This was posted 1 year 9 months 11 days ago, and might be an out-dated deal.

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Ottocast Wireless Carplay and/or Android Auto Adapters - from $99.95 Delivered @ CGAUTO via Amazon AU

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I was looking for wireless Android Auto adapters and came across this deal.

The Ottocast has decent reviews, and this is a killer decent price ($176 on the Official Website).

Questionable language used in the listing, however, being Amazon I'm willing to take the punt.

They also have the standalone Apple CarPlay adapter and the 2-in-1 adapters (both AA and ACP).

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CGAUTO
CGAUTO

closed Comments

  • +3

    Does anyone have any firsthand experience of this product?

    • +3

      I have the AAWireless Android one and its amazing… no difference to having it plugged in.

      https://www.amazon.com/AAWireless-2022-Wireless-Automaticall…

      • I did look at the AAWireless. If the Ottocast is a dud, I'll give it a crack, thanks!

        • Been looking for one as well, do they have a dongle that work for both Android and CarPlay? Waiting for the Carlink 4 price to drop, review is mixed bag but it works for both.

          • +1

            @johnyBgood: See @dtgold 's comment below - The U2-X does both.

          • +1

            @johnyBgood: I have the carlink and im not happy. Constantly having issues with it, so much so i unplugged it and went back to a cable.

            • @jackwoz: Thanks for the feedback, are you using it for Android Auto or CarPlay?

              • @johnyBgood: Android

                • @jackwoz: cool, glad I didn't buy it. Thanks.

                • @jackwoz: Its not too bad when it works. But the majority of the time, when people called for some reason they couldnt hear me. There were a few other issues which were annoying like the delay when watching a video on your phone etc

      • does your AAW lose connection when you drive over bumps? mine does and it sucks coz exactly same thing happens when i used to plug phone into headunit for AA….

        • +3

          sounds like a defective cable or port on your headunit?

        • It's probably a loose cable, or the port has been used so much or incorrectly that it's shaved a bit of it off.

          I would suggest you try tightening the cable with a pair of pliers, making sure you apply very slight pressure as to no damage the cable, should be able to sort it out in 1 go. All you're looking for is for it to grip the connector.

      • Does bluetooth still connect directly to the headunit as well, when using Android Auto, and not introduce any lag? Does two finger zoom work?

        Tried the Carlinkit adapter with Android Auto, and it seemed to convert the protocol to Apple Carplay, which made it lag, disabled the direct bluetooth to headunit connection, disabled two finger controls on the headunit (eg map zoom).

    • +3

      I have the Ottocast U2-X model, which allows both Android Auto and Apple Carplay (it's quite unique in that regard). Not the same model as this deal.
      The U2-X is great - very stable, regular firmware updates. I used to have an AAWireless, and couldn't notice any difference. AAWireless has some more advanced features, and has its own app, but I didn't need any of that.
      I liked the U2-X enough that I bought a second one for the other car.

      • I currently have an AAWireless. I have a few sections of road where my AAWireless consistently drops out. Did you have any dropout zones with your unit, and if so did the Ottocast have the same issues?

        • I had that issue with both AAWireless and Ottocast, and realised it was because my Android phone (Poco F3) dropped ALL wireless communication (including bluetooth and wifi) whenever the cellular connection went out-of-range. This would cause Android Auto to drop out when driving through particular locations. Super annoying.
          The phone received a firmware update a few months ago, and no issues since.
          So I think it's a phone issue, not a dongle issue.

    • +2

      I have it and it's great. Minimal lag, very light on battery and no connection issues (10s from cold start to connect while I put my seatbelt on). My only recommendation is immediately update the firmware. The latest software updates make a big difference.

    • +1

      I bought the version that had both AA and CP, it was horrible. I returned it.

      It made the call quality in my car horrible, sounded like a 1990's hands-free system. The music would just randomly lag every now and then, sometimes it would drop out after driving for about 1 hour or so then it would refuse to connect until I unplugged the Ottocast for a few mins, before being able to connect again. But for some reason the image quality on the screen seemed to look better with this unit.

      However the one small pro did not outweigh the cons of this unit.

      My friend also had a similar issue with this unit and he returned it also, so it was not a one off issue.
      Phone used by me was a Galaxy Fold 4, my friend had the current model iPhone (not sure what number they're up to)

      I did update the firmware also to no avail.
      I also played with some of the more "hidden" settings to try and get it to work right.

      I feel like it could depend on the vehicle as some people seem to not have any issues, but more seem to have issues.

    • i have tried this one and other 4 brands. there was resolution problem or lagging. I decided stay on motorola one which is more stable. Also if multiple users are using it, easy to switch to another one with physical button. my car is Hyundai santafe 2022.

  • +3

    meh 4 days ago it was $78

    • Fixed the description, thanks. I can't find it any cheaper currently though.

  • +5

    Normal regularly discounted price is $78. This is the standard price.

  • +2

    Carsifi is the one I bought last year. World well, as my car has wireless charging.$135AU

  • I bought one last year, worked fine till recently, when car started it just showed blue screen on the car screen

  • +3
  • +1

    I got this one for my car last year, works well for both Apple Carplay + Android Auto. You can expect 2-3 mins of delay in start - CarlinKit 4.0

  • -3

    i dont get the point of this, if your car is not equipped with wireless charging…

    • +1

      If your car only has wired CP/AA, you have to connect to a cable each time you get into the car. With this adapter you can leave your phone in your pocket and it'll connect automatically.

      • yes but using that feature ramps up CPU & Radio use and reduces your battery charge…

        • +8

          The bigger point is that most head units have a minimal charge rate from the USB port, some are so low, that even with the phone plugged in at times won't be sufficient, and will drain the battery

          With these devices, you can connect it to the head unit port, wirelessly connect for Carplay/AA and use a decent charger for your phone. It will also allow you to put the phone away to reduce the temptation of using it if you struggle with that. 😉

        • I think its perfect for small trips, like school and shopping runs.

          If you're going on a long drive, just plug your phone in.

    • +4

      genuine built-in wireless apple car play/android auto offloads the GPS antenna/signal/data to the head unit. it transmits back to the phone over the wifi connection and the phone sends a video feed to the head unit.

      so yeah, you'd want to hope that they have wireless charging, as the phone is doing all of the heavy lifting. battery life would be affected.

    • +2

      This. I'd rather charge my phone.

    • My car has wireless charging but wired android auto. So it would be good for me? Don't really think it's worth a downvote.

      • -2

        possibly only need a software update from the dealer to correct this

        • +4

          Wireless Android works on 5Ghz so in most cases it's a hardware restriction.

        • +3

          The wireless of wireless charging has nothing to do with the wireless (wifi) the phone needs to connect to android auto wirelessly. A software update can't change this.

      • This particular adapter is for Apple Carplay only, you would either need an AA only adapter like the Motorola device mentioned here, or an adapter that does both, like the ones mentioned here and here.

        • +1

          There's both ACP and AA adapters for $99.99 through the deal link.

          • +1

            @HomebrewFC: Thanks 👍🏽, jumped the gun, was editing, but when I went to publish it said I couldn't as there was already a reply. Never seen that before. 😅.

            I was also adding The funny thing I've found while researching these devices is that apparently the dual mode ones actually conect AA in some special way over Carplay. Who would have thought they woukd need Carplay in order to get AA working 😅 .

            Another important bit to note is that your head unit needs to already support wired Carplay/AA for these units to work, it upgrades the connectivity, not the actual feature. I mention it, as I someone I know bought it without asking and was upset when they found out that it didn't work. 😬

    • I have wireless charging but the phone doesn't fit in the charging bay:(

    • +2

      Not understanding the product is not a reason to neg the deal. Wireless charging has nothing to do with the conversation either? Some people want to get in the car and have their phone connect automatically - how is that hard to grasp. I use bluetooth in my car but also have a charger in the 12v socket. Sometimes I plug it in, sometimes I don't. It's always wirelessly connected to the car though.

  • RRP

  • +1

    This might be a silly question…but does anyone know how safe these devices are? Are they sending your data back home or location data is being sold to third parties?

    • The device would have no way of accessing the internet?

      • I've thought about that many times, the device connects to both your Bluetooth and WiFi, but I don't believe it has direct access to internet as it passes information through to the head unit. I haven't noticed anything strange while using it if that helps.

        • +1

          definitely wouldn't have internet access, both Apple and Android devices would notify you before providing access to any device.

    • +1

      Just wrap it in tinfoil.

  • Given the strain that these apparently put your phone under, would the best workaround be to have some sort of wireless charging matt with a built in fan for cooling the charger/phone? Interested if anyone on here has a similar setup and what wireless charger they would use.

    • +1

      You can get vent cradle's that have wireless charging, so the phone sits in front of some aircon to cool now. I have a vent mount and it stays frosty cold, when the aircon is on.

      • extreme cold is just as bad as extreme heat for batteries both in performance and longevity.

        • Must be some aircon if it goes below the safe temperature range for a phone battery

          • @celery juice: "Lithium-ion batteries should be ideally stored in cool, dry conditions at a temperature of 15°C. The general temperature range for lithium-ion cells lies between 5°C and 20°C. If temperatures are too cold, such as 0°C, it can result in a loss of capacity due to the chemical reactions inside the battery slowing down due to the low temperature. If conditions are too hot, it can result in hazards such as fire and explosion."

            I've had fully charged gopros fail to work at aus snow field temps (0-5C)

            your car AC blasting directly onto a phone sitting in the vent will get to fridge temperatures without much trouble. obviously the higher temp threshold is the bigger concern in
            car, but putting your phone in a vent holder isnt great either.

    • If you are using Android, then switching off Adaptive Battery fixes the overheating issues. (Unsure why, but it does fix it for me)

  • They were $75 on Amazon 2 days ago.

  • +1

    I purchased the U2-air earlier this month for AUD67 (77-10 store coupon). The device works well on my Nissan.

  • +1

    I have this exact model in my 2022 CX5.

    It works pretty well, but seems to lose stability when the phone loses network connection.

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