cleaner power on / off
• Bug fixes and improvements (Fixed the brightness bug)

6.1 Preparing the SD Card

1. Remove the SD card from the side of the CarPhone.
2. Insert the micro SD card into your computer (You might need a USB → MicroSD dongle adaptor!)

You can erase them all.

3. Download the zipped file above. Unzip it and notice it contains multiple directories.
4. Copy those directories to the micro SD card.

SD card contents after copying the update files.

6.2 Installing the Update

1. Insert the SD card back into the CarPhone.
2. Press , navigate to General, and click on Update.
3. The CarPhone will install the update and restart.

Congrats, you've just updated the device!!

7. Technical Specifications

7.1 Electrical Specs

The device is fused and has protections against overvoltage and reverse polarity.

Note: The CarPhone draws less than 1mA when powered off, ensuring it won't drain your car battery.

7.2 Physical Specs

8. Support & Assistance

If you encounter any issues with your CarPhone or have questions that aren't covered in this manual, please reach out to me.

If you discover any bugs or have suggestions for improvements, reporting them is highly appreciated. Your feedback helps make the CarPhone better for everyone!

Thank you and bonne route!

Jean-Lou from 80s Engineering