Database Users

Are there any Chinese HU's without any problems?

Wow, just when you think you've found a headunit that is perfect, what happens instead? You read some reviews that are written after the user owned it for a short amount of time, and then you discover the problems.
Is there an Android HU that gets good FM/AM reception? Doesn't need to be rebooted? Won't disappoint? I previously got burned on a cheaper model and don't want to repeat that again. Hell - I could have just gotten a Kenwood and avoided all the headache and a $195 install job.

Hi,
I think that depends on your definition of "problems". My definition of a real problem is when there is no solotion on xda developers
OK, first I would recommend that you buy a head unit that was made for your car brand and model if available. I own a 2013 Skoda Rapid (similar to VW Polo / Golf, no "dirty" jokes please lol) and bought a VW specific model ("Autopumpkin" (reseller) 2 DIN for VW, RK3066 processor with Android 4.4.4 @ 800x480px, firmware is KLD2).
Installation: Plug in the quad lock CAN bus and the head unit was ready. Nothing else to do.
AM/FM:
In some cases, your car antenna needs +12V power to work properly. My head unit has a "phantom power adapter" (don't know if this is the right word in english). If you don't connect +12V to antenna, the reception is awful, I only received 4 stations with poor quality. Once the pantom power was connected (in my special case, I also needed a FAKRA adapter to connect the head unit with the car antenna since the plugs from the head unit didn't fit in the car connector), I received 18 stations (more can't be saved) on 88-95MHz (band goes from 88-108 here) using auto scan mode.
"Doesn't need to be rebooted":
I don't know exactly what you mean, would you like to specify that? The head unit can't be always on due to the high power consumption which would kill the battery very fast. Boot time is about 20-30 seconds but it remains about 5 minutes in standby if you pull out the ignition key.
Sound quality:
If sound quality is as important for you as for me, you MAYBE have a problem with those cheap head units but that also depends on what you like to do and to what kind of music you do listen.
On FM, sound quality doesn't matter for me because I use FM only for traffic announcements and news / documentary). The built in EQ is not the best one, at first I was thinking about to send the unit back because of the bad quality. After some days, I tried Poweramp with it's EQ and the difference was HUGE. Sounds better that the original car radio. Later, I tried Viper4Android (EQ app) since the Poweramp EQ only works for Poweramp and I thoght better radio sound quality would not be bad, but AFAIK AM/FM (and Bluetooth) sound output is not processed in Android what means only the build in EQ can influence the sound quality of that parts.
Traffic announcement (TA):
But one thing about TA feature does really drives me crazy: If you have enabled TA and the radio app detects traffic announcements (what happens also if the radio is in "background" respectively not explicit opened), a "modal popup" appears and you can't do anything (you can't skip TA or switch to another app) but vol up / down or disable TA with the "Close" button at all what means that you have to go to the radio app and enable TA again manually.
Bluetooth:
Bluetooth works much better than expected. If I get into the car in the morning, my phone (Sony Xperia Z2 with stock rom) connects with the head unit in seconds. If I press the "Play" button in the head unit's bluetooth app, it almost instantly continues playing my Spotify playlist from the phone (Spotify app doesn't work on my head unit, don't know why...).
3G / Wifi:
About 3G: Sometimes the HU loses connection because the power supplied by the USB ports is not enough. In that case, I have to power off and on the unit again (but "soft" reboot, done in seconds). Wifi (if you use your smartphone as hotspot with teathering) does work very well but not on distances over approx. 10 meters.
About GPS:
The GPS signal fixes very, VERY fast (2-5 seconds, but thats maybe because Android fixes the signal at boot time) and the supplied navigation app (iGO Primo) can calculate a route from south germany to a random forrest in Poland (I tapped on a random place on the map) approximately 1500km away in less than 10 seconds.
Dual way CAN bus:
Does work with my car, I can control radio stations via the buttons of my on-board computer / MFD (Multi Function Display as called by VW, my car doesn't have SWC) and the MFD shows the station frequency. I can also control the Media Player App (next / prev track, not volume), but only the built in one, not Poweramp.
Conclusion: If there is a HU for your specific brand / model, you should not have as much trouble as if you buy a generic one, especially with installation. You should have at least some basic Android, car and technical knowledge and (most important) the will to play around with your device, try out new apps, firmwares and roms, play with the settings etc... If you want a real plug and play solution, you maybe have to pay 1000€ / $ +. You get what you pay for
I hope my reply was helpful.

Nice Text. So it is.

hippelsepp said:
I hope my reply was helpful.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It was, thank you. Which HU do you use?

My question is: Is there an American/Japanese/Anywhere else head unit that can do as much as these Chinese head units??

Suggestions on which HeadUnit

GrowlAudio have a model specific version for my car (growlaudio.com/nissan-navara) but finding real specs on it seems to be next to impossible.
All the suppliers have been able to tell me:
The units are not upgradable as in OS updates. OS 4.4 is the most stable of the OS available. Yes you can see other units with OS 5 and 6 available from china at a cheaper price but there is a known fault with them that they are unstable and crash a lot.
Price includes Growl unit with built in fascia, all cables and adapters needed for install, GPS antenna and free reverse camera.
Android Head Unit:
OS: Android 4.4
CPU: Quad Core Processor
RAM: DDR3 1Gb
ROM: 8G EMMC
SD: Built - In 16GB
Capable of reading 1TB external Drive
Mobile Connectivity : iOS and Android Devices
VIDEO: RMVB,MKV,MOV,WMV,AVI,MPG
AUDIO: MP3,WMA,WAV,OGG,FLAC
GPS MODULE: Support
GPS Navigation software: Sygic, Waze and other android compatible maps. Capable on connecting to WiFi via Mobile Hotspot or wifi connectivity
Bluetooth Audio and Handsfree Calls: Supported
Steering Wheel controls: Supported
Rear view video: Automatic Backup Camera turn on when reversing
Other users that have purchased and installed the unit seem to think it's the best thing ever, but every video I can find of it is slow to startup (30-40 sec), reverse camera not coming on till full boot. And no one I talk to is able to provide any details on audio quality.
What I am looking for in a HeadUnit:
Required:
* Reverse camera capable of being used within a few seconds of ignition
* Bluetooth hands free with iPhone compatibility
* Music streaming from either iPhone or USB / Flash storage
* Google Maps / GPS compatible
* 3G/4G sim/USB Dongle compatible
* Steering Wheel Control support (CANBUS)
* Audio quality at least equal to or better than stock
* Responsive screen / controls
Optional / Extras
* Multiple camera support
* Side-by-side picture
* Able to connect to iPhone Bluetooth, Internet, OBD Reader/Torque, TPMS at the same time, or at least without having to go into settings and change connected device
Does anyone have any suggestions of a suitable HU?

I've been digging for info on these, reading Amazon reviews, reading threads here, reading marketing on the mfr/reseller websites and was contemplating starting a thread for this. In lieu of starting another thread I figure to just contribute on yours. It all started not long ago when I finally installed a 2-year-sitting-in-closet Pioneer Appradio 3... what a piece of junk!!! (but it does sound good)
Is anyone comparing the pros/cons of these things? It's pretty difficult to compile information on them when there are a ton of brands nobody has heard of combined with new hardware/software coming out all the time. From what I've read there are a few major dealbreakers that make me want to wait, after all who wants to swap their head unit out on any regular basis?
I head not heard about sticking to 4.4, why are 5.1 and 6.0 not good? I read somewhere they aren't as snappy but in any video I've seen they look fine.
I'll put my lists here and maybe others can chime in with what they want/like/dislike so we can paint a bigger picture for these head units.
Here are all the things that make me hesitant to buy one of these right now:
Dealbreakers for me:
No hands-free voice control for things like Android Auto, Google Now, Google Maps, Calling... "OK Google"
Boot times any more than 5 seconds.
Lack of external microphone - I know I can add one but geez is it too much to ask for a jack?
(some may have) independent volume for media/nav/phone/etc
Cons:
No ability to USB tether to use phone's internet connection (someone's probably done this here)
Seemingly weak future update support
Problems that can be handled with apps and mods:
No light sensor for auto dimming
speed dependent master volume change​
Here's what I would put on a wishlist:
Must haves:
fast boot time (<5-10 seconds)
voice control
external microphone (or jack so can add)
option resume playing last thing on startup (car start)
Independant volume for Media/nav/phone/etc
Good audio quality
Like to have:
permanent button for Nav app
headlight or auto dimming
speed dependent volume
DVR support for dashcam AND reverse camera input
USB tethering option for data connection
ability to work with aftermarket bluetooth steering wheel remote
full Android Auto support with voice commands
ability to update in the future
Bluetooth 5 with internet connection sharing would be nice (IPSP)​
The Newsmy Carpad 4 has some things I love: 4G SIM card capable, 2 camera DVR with ability to act as a car security system and send alerts to your phone, but it costs way too much and will surely come down like every tech does in the near future.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=71220653&postcount=24
https://de.aliexpress.com/store/pro...32789646411.html?spm=2114.12010608.0.0.Qi1q42
Also looks like the Onwice C500 has 4G SIM card slot
https://forum.xda-developers.com/android-auto/android-head-units/ownice-c500-released-t3478747
http://www.gearbest.com/car-dvd-player/pp_597322.html
Joying has nice stuff and I've seen reviews that describe their low-power "dormant" mode that keeps the unit ready for a zero-delay startup even after the car is parked for a day (some units seem to only have a short dormant period before they shut down)... dormant time would of course be all dependent on how much power they draw whilst dormant.
ATOTO claim they can handle voice commands: http://www.myatoto.com/index.php?m=content&c=index&a=show&catid=15&id=5
This is just the tip of the iceberg, I know. I can never seem to find one that does everything I/we all want, and that means time to wait. Anyone compiled up-to-date info so we can make an informed decision?

RedbeardPete said:
Dealbreakers for me:
Boot times any more than 5 seconds.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
From what I've been able to read, you will not get this in any pure Android head unit. Its simply not possible. Do you know Android phone/tablet that is capable of powering on in less than 5 sec?
Sure they can all 'wake' in that time frame, but that's because they are running from a battery. Yes the car has a battery, but the constant drain from the head unit being in sleep mode will likely flatten the battery if the car is not started in 3-5 days.
Your demands list is something more inline with an Alpine/Kenwood/Non-PureAndroid head unit.

The fairly new Joying Intel Sofia Head Units do go into a deep sleep and only draw about 10 mAh once the vehicle has been shut off for five minutes or so. To clarify, my JY-UL134N2 unit only takes a second or two to start up after being off for days, and it begins playing music from the Sandisk 200GB micro sdxc card in a few seconds. It will also display the reverse camera instantly like the older rk3066 and rk3188 units. Please note that this HU is in a spare vehicle that only gets used every few days or on weekends, and the battery drain has not been an issue at all. Please also note that if the system is shut down completely (not in dormancy mode), the boot time is 15 seconds to a minute depending on how loaded up the system is with apps etc...
Anyway, regardless of the start up time, I doubt you will find any Chinese Android Head Units that will check all or even most of the boxes on your wish list out of the box. To date, they all appear to need software and or hardware mods in order to work half way decent and even then they are far from perfect. For sound quality, Alpine, Kenwood, Pioneer, or Sony would be far better out of box. The bottom line is that for the cost, the Chinese Android Head Units can be fun to tinker with and decent with work, but you get what you pay for when it comes to sound quality (IMHO).
Best of luck,
R

rhacy said:
The fairly new Joying Intel Sofia Head Units do go into a deep sleep and only draw about 10 mAh once the vehicle has been shut off for five minutes or so. To clarify, my JY-UL134N2 unit only takes a second or two to start up after being off for days, and it begins playing music from the Sandisk 200GB micro sdxc card in a few seconds. It will also display the reverse camera instantly like the older rk3066 and rk3188 units. Please note that this HU is in a spare vehicle that only gets used every few days or on weekends, and the battery drain has not been an issue at all. Please also note that if the system is shut down completely (not in dormancy mode), the boot time is 15 seconds to a minute depending on how loaded up the system is with apps etc...
Anyway, regardless of the start up time, I doubt you will find any Chinese Android Head Units that will check all or even most of the boxes on your wish list out of the box. To date, they all appear to need software and or hardware mods in order to work half way decent and even then they are far from perfect. For sound quality, Alpine, Kenwood, Pioneer, or Sony would be far better out of box. The bottom line is that for the cost, the Chinese Android Head Units can be fun to tinker with and decent with work, but you get what you pay for when it comes to sound quality (IMHO).
Best of luck,
R
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is what I'm looking for! How do you find the HU? Would you recommend it to aynone?

Google for Joying, they have a fairly decent website. I definitely noticed that feature mentioned and demonstrated in some YouTube videos of newer Joying units and seems like a winner... Boot time is my biggest gripe (without having ever owned one of these). I'm not sure of the downsides for Joying units although I think they don't have external mic jack, will look into that and report back.
I should have been more specific, a usable dormant fast-boot mode that can do 24 hours before shutdown/draining top much battery would be totally usable... That way the daily driver fires up the head unit right away.
So what head unit do you guys think checks off the most boxes for you?

Report - New unit PX3 2GB/16GB Android 7.1.2 (2013 Altima version)

I just received this unit:
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
http://www.eds-fl.com/AndroidHeadUnit/1.png
Summary in case the link dies, it is a 2013/14/15 Altima specific radio, but the underlying hardware seems fairly generic. Similar units are available for a number of different car makes and models.
If you are considering an Android head unit for your car, you must first read these links.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/wiki/Generic_Android_Head_Unit/MCU_Explained
Note that the links below go back to head unit designs that were available a few years ago and much of the comments and problems do not apply to current hardware.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/wiki/Hui_Fei_Type
and
https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2660662
I like that it has a full 8" screen but also has buttons and knobs which integrate very well with the car's dash and make use in a car much easier and safer (touchscreen-only controls in a car is a safety hazard).
The price was very attractive and I was able to separately buy a PX5 core board (4GB/32GB) for ~$100 (not received yet) so I will have options in case the PX3 CPU is too slow.
The unit appears well made. I have been running it on the bench for about a day and most everything I tried seems to work as expected (caveats below).
The LCD is good, with very wide viewing angle (one of my concerns), the resolution adequate (interestingly, the 1000x600 screen is much better than the pokey 480pixel units on the $600 Pioneer unit I checked at Best Buy), the touch screen is very responsive.
One strange issue is that it takes A LONG TIME to download anything. The web browser (Chrome) works well, but downloading apps from the Play Store takes forever, even though if you are patient, they eventually complete. I have read in another thread that it may be due to insufficient cache space. Whatever the cause, it is irritating, but it is not something you do too often (aside from initial setup,) so it's not a deal breaker. I will report if the PX5 coreboard improves on that when I get it.
Aside from the downloading slowdowns, the unit seems to handle multitasking properly. I was concerned about the Px3/2GB RAM set being underpowered (which is why I bought the PX5 coreboard) but it seems quite usable as is. I suspect that earlier units with 1GB RAM do not fare as well.
Now some random observations:
The radio app works but the UI could use improvements. There does not seem to be a way to name the stations once they are memorized. They take the name of whatever is streaming out of the RDS system, so most stations I saved are named from the song they were playing at the time...
Navigation uses the iGo app with naviextras.com maps. The maps appear to be several years old. There is a particular issue in my street that has been fixed just about everywhere (Google maps and the various GPS nav units I have had my hands on) at least 3 years ago but it is still there on these maps. Not sure how to upgrade the maps since the radio is not registered on the naviextras.com web site. I have placed a question in the customer service area of their web site. They want a zipped copy of the license folder. I have found the folder but not managed to do that yet.
The music player is also adequate. I have not found how to transfer music from the thumb drive to the radio itself using the stock FileBrowser app . That will probably require a separate file manager app of some sort. There is an equalizer with separate sub setting. Interestingly, I have been using the radio with a set of inexpensive Harman Kardon computer speakers (using the RCA output connectors, not the speaker outputs) and the sound is pretty great with the equalizer set to flat. The noise level is extremely low (I am using a well regulated power supply, I will update once the radio is in the car with engine running.)
The radio does not shut down when "powered down", it just goes to sleep. Current consumption in sleep mode is very low (I measured 15mA.) I turned it off last night before going to bed, expecting it would take the ~20 seconds to boot this morning. To my surprise, the radio turned on as soon as I pressed the power button. This is even faster than my Altima's OEM radio! A pleasant surprise.
I bought the radio with a separate Bluetooth ODB scanner from the same vendor as it is advertised as supporting it. The Torque app is installed in the radio, so it seems it is ready to go (I have seen some older Android head units that could not access Bluetooth OBD dongles.) I have not tried it yet.
I connected the radio to my Android phone via Bluetooth last night but did not do anything else then. This morning, while eating breakfast with the radio playing music, the phone rings in the radio and I heard a voice mail from DHL advising me of the impending delivery of the coreboard. So I guess the phone link works too Interestingly the phone was a good distance from the radio (I have a big house) so Bluetooth range is plenty, much more than adequate.
I was reluctant to log into the radio with my main Google account (since it would be easy for anyone breaking into the car to have access to all my Google information, stored passwords and such, so I created a second account with simply the few phone numbers I am likely to want to call from the car and used that to log into the radio.
I have not been able to place a call directly from the radio via voice command or otherwise. I was able to make it read my phonebook from the Android 5.1 handset, so when I ask the radio to call my wife, it properly finds the number and it displays a green handset saying it is calling, but nothing is happening on the phone. A problem that I need to resolve before putting the radio in the car. Note: I also have a Bluetooth headset for my motorcycle helmet and I have no issue calling any number of the phonebook through that, so the issue is not with the phone.
When a call comes in, the phone app opens up and everything works pretty much as expected. Sound is pretty good on both ends. However, the phone app has a row of buttons at the bottom of the screen and some are semi-transparent while others are opaque, so depending on what app was running, those semi-transparent buttons are not legible. This is very strange. When the call was over, the radio which was running did not turn back on (but when I got the voice mail from DHL earlier, the radio turned back on after the call.)
Overall I am quite pleased. I have a couple of bugs to fix before I install the radio in the car. I will report then how that went.
Edit: The MCU version in that unit is MTCE_KGL_V2.70_2, Oct 22 2017

Update:
Attempted to install the head unit in my car today. Removing the trim parts, swapping the bracket between the old radio and the new one was fairly easy. The mechanical parts match well with the mounting holes and the look of the head unit matches the rest of the dash very well.
There are two small connectors that were plugged into the old unit that do not have a match with the harness that came with the new head unit. I suspect it is the XM antenna and the USB socket, so I plugged the connectors that did have a match to the harness, reinstalled the radio temporarily and turned it on.
The unit came up but no sound.
The small LCD display at the center of the dash (between speedo and tach) said "Audio is off" and indeed, nothing came from the speakers. I suspect the Bose amplifier is not getting the signal to turn ON. The cable harness that came with the head unit has an open wire labelled "AMP CON" going out (to the car's wiring) which I assume is for Amplifier Control that needs to be connected to 12V to turn the amplifier on. I need to try that.
All the steering wheel controls did work and operated as expected, so that was good news, but no audio is of course a bummer.
My car has the Bose audio system and I have read that these are not typically compatible with generic head units without some rewiring or an adapter, so unless I can find something on the internet in the next couple of days, I will take the car and the radio to the local installer and ask them if they can make it work. I am not sure what is the solution with the backup camera. I would really prefer to keep the original camera and I can't imagine it would be very hard to make it work. For now, it is back with the original audio system.
Here is more info about Bose audio systems: (can't post links so Google "understanding-factory-bose-system" which will point you to altimaforums dot net)
Edit: I found the blue connector that had no match on my harness goes to the USB socket and Crutchfield has an adapter (search for Metra-AX-NISUSB2-USB-Adapter-for-Nissan on the Crutchfield site, I can't post links yet). I called Crutchfield and they also do have an adapter for the Bose speakers, I ordered it with the USB adapter. They also said there is no solution to use the built-in camera, I will have to use an aftermarket one.
Edit2: Found out that the OEM backup camera is supported, the connections are there in the harness that came with the head unit, I just had to plug the right connectors together. So the only issue originally with the head unit as received was the Bose audio system support which should be fixed with the Crutchfield adapter, due next week.
Note: under the factory radio is a large white plastic box with a large multi-pin connector that has its own harness and does not seem to be directly connected or related to the head unit. It is mounted on the same bracket as the radio, so I reinstalled it in the car. I am curious what that box is for.

I received the PX5 coreboard (4GB RAM + 32GB Flash). It came with Android 6.0 compared to 7.1.2 on the PX3 board (which has 2GB RAM and 16GB Flash).
The PX5 board has a large heatsink over the CPU and memory while the PX3 board has the chips exposed. I would expect a higher current consumption.
Operation was very smooth, but since the PX3 board was already smooth, the change was just noticeable when switching from one to the other. The one major change is that downloading apps, while still not nearly as fast as it is on my phone, is considerably faster than on the PX3 board. Now it's just slow, compared to absolute molasse.
I did not time the boot time but there was no significant difference between the two, not enough to make a decision based on that. Both take 20-30 seconds and both restart immediately from sleep mode.
Android 6.0 definitely has more rough edges than 7.1.2. I particularly dislike the launcher which looks like this (this picture is not of my unit, but the same screen):
compared to the PX3 (Android 7.1.2) launcher:
I find it much easier to have the important icons at the bottom of the screen rather than on the side.
There are also fewer settings under Home->Settings.
I know I could reflash the Android version but right now, I put the PX3 coreboard back in the unit. I may keep the PX5 in case I would run out of Flash, but since the unit came with about 14GB available (out of 16), it is unlikely that I will run out (my music is on a flash card and there is also the USB port).
One observation: I have an old iPod 5th generation (the one with the 60GB hard drive, it is probably 10 years old) and neither unit recognizes it, so that is a little disappointing since it works very well as a portable music system and it works fine in the Altima's OEM head unit.

i also like that other launcher, my 7.1.2 unit didn't have that launcher

At the moment, I am looking at upgrading the Android version on the new coreboard but I will install the radio with the quad core PX3 this week end anyways.

Here are pictures of the installed unit and a little feedback after 4 months of ownership.
Short version: I love it!
Long version: I installed the radio in the car and found out there was no mechanical issue, the radio fit without having to pry or push anything and it looks great. The finish and texture of the facia and buttons perfectly matches that of the car. The only hint that this is not an OEM system is that it is way too nice
However, my car has a Bose audio system that needs to be turned on when the radio turns on and the Bose system has low level differential inputs. The radio has low level outputs on RCA connectors which do not directly interface with the differential inputs of the Bose system so I bought the audio cable adapter from Crutchfields (along with the USB cable adapter) and I took the car and radio to the local installer (I did not want to have to mess with) to have it installed the second time.
Of course, the "professional" installer connected the Bose system to the radio's speaker outputs so when I got the car, with the volume control in position 1, the level was enough for highway driving. In position 2, it was too loud. I can't believe they thought that would be OK. Anyhow, I took the car back and told them that was the reason I gave them the audio cable adapter. 2 hours later, the car was ready (again) and all is now good.
Everything is working (steering wheel controls, bluetooth, backup camera, USB connector, WiFi) and the audio sounds really great.
Navigation works well. I am not sure how I will be able to upgrade the maps. I asked the vendor and they sent me a link to a recent version of the map for the US. Not sure how long they will keep doing that. Of course, I can use the phone in hotspot mode and run Google Maps on the radio via the phone's 4G data connection, as long as there is 4G signal that is.
The nav application has the annoying habit of notifying me when I go more than 3 mph over the speed limit. It only does it once, until the speed limit changes or I turn in another street. I looked through the settings and I have not found how to turn that off. I guess one could consider that a useful reminder. In this area, most traffic goes about 15 miles over the limit so it is annoying.
I bought a Bluetooth OBD-II adapter and that works well with the Torque app to monitor engine and emission parameters.
I somehow expected the FM radio to be cheaply made and with average (or lower) performance. I am very glad to report that the FM radio works at least as well as the OEM radio. My favorite radio station is 50 miles away and with most cars, I do not get good reception everywhere in town, there are areas where the signal is barely there. This radio has not experienced a drop out yet in town. Not only that but the audio quality is actually excellent. The local public radio has outstanding sound quality and it definitely comes through on this set.
The only remaining irritation is the radio app itself. There is no way to set the name of the stations saved in memory. The radio automatically captures the RDS stream and uses the last 5 characters received as the name of the station in memory. I assume that Chinese FM radio stations only broadcast their name via RDS and it works for them. Over here (US), the RDS stream is also used to indicate the program currently playing, so the "name" of the stations in memory is useless.
The head unit came with a dual core/16GB CPU board and Android 7. I also bought a quad core/32GB CPU board but it comes with Android 6 and the launcher is not nearly as nice, so I kept the dual core card in the radio (I tried the FCC launcher and did not like it.) The dual core is fast enough, honestly the quad core was not noticeably faster and I believe 16GB will be enough since there are two micro SD sockets (one used by the maps) and two USB connectors for additional music or video storage.
Finally, a slight disappointment: my iPod will not work when plugged into the USB port. I have a lot of music on it (60GB device) but the radio apparently is limited to 32GB storage devices on USB.
Note that the screen protector is still on the LCD for the pictures above. The display is really good and usable in most conditions, unless the sun comes through the rear window directly on it, not a frequent occurrence.

Hi. Interested on your radio. Can you post the link where you bought that? Is there any way to make it to work with the stock reverse camera? Thanks

I have found how to disable the warning from the navigation system. It is much more pleasant now.
You have to go into the factory settings, password 126

Since the Altima was totaled last year, I kept the radio because it is so nice I was hoping I could find another Altima V6 to put it in, but I could not find a car I liked so I eventually bought an Acura TL therefore I just put the radio for sale on eBay.

PHP:
Stevenlim said:
Hi. Interested on your radio. Can you post the link where you bought that? Is there any way to make it to work with the stock reverse camera? Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It works with the Nissan camera, I just had to connect it, simple as that. I bought it on AliExpress, here is the same unit from somebody else:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32865581547.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.0.0.3b353585OJGe9o
Note that you still need to buy the Bose and USB cables to connect to the Nissan harness.

FunRover Android 8.1 Intel Airmont

Hello,
I installed the FunRover Android 8.1 Intel Airmont eight-core 1.8GHz SC9853i (4GB RAM, 64GB flash) on my Skoda Octavia 2 FL RS (2010).
I would like to provide an intial feedback to all who might consider this headunit and ask some questions regarding setup of some Android headunit features.
Links to setup:
Headunit: https://www.aliexpress.com/store/pr...ml?spm=2114.12010612.8148356.2.20b456d00mOBJe
DVR Camera: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/HD-...ml?spm=2114.12010108.1000023.7.35b11b8d1Fd2HV
1) Installation:
Pro:
- plug and play - no extra adapters needed
- direct integration with can for vehicle information like: door open, car sensors, steering wheel controls, AC info
- good fit
Cons:
- held in place only by the frame's plastic pins
- it provides a single USB, the second one has an AUX cable plug that is fit if you have the original oem usb cable, so make sure you have it or buy the proper aux to USB cable if you need two USB ports
2) Look and Feel:
Pro:
- good design
- pleasant touch feel
- somewhat responsive
Cons:
- the screen seems to be of less than high end quality: left side touchscreen buttons section seems slightly detached from the frame (1-2 mm) and moves when pressed
- the screen is not IPS... the seller added a note on the site that you need to ask specifically for IPS screen....
- glass protector and screen reflect strongly in daylight so it is not ideal
- the silver frame has a gold tint so it does not match the silver dashboard tint from the car perfectly
- touch buttons do not respond always - you find yourself having to push twice for a response
3) Hardware & related features:
Pro:
- specs seem enough for anything you may need
- built-in 4G modem
- good GPS signal
Cons:
- intel / platfrom heats like crazy - average CPU temp is 80C - screen gets hot because of this
- only one 4G antenna - but stil OK signal
- extremely poor WiFi signal (phone has full wifi from router and the headunit has maybe half or even losing signal)
- 4G modem has poor speed, maybe you get 300KB download speed over 4G
- hardware has poor screening for interference: radio has a "buzz"; even with all audio stopped you get a hum in the speakers
- sound is poor compared to a high / mid radio: I had the Skoda Bolero unit and the sound is twice as good; after some EQ tweaks I was able to get a decent sound quality, but you will need an external amp if you want mid/high sound quality
- screen is reflective; maybe if you ask for the IPS version it will be better
- bluetooth seems to disconnect when on a bumpy road... so I'm putting this on HW; must test more
4) Software:
Pro:
- stable up to now
- quick cold boot (compared to an Ownice500 I had)
- sleep option makes almost instant boot, but I am worried of battery drain so I turned it off as you can't configure a max sleep time before complete shutdown (as you can on other headunits)
- reverse supports steering direction via can (the lines move when turning the steering wheel); also standard OEM parking sensors are supported
- support for vehicle info
- you can update the DVR app to gain some virtual adas features
Cons:
- the worst UI I saw, heavily restricted regarding customization - however I noticed the same is on Joying Intel units
- limited OS options compared to other Android Headunits, but sufficient for non Android geeks
- Radio app does not scale when used in split screen
- widgets from newly installed apps only show up after restart
- no manuals or detailed OS / SW options explained. You have an operational instructions app, but the descriptions are basic.
- reverse cam is not instant - has a 5s delay for app up
- the screen brightness can be controlled from the headlights setting or "time" - but the time can't be configured and is not synchronized with the sunset information from google maps for example
- minimum screen brightness can be too high for some people
- volume control is not separate for notifications etc. it's just one volume slider; you can configure some sound ratios between media, navigation , bluetooth, but that's it.... compared to ownice where you could configure nav / bluetooth / etc volume on the fly
- does not integrate with the car bluetooth module for audio output... but I guess it's too much to ask
- major issue with sound volume: seems related to using the steering wheel volume up/down - results in volume going to max or min randomly and using any button (screen, physical or steering wheel) only slows it down, but it's like it keeps getting the command to do volume up or down in paralel to any additional input you may do. You gain control after 10-30s if you keep pushing the mute / volume up/down on the steering wheel, however it is DANGEROUS (especially when it goes to MAX volume) because it can blow your speakers or scare the hell out of you / maybe cause an accident when it happens during driving.
5) External accessories:
5.1) FunRover DVR cam:
Pro:
- good viewing angle (170)
- plug and play
- DVR app works out of the box; starts automatically on boot and records 2 min time loop while overwriting oldest files
Cons:
- extremely limited DVR app - basically NO options to configure
- no file management; can't access the MicroSD card files of the camera from the headunit file manager; only works in the DVR app but I can't find a way to move / share these over to a separate location - e.g. google drive
5.2) External MIC:
- non existent - even though the seller said they will send it as gift it was not in the package
5.3) Reverse camera:
- I did not install it yet; I will get another HD cam and make a comparison with the packaged one
Questions:
A) What UI/Launcher do you recommend for such platforms? Will it show the built in apps (e.g. radio) or will they have to be reinstalled?
B) How can I manage or move files from DVR to another location - e.g. on headunit storage? DVR has... Novatek chipset. Do you recommend another DVR app?
C) What widgets / apps do you recommend to use for displaying the CANBUS information? I will try realDash to see if it can take the canbus source...., however I was hoping to have something like a widget on the homescreen and not an app
D) Did anyone encounter the sound volume uncontrollable volume issue? I already disabled the "bluetooth absolute volume" with no change in behavior. Also none of the sound settings made a difference. It seems like somehow the signal from the steering wheel button is processed in a loop. From my current experience it seems to be a canbus decoder or HU software issue.
E) Did anyone manage to integrate such a headunit with the skoda bluetooth module for audio output?
You can ask me other questions about this headunit and I will answer / test.
Have fun!

Hi, I just bought the same radio, but for Mitsubishi ASX. My first impression is almost the same like yours. My main problem is external microphone - when I use bluetooth for call, only internal mic is working.. :/ (matter of adjustment??). also RDS on radio is almost invisible..

I am looking for this device, now its android 9.0, but not sure if still TFT and not IPS screen. @axicos do you know if they improved this unit?

My new funrover arrived. Looks beautiful, ips screen, android 9.0, 2 USB (with CarPlay) but I have some issue's:
- parking sensors activate screen info when switched on by button or reverse, but don't shows the distance
- a/c temp is 2°C below the select one on the controller
- car settings menu : I can't activate any option
My car it's sa 2013 Passat variant.

Generic PC based Android Auto?

Hi all,
I have an old school CarPC that I'm looking to refresh with Android Auto. The system in my car has a head unit and a somewhat unintegrated GPS system (separate screen from the headunit, which has no screen at all, only dumb controls). The way it works presently is my CarPC video is tied into the GPS screen and the audio is tied into the headunit Aux input.
You can see some of the details here if itnerested:
CarPC with stock Nav - RX8Club.com
Series I Interior, Audio, and Electronics - CarPC with stock Nav - hey gang.. just picked up an 05 ti grey rx-8 a few weeks ago, came with the full GT package, MS front and rear spoiler. still have the rear and side skirts to go. in the meantime, i decided to get going on the interior, adding a...
www.rx8club.com
What I'm looking for really is any hardware device that:
1) can run Android Auto
2) outputs video to VGA
2) accepts a USB controller for capacitive touch screen
3) accepts a USB controller for Car2PC/Aux input -- devices like these allow a standard audio jack plug into the Aux port, and then ALSO enables steering controls to work (volume, next/previous track, voice control prompt)
4) accepts a standard jack microphone
5) not critical but ideally accepts a radio antenna to integrate OTA radio signal into Android Auto
I *think* raspberry PI is my best option at this point, but it seems like it doesn't have all of the kinks worked out as of yet. If there is something I could install on the bare metal of my car PC, I think that'd be most ideal.
I'll appreciate any expertise on this!