Cheap ebay ICE/Satnav?

Orionaut

Orionaut

Orionaut

Soldato
Joined
2 Aug 2012
Posts
7,809
Is stuff like this likley to be utter ordure that either doesn't work at all out of the box, won't do what it claims to do, or will pack up within 6 months,

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2-DIN-7-...395345?hash=item4b6265f191:g:wxAAAOSwXwxcriJq

Or is it actually likley to be OK and worth risking a punt?

The world has changed over the last 10 years or so and cheap =/= rubbish any more. (Particularly in the context of Chinese electronic goods!)

The seller seems to have good feedback.

Anybody else tried for one of these or something similar?
 
These things are usually terrible. They work at a basic level but will have issues that make them completely useless, such as extremely long boot times, terrible audio DACs, GPS receivers that are patchy at best, and a tablet OS that is massively out of date and just skinned (looks like Android 4.4 in the screenshots).
Saying that though. At that price it might be worth a punt if you're willing to mess about with it and don't really care if it works properly or not.
 
some can be alright others can be a bit of a pain, most run same base OS

I had eonon one in my mazda 3 and it was fine, worked well and booted in 20s or so. Never had any issues.
 
Go for something with either 2 or 4gb ram, I had one with 1gb and it was almost unusable. Got a new one with 4gb and love it.

I'd also recommend a basic knowledge of tinkering with Android as they're a bit horrid straight out of the box.
 
Would a proper Android tablet and holder be suitable? Can run Android Auto on the tablet(providing there's internet and compatible) and just sync the sound through BT.
 
i see gibbo is doing their adverts for them :) :D:D:D:D:D

watching with interest as i need one for the Omega, noticed car audio seems incredibly cheap these days since i last kitted out a car with non factory audio 20 years ago
 
have a look at car audio direct at some of the main stream manufacturers, not a great deal of difference in price but your getting a known product,
 
Try and get one with Android Auto on it (Im sure ive seen some). Then the unit is just a glorified screen mirror - the actual image content is coming from your phone.

OR - if it's an android head unit, have a look at the third party app called Headunit Reloaded. This basically makes the headunit android auto compatible. It works very well (although isn't completely bug free).
 
I think the Xtrons are supposed to be quite good for aftermarket android head units.

But as already said, it's normally the lack of support for them that eventually make them a bit useless. Most app developers eventually phase out support for older versions of Android, and if you can't upgrade the head unit to a later version then you're stuck with a load of unsupported/incompatible apps etc.
 
Rilot said:
These things are usually terrible. They work at a basic level but will have issues that make them completely useless, such as extremely long boot times, terrible audio DACs, GPS receivers that are patchy at best, and a tablet OS that is massively out of date and just skinned (looks like Android 4.4 in the screenshots).
Saying that though. At that price it might be worth a punt if you're willing to mess about with it and don't really care if it works properly or not.
Click to expand...


Totally depends on when you buy one. if it's been made in the last few years then it will be absolutely fine generally. I've had mine for 3 years and it's a quad core unit running Android. Has Waze and Spotify as well as Pushbullet to send and receive stuff between phone/pc/laptop and car. It just works. Boot time from cold is around 20 seconds, whereas boot time within the sleep time period (can set it up to a few hours) is instant.
 
Depends also on what headunit you currently have ? if its a reasonable amp with aux in then, as suggested the android table, or even phone?,
in conjunction with bluetooth, or wireless air stream adapter.
 
You get what you pay for £100 is dirt cheap. think of it as a phone, but having a bigger screen and a lot more inputs.
 
Lopéz said:
I have this one in my Fiesta
Click to expand...

Would you recommend this one? Couple of qs about it if I may. Can you run Spotify at the same time as say Google Maps/Waze? Have you used it for calls etc via BT, if so what is the sound quality like and is it easy to use? Partner wants a screen in her Corolla, has to be a screen and have BT, so this looks pretty good. She'd use it for satnav and Spotify.
 
The audio quality and radio reception is often lacking due to cheap components. That's why the brands like Kenwood etc are so expensive.
 
Cookeh said:
Would you recommend this one? Couple of qs about it if I may. Can you run Spotify at the same time as say Google Maps/Waze? Have you used it for calls etc via BT, if so what is the sound quality like and is it easy to use? Partner wants a screen in her Corolla, has to be a screen and have BT, so this looks pretty good. She'd use it for satnav and Spotify.
Click to expand...
I don't use Spotify, but I run sat nav at the same time as playing music from a USB stick. The radio isn't amazing but I don't listen to the radio. For 60 quid I think it's decent value. Bluetooth calls and music seems fine.
 
Got to do your research with these & be willing to put some effort into setting it up but they can be great. Not sure on the ones that are sub £100 though... I have 2 in my Forester; a separate one in a double din dash pod that purely runs Waze. We also have an X5 with the latest BMW infotainment which seems to get high praise & find my cobbled together Android system genuinely better.
 
I bought one a few years back from a company called IceBoxAuto. It works well, runs all the apps I want & is perfect as a reversing camera (I'm crap at reversing)

This is it fitted to my 2013 Insignia

installed.jpg
reverse.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom