The Dewalt DCR002 Bluetooth radio adapter is a new accessory that allows users to wirelessly connect their Bluetooth-compatible devices to any jobsite radio with a standard 3.5″ headphone input jack.
Dewalt’s 20V DCR015 and DCR018 jobsite radios lack a feature that a lot of readers continuously ask for – Bluetooth connectivity. Come to think of it, a lot of jobsite radios lack Bluetooth radios. With this adapter, you can make any jobsite radio Bluetooth-compatible.
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Related: Check out Milwaukee’s M18 Bluetooth jobsite radio!
Dewalt engineered the DCR002 adapter with an industry-standard micro USB charging port, a mounting clip with adhesive and industrial Velcro mounting strips, and a heavy duty cord. It has a range of up to 100 feet and runtime of up to 8 hours.
The package comes with the adapter, a mounting dock and mounting strips, a micro USB cable, and an AC charging adapter.
Price: $36-40
Launched: July 2014
Buy Now(via Amazon)
Buy Now(via Home Depot)
Buy Now(Generic adapters via Amazon)
First Thoughts
On one hand, the new Dewalt Bluetooth adapter is a bit more expensive than the many $10-$30 adapters available at Amazon and electronics stores. But on the other hand, it’s said to be built jobsite-tough and looks the part.
The new adapter is compatible with most major brands of jobsite radios that have auxiliary inputs, and can presumably work with iOS, Android, and Windows mobile devices.
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8 hours of battery life should be good enough for a day’s work. I’m sure Dewalt could have built the adapter with a larger battery, but not without inflating the adapter’s size and price.
This seems like a reasonably priced accessory for anyone who wishes their non-Bluetooth radio had a means through which they can wirelessly stream music from their smartphone, tablet, or other smart-device.
Cameron
awesome just awesome
Joe M
I wonder if it can run while the USB charging cable is plugged in? Then, if the Jobsite Radio also has a USB charging port, it could run continuously off the Radio instead of the internal battery. Ports that both the DCR015 and DCR018 have.
John
Ugggggggg. Dewalt why? Like Stuart said you can just buy a cheaper one on amazon.
joe
From having taken all my dewalt tools apart, their circuitry well protected from the environment (minus assembly line duds) so my guess is that the cuircuitry is well suited for the outdoors…
JOSH GUHN
I doubt dewalt is making these.
firefly
I think a less expensive one on Amazon would suit you much better.
As far as ruggedness I don’t see any advantage that this adapter have over those other one. The little audio cable is the weakest link on all of them. But what are the likelihood that it will get damage?
Rgz
Got one on eBay for $9 and it works perfect with my Milwaukee M12 Radio.
John
So what have dewalt done to this dongle to make its range so vast. I doubt its using v3 or v4 standards and more than likely on v2.1 which has a max range of about 30ft. $40 would be very cheap if its a v3/v4 spec device.
Glenn
Personally, I think its is just simply profiteering.
Selling a product that does something that should be included on every job site radio is near criminal.
In fact they should all have SD, USB and MP3/WMA control built in.
But, no, we continue to be ripped off by having power tool companies sell us old tech but advertised as ground breaking. Worse than car manufacturers.
Glenn
Stuart
A Bluetooth radio requires added components, circuitry, product testing, and licensing. This can drive up the cost of a radio considerably and hurt competitiveness unless every brand did the same.
Curt
Glenn…I’d actually argue this is a good will gesture (albeit a pretty big profit-generating one) on the part of Dewalt to help their customers retrofit old radios that don’t have the technology included. I’m sure they have a radio with Bluetooth included coming down the pipeline. This helps prevent you from buying an entire new radio…
arturo raygoza
I’m in love!!! at 40 bucks this is awesome. I was going to buy a portable power bank 20-30 then two 6 inch micro usb’s one to charge it then one to send power to the extra bluetooth reciever that costs another 30 bucks. This has both devices in one for a reasonable price, you need the battery pack because the BT wont run off dewalt battery pack but because this is built in I dont need the extra devices, plus you get a jobsite quality device.