My double din radio broke down so I am looking for alternatives and came accross these cheap android units:
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/192110171400
Has anyone experience with these? I am wondering how quick the audio is. Alternstivrly I am thinking of buying a cheap pioneer unit and hookup an android tablet
I had a earlier version of one of these and it was great. As the other guy said you are going to be sitting in silence for the first 30 seconds while it boots up.
Try and get one people are using over at XDA: https://forum.xda-developers.com/android-auto/android-head-u… you will likely find solutions to any problems over there if you get one of the discussed units rather than some random one from ebay.
Eh, from what I've seen in cars after a few years, brand name will hold up much better than the cheap ones, but that's just me. I want my stereo to be as hassle-free as possible, and not screw up or be unresponsive. I also want decent audio quality and bluetooth quality. Last thing you wanna do is replace the unit either way.
Wait for a sale on car audio at JBs and buy a brand name stereo. That's my recommendation.
Agreed.
'You get what you pay for!'
Yup. I've had a few cheapies over the years. They are getting better as far as I can tell, but they have all had their different quirks.
The one in my wife's car is starting to annoy us, dodgy radio, GPS software hangs, SD music has no random or search function. It might be replaced by a brand name unit soon. The one in my car is also annoying, doesn't auto pickup bluetooth phone and only seems to recognise tracks in the main folder on the SD card. I don't drive my car enough to justify upgrading it though.
Yeah, why not a tablet? You can get something which is quite reasonable for <$100. Headphone output, powered from USB charger. You'll just need an amp to power the speakers. Use a microsd -which you easily remove for updating your library. Get one with GPS as well.
Easier to set to setup physically.
easier to set up, but harder to maintain the setup with cords, mount etc. An in dash unit doesn't get in the way of anything else, takes longer to set up though.
For not much more you can get a brand name double din.
Tablet will be awkward and possibly dangerous/ illegal to operate.
I have heard great stories of the cheap no name double din units.
Remember to add any steering wheel controls to the price too ( for calls audio control etc that you car may have)
Jb have Sony and others on good sales fairly often.
do u need a screen for reverse camera?
yes but I can also get a separate screen
I have a tablet so thats why an alternative would be a simple radio and an additional reversing screen. More clutter but potential better sound?
A brand double din unit is around 300 but no android so you kind of pay extra for the screen and reversion screen.
Worth looking around, there are newer options with later OS, eg
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/2G-RAM-Android-7-1-Auto-Radi…
In general they are kind of like chinese phones - sometimes things don't work and you need to be techie to get working. However they are cheap and generally work acceptably.
Something to be aware of either way - the unit is unlikely to be powered all the time, so you are looking at booting from nothing when you get into the car. Head units will likely be setup to be faster at this, but assume 20 secs anyway.