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Did some googleing and didn't find much except for some maybes and some oddities that i'm not too sure about so I thought I might come to the experts. I would love to have a small 7" double din head unit in my car running gingerbread or better android on it and tether it to my phone. That way I could add pandora/youtube/siriusxm/navigation/market/fruitslice whatever...
Anyone know of anything out there?
There's a couple on the market I've seen. Many are out there as concepts. In the Barnes &Noble nook forums there is guy who did a write up on how he installed a nook in the dash of his jeep. It's a 7 inch screen and fits with a little Modding. I'm surprised you didn't find any on your search.
- this sig is just so I don't have to write 10char when on my phone -
Shinare said:
Did some googleing and didn't find much except for some maybes and some oddities that i'm not too sure about so I thought I might come to the experts. I would love to have a small 7" double din head unit in my car running gingerbread or better android on it and tether it to my phone. That way I could add pandora/youtube/siriusxm/navigation/market/fruitslice whatever...
Anyone know of anything out there?
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Click to collapse
Dynavin
Ca-fi
Bybyte
Those are the main ones people have been "keeping an eye on" since last year.
After talking with some friends that are in to car audio, I've deemed them all to be subpar for my needs so i just got a 32gb sammy tab plus, 64gb microsd card, and a $30 dash kit that i will mod for mounting. I think the three key things that a real head unit has over mounting a tablet are: 1) easy back up camera solution 2) satellite radio 3) built in bluetooth handsfree. 1 and 3 are possible, just not the easiest, and i have no use for number 2 since i dont subscribe.
*edit* - just realized i had subscribed to the thread boborone is referencing Nook Color in Jeep Wrangler
There is also the more mainstream AppRadio from Pioneer. Search it since I can't post links yet.
I have the Erisin 777A for the past 4 months, generally quite happy about it but wants better sound quality.
Clarion has announced an android head unit, the mirage, http://www.engadget.com/2012/03/28/clarions-android-running-mirage-ivi/
This one has potential, maybe upgrade is in the works for me.
I have been search and I have decided on mounting a tablet as well I just wish there were companies who make custom mounts to make it look OEM
gpmg762 said:
I have the Erisin 777A for the past 4 months, generally quite happy about it but wants better sound quality.
Clarion has announced an android head unit, the mirage, http://www.engadget.com/2012/03/28/clarions-android-running-mirage-ivi/
This one has potential, maybe upgrade is in the works for me.
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Click to collapse
Nice. That's what I want. Too bad its release is in q4. :-(
Sent from my DROID RAZR using XDA
Has anyone tried any of these or know if they would be any good hardware wise?
How about the possibility of custom roms or even rooting them?
This one seems the better choice in the fact it's a removable tablet. Not because I want a tablet but because it would be easier to bring into the house for flashing purposes. Never heard of it's CPU mind?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/321013490466
This one is quite a nice looking one with non removable screen. Has a Cortex A8 which I've heard of at least
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/121016519547
So what's your views and opinions?
So no comments then? I'm really hankering for an Android unit in the car. Will beat the socks off the crappy 2din wince unit i have. The software on that is so cumbersome and doesn't match throughout the different modes.
Ok just found this Parrot Asteroid 2DIN. Looks very good but not available yet.
http://www.slashgear.com/parrot-asteroid-in-car-nav-entertainment-systems-revealed-09207612/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dH3-VAfqjEw
Also after watching some video's of the unit with pad I posted previously it seems that most of the main functions are handled by an internal process in the unit (maybe wince?) which then outputs video and control via the tablet. This has kind of put me off a little bit.
So after watching some other video's of the Ca-Fi I think I am going to go with one of these. The new one is upgraded to 2.3 Android, capacitive touchscreen and a 1ghz processor. So saving my pennies now!!!!!
http://ca-fi.com/en/archives/1027
Okay all this talk of android double din, well I have a double din unit in my car, all self fitted, it has 2 sd slots, 1 for GPS and the other for sd card for media, but was wondering if any of these slots can be used to "install" new os onto the unit.
How does the Os get installed onto these, there must be a way.
CueballUK said:
Ok just found this Parrot Asteroid 2DIN. Looks very good but not available yet.
Also after watching some video's of the unit with pad I posted previously it seems that most of the main functions are handled by an internal process in the unit (maybe wince?) which then outputs video and control via the tablet. This has kind of put me off a little bit.
So after watching some other video's of the Ca-Fi I think I am going to go with one of these. The new one is upgraded to 2.3 Android, capacitive touchscreen and a 1ghz processor. So saving my pennies now!!!!!
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Click to collapse
Try Componentality Celebrity, it might be what you need. Do you need 2-DIN?
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/2015...VD-player-GPS-Stereo-Wifi-3G/32297415686.html
http://www.aliexpress.com/store/pro...al-dual-system-carpad/1422130_2034998210.html
any good?
m.r.davies said:
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/2015...VD-player-GPS-Stereo-Wifi-3G/32297415686.html
http://www.aliexpress.com/store/pro...al-dual-system-carpad/1422130_2034998210.html
any good?
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There's a whole thread about the Newsmy CarPad2 here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2865525
Hey guys,
There's a bunch of Android-based devices out there in the market. I'm looking for the best one that's available - are you able to recommend some unit?
I was hoping to buy the Parrot RNB6, but it seems it's an abandoned project.
Has anyone ever seen any specs on pre out voltage on any of these units? Or even better a digital out? They seem to be all about software on the specs minus the 55w x 4 channel spec, the biggest gripe I have the with main manufacturers of hu out there right now is you either get a nice ui and imo poor pre out voltage or a really terrible ui that is almost unbearable but high voltage, which in turn leads to higher volume and clearer audio. This is what I have found at my price range anyways and am not really willing to drop $2k on a head unit at this point. Anyways i am trying to look through all the links on this page but any help would be appreciated
Edit: guess it's 2/2 pages and not 22 pages haha, guess I did check them all
Sent from my SM-N910W8 using XDA Free mobile app
Also depends on what car you have.
Erisin have a whole range of Android units with good reviews.
I have this one for Audi A3
http://www.erisin.com/erisin-es9783...-sat-nav-1080p-autoradio-audi-a3-s3_p517.html
Or one with a removeable Pad
http://www.erisin.com/erisin-es8035a-2-in-1-car-pad-unit-android-tablet-gps-3g-wifi_p389.html
Plus a whole lot of posts on similar.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2660662&page=1101
Baz
I have Audi S6 C5 and just need a regular 2DIN unit - it will fit. However, the chinese stuff I'm looking at other threads in this forum seem very crappy and of low quality.
Is there something that can be really reliable, working fast and with good audio quality?
headunit 4.4.4 quad core 3188
I have had mine for more than 6 months
Sound is great ram is only 1gb so app installs stop after pandora and waze, and one or 2 other items
I use a wifi hotspot, on tmobile, $10/month no limits.
pandora now works no matter who drives car, and NAV youtube etc
Not sure newer version of android would help, more ram would help more
Hello forgive me as i know alot of these kinds of threads are probably posted. Ive tried searching and only came up with a couple of threads but not a lot of information.
I was looking to get the Joying J-VQ125 head unit. Does anyone know anything about it? Is it good/should i stay away? it seems pretty solid and the video in the sale post on aliexpress shows very smooth transitions. It seems to be pretty good running 1024x600 res and the rk3188 chipset on OS 4.4. I like the idea of physical buttons on a car stereo so i am after a head unit with a physical back/home button and volume controls. Ive been using android since 1.5 and rooted my fair share of phones. That being said i dont think i have much of an interest to root the car unit.
i cant post external link, so to view the headunit just got to aliexpress and search J-VQ125. its the only one that comes up
any helpful information would be greatly appreciated
TIA
I JUST got one of these Joying units in the mail today. I will start playing with it this evening. Like you I wanted something with at least one physical knob and a couple of buttons, and it has a slightly bigger screen because it does not waste space with a useless (come on its 2015) DVD slot. .
I got one direct from there website and used coupon code Joying which got me this unit with 1024x600, quad core and 7 inch display for only $265 shipped. It arrived in less than a week from china.
http://www.carjoying.com/quad-core-...b-memory-airplay-obd-wifi-bluetooth-html.html
I can answer any questions you have about it. I will probably have it on the bench playing with it/making sure it is updated etc.. for the rest of this week.
Aside from the price can you see a difference in the Joying unit you bought and this one: http://www.carjoying.com/quad-core-...een-airplay-gps-navigation-radio-audio-s.html
symyn said:
Aside from the price can you see a difference in the Joying unit you bought and this one: http://www.carjoying.com/quad-core-...een-airplay-gps-navigation-radio-audio-s.html
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No they look the same except for the fact this is already in EU to avoid taxes.
This is the first Android head unit I've played with/owned, and I've only had it about a day, but I've been somewhat happy with it.
Having been used to phones and tablets with integrated bezels, it's been a bit annoying to get used to having a raised bezel around the screen - tapping buttons on the edge of the screen can be interesting at times. I also noticed that the sound level/quality coming from the built in amp is rather poor. The stock Delco radio in my Suzuki was better, and I generally consider those Delco radios to be garbage, lol. But of course, this is a pretty subjective thing. The bezel, however, doesn't even come close to fitting the double din install kits we have here in the USA. The height is pretty close, but the width was considerably wider.
On the plus side, the screen is pretty darn nice. It's clear (MUCH MUCH more so than the Xenarc resistive touch screen it replaced, which cost me considerably more money, lol), seemingly bright (haven't had it in a full sun exposure situation yet), very wide viewing angles, and overall visual quality isn't much worse than my Samsung Note 3 phone. The stock ROM load feels pretty snappy, and seems to be rendering my high resolution satellite image maps just fine. I'll know better after Sunday when I take an extended off road trip with it. That was the biggest reason I went with this model - the higher screen resolution, and the quad core CPU.
urbex said:
I also noticed that the sound level/quality coming from the built in amp is rather poor.
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My impressions are:
a) The audio quality for the FM Radio tune is not quite as good as my stock radio was
b) However, the audio quality for playing MP3's etc is MUCH better than my stock radio's FM/CD player. And the media players like MediaMonkey, PowerAmp etc have excellent EQ controls etc that enable them really customize the sound to the vehicle's interior sound quality, so they end up sounding much better than the stock unit's simple tone controls.
So it is kinda a wash to me.
Interestingly, I found that the FM tuner is far more sensitive than the stock radio was. I haven't played much with MP3s much, beyond the quick BT test connection with a couple songs from my phone. The plan is ultimately to leave a large SSD connected to the headunit with my MP3s on that, along with running an external 4ch amplifier (largely for the frequency crossovers), so the performance of the built in amp really isn't a big deal to me one way or the other.
But yeah, my general feeling on the product as a whole is kind of a wash, lol. I was also considering picking up one of the Pioneer touchscreen units with Mirrorlink capabilities, but I was concerned about current and future phones having a less than stellar record when it comes to compatibility.
Hello XDA'ers.
Just got burned buying a crappy no-name Windows headunit on Amazon and was wondering if you could help me pick a different one. I'm looking for an Android-based HU that can support Bluetooth, GPS and a backup camera. HD Radio support is a plus.
Thanks!
I am also researching for one and come across with eonon brand. You can check it out.
Sent from my D6616 using Tapatalk
Do you have a link to purchasing it?
Actually, that one looks just like the piece of junk that I purchased. I'm hoping for a headunit that I can purchase and can flash with a custom from here.
DJRepresent said:
Actually, that one looks just like the piece of junk that I purchased. I'm hoping for a headunit that I can purchase and can flash with a custom from here.
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For "Cheap Chinese" HUs, Newsmy type are the most popular here, followed by the older Huefei HUs.
I personally would (and did, but with a NEED for Android Auto) spend the extra $200-300 for a Pioneer 4100NEX with Android Auto and many other features, including US HD Radio. On EBay now for $500 shipped for refurb, or IMO better at $570 shipped brand new.
But if you need "full regular Android" to run any app, most "normal" HUs don't provide this, but maybe we'll get a ROM with full Android. Some Pioneer devices run Android under the covers and are getting a ROM now, in part to get Android Auto on devices like the older 4000NEX. I think that 4100NEX will get a ROM too, once it provides a good option for getting more than stock functionality.
The best "Cheap Chinese" HUs are stuck on Android 4.4 Kitkat at best and I doubt Newsmy/Huefei will ever get Lollipop.
These cheap HUs are also full of compromises and unless you understand and accept them, I think it's likely you'll regret getting one within 1-12 months, as you already regret what you have.
mikereidis said:
For "Cheap Chinese" HUs, Newsmy type are the most popular here, followed by the older Huefei HUs.
I personally would (and did, but with a NEED for Android Auto) spend the extra $200-300 for a Pioneer 4100NEX with Android Auto and many other features, including US HD Radio. On EBay now for $500 shipped for refurb, or IMO better at $570 shipped brand new.
But if you need "full regular Android" to run any app, most "normal" HUs don't provide this, but maybe we'll get a ROM with full Android. Some Pioneer devices run Android under the covers and are getting a ROM now, in part to get Android Auto on devices like the older 4000NEX. I think that 4100NEX will get a ROM too, once it provides a good option for getting more than stock functionality.
The best "Cheap Chinese" HUs are stuck on Android 4.4 Kitkat at best and I doubt Newsmy/Huefei will ever get Lollipop.
These cheap HUs are also full of compromises and unless you understand and accept them, I think it's likely you'll regret getting one within 1-12 months, as you already regret what you have.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I read an Amazon.com review of one of the Chinese HUs where the guy said that the stock ROM on it was "OK," but once he flashed a custom ROM, everything worked great. He didn't provide a link to the ROM but he did say he downloaded it from XDA. So was wondering if there might be a decent head unit that I can purchase and flash and have it working well.
mikereidis said:
For "Cheap Chinese" HUs, Newsmy type are the most popular here, followed by the older Huefei HUs.
These cheap HUs are also full of compromises and unless you understand and accept them, I think it's likely you'll regret getting one within 1-12 months, as you already regret what you have.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They are much better than you make them sound. Honestly they are very impressive for what you get for $100-$250 or so, you get a full android rooted system you can pretty much do anything with. And the quad core devices are very snappy and responsive, and the screens on the 1024x600 7" models are very clear and look great.
For the price, they are well worth it to me. The only real problem has been that the bluetooth design is not the best, and lots of people are just connecting a mic cable directly to the mic and ground pins on the bluetooth board to get around the poor internal mic issue. Other than that there is no real outstanding problem with them.
nixfu said:
They are much better than you make them sound. Honestly they are very impressive for what you get for $100-$250 or so, you get a full android rooted system you can pretty much do anything with. And the quad core devices are very snappy and responsive, and the screens on the 1024x600 7" models are very clear and look great.
For the price, they are well worth it to me. The only real problem has been that the bluetooth design is not the best, and lots of people are just connecting a mic cable directly to the mic and ground pins on the bluetooth board to get around the poor internal mic issue. Other than that there is no real outstanding problem with them.
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Click to collapse
Which unit should I purchase then? Please post a link.
Thanks!
nixfu said:
They are much better than you make them sound. Honestly they are very impressive for what you get for $100-$250 or so, you get a full android rooted system you can pretty much do anything with.
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Click to collapse
$100 ?
I thought the decent units, like Newsmy, started around $300 or so, and prices get higher when you need a non-generic, car-specific model.
To each their own, but I am still not a particular fan of Mediatek/Chinese chipsets. AFAIK, Mediatek still regularly violates GPL and keep more secrets than Qualcomm does, making it harder for kernel & ROM devs. Still true or no ?
Anyway, since I don't own one of the Chinese HUs, the opinions of people who own one may be more important than mine.
IMO anyone buying one should read the main threads for them for at least a few pages to get better informed.
For those who need "real Android" running on the HU, I'm recalling that the AppRadio Unchained Reloaded app seems a decent option for phone mirroring to Pioneer HUs.
I must sound like a paid Pioneer rep sometimes, LOL, but reality is that my best interests are in people running my Headunit app on tablets than buy an HU. But I only recommend that if it seems the best option for them.
I'm torn between the carjoying RK3188 and the NU3001 Carpad. Anyone have experience with both can provide a recommendation? I was reading some of the posts regarding the carjoying unit and am concerned that I need to modify the internal to get a decent microphone quality. Not sure if this needs to also happen to the newsmy unit? I have also heard that the joking crew provides great support, which is important and like the fact that they have taken the time to create lots of tutorial videos. On the nu3001 - I like that the android unit is in a separate box. I seriously can't decide...lots of pros on both units.
DJRepresent - did you make your decision yet?
Honestly. I've been both a newsmy & huifei owner... I'm not a happy camper with the newsmy and their support.
My radio was working great then started to develop random screen flickers & after a firmware update it died. Ordered a replacement Android box (as the head unit & Android box is separate on the newsmy, had to fight to order it as I didn't order my radio directly from newsmy but from a reseller... Only managed to get it as a fellow xda member was a reseller and he placed the replacement order for me) and my radio now only half works. My physical buttons on my radio (as it's a Volkswagen specific unit) no longer work.
Newsmy has left me high and dry with the issue with zero support on the issue. I've spent about 700-800canadian on this unit and I have now a half working unit...
I'm starting to think about selling off and getting a joying/huifei unit. As the one I use to own before the newsmy is now in my dad's car and it's working perfectly fine. I only got the newsmy as at the time it was the only 1024x600 unit with 2 gigs of ram...
I believe now the joying & even the winlink units have 2gig ram models with the 1024 screen.
The winlink seems to be less popular but also seems to have a representative from the company participating in the forum activity. Newsmy use to have that... seems they are no longer focused on the carpad2 more their unreleased carpad3. Not sure if joying/huifei has a representative participating but seems to have a lot more overall owners participating with the development.
One downfall I had with my huifei that the newsmy doesn't have is the canbus. The canbus didn't fully work with my car or my dad's car (my car being a 09 vw jetta my dad's being a '12 vw jetta)on the huifei I had random issues with it. I ended up replacing their canbus with another manufacture and the issues resolved.
Newsmy also seemed more focused on eye candy vs actually developing the radio more... It still has no rds support.
Also the newsmy has no sub preputs.
Hmm other then that... I think that's the end of my feedback rant. Maybe a joying user can chime in?
kwalsh24 said:
I believe now the joying & even the winlink units have 2gig ram models with the 1024 screen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I like my unit from carjoying.com, the prices are pretty good, and the support is actually better than I expected. But NO NONE of the more popular units(Klyde, Roadmaster, Hot Audio, Joying, etc) which are all based on the same HueFui design, all use the same RK3066/RK3166 Chipsets, and they all have 1GB Ram. The memory and cpu are all using the same plug in daughter boards that plug in to the various main boards.
Frankly I don't see the 1GB being a limitation, or that 2GB would help all that much. The quad core is what seems to be a big difference and makes the units very snappy. I know my unit I normally have Torque loggings engine stats, iGO GPS doing navigation, MediaMonkey playing MP3's, and DailyRoads recording the front camera all constantly going at the same time with zero noticeable slowdown, and the unit remains very snappy and responsive. I am not sure what else you would want to have simultaneously happening that would be better than what you can already do with the current units.
The best models you can get are quad core, 1GB ram, 16GB onboard flash, and 1024 screens. I would just make sure you get one with these specs and you will pretty much have the best currently available.
nixfu said:
I like my unit from carjoying.com, the prices are pretty good, and the support is actually better than I expected. But NO NONE of the more popular units(Klyde, Roadmaster, Hot Audio, Joying, etc) which are all based on the same HueFui design, all use the same RK3066/RK3166 Chipsets, and they all have 1GB Ram. The memory and cpu are all using the same plug in daughter boards that plug in to the various main boards.
Frankly I don't see the 1GB being a limitation, or that 2GB would help all that much. The quad core is what seems to be a big difference and makes the units very snappy. I know my unit I normally have Torque loggings engine stats, iGO GPS doing navigation, MediaMonkey playing MP3's, and DailyRoads recording the front camera all constantly going at the same time with zero noticeable slowdown, and the unit remains very snappy and responsive. I am not sure what else you would want to have simultaneously happening that would be better than what you can already do with the current units.
The best models you can get are quad core, 1GB ram, 16GB onboard flash, and 1024 screens. I would just make sure you get one with these specs and you will pretty much have the best currently available.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the reply! I read from a post you started a while ago regarding the carjoying unit you modified internally to address the microphone poor quality. How bad is it out the box (without modifying the internals) or is this mod a must do before installing? Is this mod to address just the integrated mic or does this also impact the external mic input? Wondering if i wire up a quality external mic if that would keep from having to modify the internals. Your usage list above looks like similar apps I would be running in addition to an occasional hands free phone call. Thanks!
---------- Post added at 06:12 AM ---------- Previous post was at 05:46 AM ----------
kwalsh24 said:
Honestly. I've been both a newsmy & huifei owner... I'm not a happy camper with the newsmy and their support.
My radio was working great then started to develop random screen flickers & after a firmware update it died. Ordered a replacement Android box (as the head unit & Android box is separate on the newsmy, had to fight to order it as I didn't order my radio directly from newsmy but from a reseller... Only managed to get it as a fellow xda member was a reseller and he placed the replacement order for me) and my radio now only half works. My physical buttons on my radio (as it's a Volkswagen specific unit) no longer work.
Newsmy has left me high and dry with the issue with zero support on the issue. I've spent about 700-800canadian on this unit and I have now a half working unit...
I'm starting to think about selling off and getting a joying/huifei unit. As the one I use to own before the newsmy is now in my dad's car and it's working perfectly fine. I only got the newsmy as at the time it was the only 1024x600 unit with 2 gigs of ram...
I believe now the joying & even the winlink units have 2gig ram models with the 1024 screen.
The winlink seems to be less popular but also seems to have a representative from the company participating in the forum activity. Newsmy use to have that... seems they are no longer focused on the carpad2 more their unreleased carpad3. Not sure if joying/huifei has a representative participating but seems to have a lot more overall owners participating with the development.
One downfall I had with my huifei that the newsmy doesn't have is the canbus. The canbus didn't fully work with my car or my dad's car (my car being a 09 vw jetta my dad's being a '12 vw jetta)on the huifei I had random issues with it. I ended up replacing their canbus with another manufacture and the issues resolved.
Newsmy also seemed more focused on eye candy vs actually developing the radio more... It still has no rds support.
Also the newsmy has no sub preputs.
Hmm other then that... I think that's the end of my feedback rant. Maybe a joying user can chime in?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the reply! This is great info. I am truly sorry for your troubles. Hope you get your issue resolved. Support/customer service is something I highly value. Now that u mentioned it...I do remember seeing newsmy frequent presence in the large dedicated nu3001 thread early on, but they phased out as I skimmed though the posts. Thanks again for providing your experiences/feedback! +2 for carjoying
Honestly I just checked out newsmy's website and they have removed most of their headunits they once sold. So I would 100% rule out newsmy.
Joying in the lead but maybe check out winlink/ownice unit. As it's the quad core with 2 gigs of ram... I myself am 100% torn
I'm slightly shocked that there hasn't been anything new on the market. Faster cpu & more ram? Kinda sad that the joying unit doesn't have 2 gigs of ram. If it did I'd be jumping ship 12 hours ago as they have a nice looking vw unit that's all touch. Including the malfunctioning buttons that my unit has...
kwalsh24 said:
Honestly I just checked out newsmy's website and they have removed most of their headunits they once sold. So I would 100% rule out newsmy.
Joying in the lead but maybe check out winlink/ownice unit. As it's the quad core with 2 gigs of ram... I myself am 100% torn
I'm slightly shocked that there hasn't been anything new on the market. Faster cpu & more ram? Kinda sad that the joying unit doesn't have 2 gigs of ram. If it did I'd be jumping ship 12 hours ago as they have a nice looking vw unit that's all touch. Including the malfunctioning buttons that my unit has...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm a little shocked also, but from the feedback 1 gb should be good enough. I figure the units are somewhat inexpensive and don't mind replacing it a few years down the road if it becomes an issue. I finally pulled the trigger and purchased the carjoying unit. The crew has been in frequent communication with me since I purchased it making sure everything is right with my car configuration before shipping it. I'm pleased so far with the support and do not have the unit yet Hope my positive experiences continue after I receive it. Not looking forward to doing the mic mod though
Hey guys,
Came across this forum by accident, cool to see soemthing like that.
So I'm looking for a new head unit for my car, and I'm really not sure what I should be looking for and would like to get some suggestions.
I can only buy from aliexpress/ebay/amazon.
So my budget is fairly small, and generally I don't really need something that good, I'd like to spare as much as I possibly can, but also get something that will be decent enough so I won't simply throw all my money away.
My max budget is around 160$, but if it will be good enough, I'll prefer spending 80$ instead.
I'll mostly use it for bluetooth(music) + navigation(waze), so I don't really need anything that powerful, on the other hand, my current multimedia system I got really sucks, the touch is barely responsive, and it takes so long to load anything, so that's something I won't compromise on.
One question I have, I currently have a sim card for my multimedia system, now I don't really need internet connection generally, but I do need navigation(with waze), how does that work exactly? Do I need internet connection for that? And if I want to download something from google play, how do I do that?
I've seen a few systems on aliexpress, but I'm not sure which one I should get, the main difference I've seen is mostly between 1GB ram and 2 GB ram. How big is the difference? I believ 2 GB of ram will be more than enough for me, but the prices for 1 GB ram is much lower, and I wonder if that will simply be enough for me.
Thought about something similar to this one: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/2G-...85-4a78-9653-da0c68702c7e&transAbTest=ae803_3
Looks fairly good, I'm just not sure I want something that's not pure android, I don't know what android version it's etc.
Seen this as well: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/New...74-456c-97da-b4e0fcb83c10&transAbTest=ae803_3
Looks nice, but there is only 1 review, and I can't really know if it's a good product.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/2-d...40-4e04-bedc-efc0da8d899a&transAbTest=ae803_3
This one seems to have nice reviews, but it's only 1 GB of ram.
Anyway, would like to get some suggestions please, thanks!
Anyone?
I think you'll find whatever you pick at those price points will have bugs, even the more expensive ones will have them too. For what you want, I would be OK with a quad core 2gb ram unit, with a 16gb rom. Unless you are loading music or will have lots of app data you'll never use 32gb in the car.
The first one I wouldn't pick solely on the processor. I have no idea what a K6 is The fact that it doesn't say Pure Android means nothing. It is
Of those three I would pick the first one. That said for my low budget units I've had good luck with the Hizpo 4 core units. Waze crashes every now and then but it's no big deal.
Like this one:
https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/bb1v4tkc
To use waze you need to do one of three things. Connect it to wifi and load offline map before you go anywhere, connect the unit to your phones wifi hotspot, or buy a sim dongle and connect it to the units USB. There are units you can put a sim card in but not at the prices you are looking at.
Hope this helps
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A unit with 2GB RAM should be running fast enough for most apps. I was lucky to pickup a T8 processor unit from amazon with 8 core/32G storage /2GB ram. It costed me very little but a week later the price increased by $100 more than what I had paid on amazon.
I would suggest to get the newest model PX30 for ~$145, such as
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/AUT...For-Nissan-Toyota-Volkswagen/32870680923.html
You may try this one on amazon with 8 core/2GB RAM/32G storage, <$100
https://www.amazon.com/2DIN-Universal-OctaCore-RAM-Storage/dp/B07B3NGM3T
Discussion thread of this unit on xda is here
https://forum.xda-developers.com/an...ashnet-octa-core-lollipop-head-units-t3353188
velocity4 said:
I think you'll find whatever you pick at those price points will have bugs, even the more expensive ones will have them too. For what you want, I would be OK with a quad core 2gb ram unit, with a 16gb rom. Unless you are loading music or will have lots of app data you'll never use 32gb in the car.
The first one I wouldn't pick solely on the processor. I have no idea what a K6 is The fact that it doesn't say Pure Android means nothing. It is
Of those three I would pick the first one. That said for my low budget units I've had good luck with the Hizpo 4 core units. Waze crashes every now and then but it's no big deal.
Like this one:
https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/bb1v4tkc
To use waze you need to do one of three things. Connect it to wifi and load offline map before you go anywhere, connect the unit to your phones wifi hotspot, or buy a sim dongle and connect it to the units USB. There are units you can put a sim card in but not at the prices you are looking at.
Hope this helps
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yves31 said:
A unit with 2GB RAM should be running fast enough for most apps. I was lucky to pickup a T8 processor unit from amazon with 8 core/32G storage /2GB ram. It costed me very little but a week later the price increased by $100 more than what I had paid on amazon.
I would suggest to get the newest model PX30 for ~$145, such as
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/AUT...For-Nissan-Toyota-Volkswagen/32870680923.html
You may try this one on amazon with 8 core/2GB RAM/32G storage, <$100
https://www.amazon.com/2DIN-Universal-OctaCore-RAM-Storage/dp/B07B3NGM3T
Discussion thread of this unit on xda is here
https://forum.xda-developers.com/an...ashnet-octa-core-lollipop-head-units-t3353188
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's really helpful, thanks to both of you! I actually looked at the HIZPO one for really long time, and generally it just seems exactly what I need, fairly cheap, android 8, seems pretty good, have buttons.
Regarding the octa core head unit. It ends up with around the same price of the HIPZO including shipping, but one thing I quite fear of is the android version, which is only 5.1, I don't think there's actually a big difference, but it's a risk waking up one day finding that some of the apps you need are no longer supported, what do you guys think? Is it actually a real concern or not?
Also, the HIPZO looks fairly better to me than the PX30, what do you think? A spinning volume button is a huge plus for me.
Thanks again!
msacco4 said:
That's really helpful, thanks to both of you! I actually looked at the HIZPO one for really long time, and generally it just seems exactly what I need, fairly cheap, android 8, seems pretty good, have buttons.
Regarding the octa core head unit. It ends up with around the same price of the HIPZO including shipping, but one thing I quite fear of is the android version, which is only 5.1, I don't think there's actually a big difference, but it's a risk waking up one day finding that some of the apps you need are no longer supported, what do you guys think? Is it actually a real concern or not?
Also, the HIPZO looks fairly better to me than the PX30, what do you think? A spinning volume button is a huge plus for me.
Thanks again!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The processor of HIPZO unit seems to be T3 based on description. If true it wouldn't be as good as T8. PX30 is a newer MTCD/E unit, and is much better than T3/T8 units based on my experience. It comes with Android 9 as well.
yves31 said:
The processor of HIPZO unit seems to be T3 based on description. If true it wouldn't be as good as T8. PX30 is a newer MTCD/E unit, and is much better than T3/T8 units based on my experience. It comes with Android 9 as well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I see, how big is the difference? Usability is the most important thing to me, as I really hate the need to mess with stuff too much while driving, and you can't really distinguish the touch buttons in the PX30 without looking(or guessing).
Because of that, volume button, skip songs etc is really important to me, I can buy external wheel controller maybe and then it could be great. (Costs around 20$ though)
What about the octa core head unit? How cruicial is the android 5.1? I probably won't use much, but waze is very critical to me.
BTW, what is MTCD/E?
Thanks
I wouldn't buy a 5.1 unit now. Yes a T8 is better, the place you'll notice this the most is if you move the maps around with your fingers a lot, or when using video. The T8 isn't a lot faster than a T3, but it has more cache that will speed up anything that requires intensive video movement. My T3 2gb Hizpo is no iPhone 7 and it never will be, but it doesn't need to be I have tried all the latest processors and even 4gb ram units. For sure they are faster but not so much faster that justify the prices I don't think. But I've had the benefit of using and trying many different units. Actually if I could buy a Ownice C500 again with Android 7 I would do it. It's a very fast unit in its current Android 6 rom, but I don't really like the radio. I don't personally like most of the Android 8 look and feel.
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---------- Post added at 08:14 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:12 AM ----------
One thing you can do is get a remote steering wheel control unit and use it to control forward back volume etc. The connect to the key 1 key 2 wires on the head unit for cars that don't already have steering wheel controls.
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velocity4 said:
I wouldn't buy a 5.1 unit now. Yes a T8 is better, the place you'll notice this the most is if you move the maps around with your fingers a lot, or when using video. The T8 isn't a lot faster than a T3, but it has more cache that will speed up anything that requires intensive video movement. My T3 2gb Hizpo is no iPhone 7 and it never will be, but it doesn't need to be I have tried all the latest processors and even 4gb ram units. For sure they are faster but not so much faster that justify the prices I don't think. But I've had the benefit of using and trying many different units. Actually if I could buy a Ownice C500 again with Android 7 I would do it. It's a very fast unit in its current Android 6 rom, but I don't really like the radio. I don't personally like most of the Android 8 look and feel.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
---------- Post added at 08:14 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:12 AM ----------
One thing you can do is get a remote steering wheel control unit and use it to control forward back volume etc. The connect to the key 1 key 2 wires on the head unit for cars that don't already have steering wheel controls.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Really like the way you explain. Yes I have also thought about getting a remote steering wheel control unit for almost every head unit I wanted.
If I'm going to need to get it anyway, it doesn't matter much whether I have controllers on the head unit or not.
Would you still pick the HIPZO over the PX30?
I'm actually still using nougat on my phone and really like it, the issue I might think of is compatability, but with android 7 I doubt it will happen very soon.
As for the radio.. Well I'm not going to use the radio at all probably, that's why I have my phones music for.
Do you have other recommendations maybe?
Thanks a lot for the reply!
From what I've read about PX30s, I don't think its any better or worse than a T3 unit. Pick the one you like the most
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I am no stranger to Android in a car, I have done custom tablet installs in cars, (back in 2012 with Timur's custom cyanogenmod rom), custom car computers (roadrunner, centrafuse), etc.
Last year, I decided to give one of these neat looking Chinese head units a shot, I went with the Eonon double-din model with the PX5 processor, 4gb ram, 32gb rom with DSP audio chip. Out of the box and installing, the software wasn't terrible but borderline silly. The DSP audio control app was new to these units so I forgave some of the funky terminology and adjustments that were available in there, it was a far cry from adjustments one would find on a cheaper dedicated DSP unit. The performance was okay until summer rolled around and I had to tear the head unit apart and install my own heatsink and fan to the processing module board, this resolved that. The cheap mmc memory was a limiting factor of its performance in heavier apps like Google Maps, otherwise. Wifi performance was borderline trash. The extremely cheap and laughable wifi chipset barely handled 1.5-2Mbps of data transfer when downloading a Spotify library to the SD card. I even attempted to unsolder and replace the cheap antenna with my own higher end antenna but this was no solution to the very cheap and barely functional wireless module. Digging into the rom to find out that it's only been compiled for two equally bad wireless adapters, I gave up trying to make the wifi work any better. My unit also always produced processor noise out of the speakers when it was quiet in the car, sounded like onboard audio from cheap PC motherboards; this happened out of the amplified speaker outputs and the RCA outputs. I have since sold that car, I have a new car and would love to try again if it's even worth it.
I am not here to bash on these head units, I really WANT to see them improve. I would love to get my hands on one with more premium hardware, better working networking, worked out bugs, smarter display dimming control (maybe even a few extra cents of an ambient light sensor), audio DSP controls that are actually awesome, proper heatsink for included processor, etc. Do these exist? It's hard to find them in the sea of different brand names and Engrish website listings.
Any input on this would be so helpful to myself and many others.
I think you’ll find that they all suck in one way or another. If they were to be of total quality they would be $1500 or more. Think about the use case though, NO ONE else is making custom canbus integrated units that fit inside modern cars which no longer conform to single/double DIN form factors. I don’t think at the price points most of these units are that quality and functionality will be improved.
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I've been using Android head units since around 2013 or so, when they had resistive touchscreens lol. While they still have a lot to improve on, I must say that they've come a long, long way. There's only really three features that I want to see, and one of those the 2013 ones all had:
1) For the love of God, there was no need to take away iPod support. Some of us still have an iPod. It's great to have in a car to play your music. Much better than putting it on SD cards, because I like the playlists. Bring it back!
2) Resolution. 800x480 is roughly as best at it gets for these guys. Although I'm greedy and want 4k, at least give me 1080p!
3) Blu-ray support. Come on already, it's been out for 14 years!
I am also interested in this question, I had the atoto a6 pro before I sold the car. For a quad core it felt slow.
Is there any unit out there besides joying with proper lte support? Joying does not support att/Rogers/Fido lte frequencies. Except band 7.
I've seen on the forums that the xtrons won't even take a 4g dongle and work in mobile connection mode and also they have an underpowered USB port, 250mA or something . Where standard is 500mA.
Anything out there with North American frequencies?
Zap! said:
I've been using Android head units since around 2013 or so, when they had resistive touchscreens lol. While they still have a lot to improve on, I must say that they've come a long, long way. There's only really three features that I want to see, and one of those the 2013 ones all had:
1) For the love of God, there was no need to take away iPod support. Some of us still have an iPod. It's great to have in a car to play your music. Much better than putting it on SD cards, because I like the playlists. Bring it back!
2) Resolution. 800x480 is roughly as best at it gets for these guys. Although I'm greedy and want 4k, at least give me 1080p!
3) Blu-ray support. Come on already, it's been out for 14 years!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
first point...fine I get it..
second point 4K???????
third point..ok you are trolling..
I appreciate the few replies here.
I for one am hoping for the most subtle and cost effective improvements that make the experience of one of these in the dash feel like a better product. Top changes I'd like to see:
Display with high NITS, defeat the bright sunlight. Ability to see the content REALLY WELL comes before ultra-high resolution. As long as I can't count the pixels from the driver seat, I'm not going to knock on the resolution.
Clean audio output, some of these produce noise like crazy when listening at quiet volumes, you can hear internal processes coming through the speakers like onboard audio of cheap PC motherboards.
DSP controls that make sense- timing controls that conform to other DSP audio controls of all other typical DSP audio products, the interface is goofy although the chip being used is quite powerful but I don't believe the writers of the software interface completely understand what it should be doing.
Automatic dimming displays. A tiny ambient light value sensor hidden in the glass or plastic fascia and android's own built in software solutions will allow automatic brightness control of the display so that when you're sitting in your car at night without the headlights turned on, the screen doesn't bake your eyeballs out or when your car has automatic headlights and they turn on early before the sun goes down and your screen goes so dark you can't see it. This is a simple solution and I hope they resolve it.
Custom fully integrated units such as the one we put in our 2013 Mini Cooper Countryman S model needs to be worked on more before shoving them out the door. $600 gets us a head unit that looks nice in the dash but the integration of retained door chimes/warning sounds/blinker signal indicator sounds is the most absolute rubbish thing, ever. Would gladly spend closer to $1000 US for something that is more refined.
A home screen that doesn't suck. Solid integration with FM tuner controls, common media player apps, etc in the home screen would be great to see. A home screen that works good enough to the point that we don't have to fish the play store to make it better would be killer.
It’s been a short while, anyone got any updates on android head units that don’t suck?
ojuniour said:
first point...fine I get it..
second point 4K????
third point..ok you are trolling..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1) Thanks! There has to be a way to hack it back.
2) I was joking about 4k, but I want 1080p
3) Not trolling, I have quite a few Blu-ray disks and would like to be able to view them in the car.