These smartphones go the extra mile behind the wheel

(Credit: Josh Miller/CNET)

Pretty much every new car you can buy today has an auxiliary input and standard adoption of Bluetooth hands-free calling and audio streaming growing consistently with each generation. So, with the right mix of apps and a bit of restraint, you can use pretty much any new smartphone to do basic things like listen to music or make a call safely behind the wheel.

However, a handful of phones go above and beyond these basic functions, offering automotive-specific interfaces, advanced voice commands, dashboard app mirroring, and more. We took a look at the most popular smartphones on CNET and picked out, in no particular order, our favorite driver-friendly models and features.

Samsung's S-Voice Drive performs well on the road.

(Credit: Antuan Goodwin/CNET)

Samsung Galaxy S4 I’m a plain vanilla kind of Android enthusiast, so I’m not a huge fan of third-party rejiggerings of the stock Android experience. That said, Samsung’s S Voice voice recognition and the companion S Drive interface are exceptionally well-suited for use in the car. Though not as flexible as Google Now or Siri, S Voice can be set to an always-listening mode where it will res… [Read more]