Android Headunits

jellybeard999

jellybeard999

jellybeard999

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Has anybody given any of the numerous android headunits a try?

I've a 2011 Octavia with the Bolero HU, but not USB/BT. The SD Card music browsing etc is frankly laughable, and the better/newer Skoda/VW HUs are quite pricy.

There are numerious direct fit (ie no fascia/trim etc required) which don't look too garish (some almost OEM) which run android.

This sounds like a good option, as then I can run any music app, stanav etc My main reservation is reliability (both software and hardware) and usability.

Something like (random pick) http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/AUTORADIO...150?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item4189ee416e is what I've seen.

Any thoughts?
 
I have an Andrive unit for my E90 which is Windows CE for the radio, CD, SD card etc... and then Android for the NAV.

The unit is OK, and does what I need. The one thing I will say is that the Android side can be quite laggy at times and I can only assume that the other Android unit's will be similar.

How difficult would it be to have the proper Sokda HU fitted?

I paid ~£500 for my Andrive unit and have recently found someone who will fit the OEM iDrive to my car for £1000, I'm yet to go through with it due to age of car and the £500 already invested, but If i had found iDrive offer before I purchased the Andrive unit, I would have definitely gone for iDrive.
 
I would rather pay more and go with a Pioneer AppRadio, these chinese products tend to be poor in every area and not exactly cheapt at £280.
 
Android will get on your ****. Novelty will wear off within 7 days.

You want something that genuinely mimics factory ICE. Meaning you start the car and you're straight into a nav or radio etc. Not in the middle of angry birds.

( Unless things have moved on and you can mimic ICE like a factory unit and block off all the phone type features)
 
lemonade said:
I would rather pay more and go with a Pioneer AppRadio, these chinese products tend to be poor in every area and not exactly cheapt at £280.
Click to expand...

I'll have a look at those.

The Pioneer/Kenwood slot ins at £1k+ seem really dated tbh, so spending more doesn't seem to net you a much better unit.

pepsilol said:
Android will get on your ****. Novelty will wear off within 7 days.

You want something that genuinely mimics factory ICE. Meaning you start the car and you're straight into a nav or radio etc. Not in the middle of angry birds.

( Unless things have moved on and you can mimic ICE like a factory unit and block off all the phone type features)
Click to expand...

This is my concern. To be clear, I don't want android for games and other junk and would run a simple launcher, with just nav, music, radio etc on. I would hope to get it set up, then just leave it alone.

My concern is around the stability of the HU. I don't mind a 30 second startup time, but wouldn't want to wait ages for it to turn on or open the nav etc.

That said, my current Bolero HU takes forever to browse MP3s on the SDCard, so it can't be much worse!

The feedback I have read seems good, but is pretty thin on the ground.
 
jellybeard999 said:
I'll have a look at those.

The Pioneer/Kenwood slot ins at £1k+ seem really dated tbh, so spending more doesn't seem to net you a much better unit.



This is my concern. To be clear, I don't want android for games and other junk and would run a simple launcher, with just nav, music, radio etc on. I would hope to get it set up, then just leave it alone.

My concern is around the stability of the HU. I don't mind a 30 second startup time, but wouldn't want to wait ages for it to turn on or open the nav etc.

That said, my current Bolero HU takes forever to browse MP3s on the SDCard, so it can't be much worse!

The feedback I have read seems good, but is pretty thin on the ground.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure what you looked at 1k+, but this is the stuff you should be looking at: http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/pio...-android-auto-appradio-mirrorlink-hdmi-cd-dvd

They are superb units.
 
pepsilol said:
Android will get on your ****. Novelty will wear off within 7 days.
Click to expand...

This isn't true at all. Generally the only people who will get annoyed by such a thing are the same kinds of people who generally get annoyed by phones/tablets/computers etc when they don't do something they want randomly from my experience (I live and breathe these devices).

While an OEM look and feel is the ultimate goal, an OEM interface in an older car isn't ideal, it's featureless and pants compared to modern standards.

Op, if you get an Android unit then get a quad core pure Android 4.x.x one, not one of the hybrid WindowsCE/Android jobbies which are slow and screens inferior. The newer units use capacitive touchscreens and are essentially modern tablets built into a double din HU. You can then spend some time customising it to your needs and making it look as funky, or as OEM as you like. The fact that you're looking at Android units indicates that you probably prefer this route anyway.

The only downside to the Android units out there on Amazon/eBay is that the companies making or reselling them often come and go. Andrive upped and left suddenly leaving loads of people in the dust, they even had one of the newer units released before vanishing. So warranty and support as a question mark over its head should you have a hardware problem.

Software is easily supported via the dev community, which is pretty huge.

Waze in the car is absolutely great, plug in a 3G dongle behind the unit and you can have a DIY car tracker too via Cerberus and numerous other neat "connected" things you can do.


Edit* Ideally the grail solution would be Android Auto. The Pioneer linked above has it, and others are coming with it. Auto won't feature on non branded units though due to some stricter requirements and licensing or something trivial like that. I'm still waiting for Parrot to release theirs so I can update my Asteroid Smart.
 
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mrk said:
stuff
Click to expand...

Thanks. I'm in no rush, so if there is better stuff imminent, I'll hang on for a bit. I think I'll do some more research on Android auto, as that definitely looks interesting. I don't want anything that relies on mirroring or connecting to a phone though.

Yes, your spot on IMO with the OEM comments. I'm not too fussed if it looks factory, as long as it looks neat and tidy. The features of the OEM solutions I've come across are a bit naff, unless you get a brand new unit from a newer model, but they're £££.

Personally, I think the Kenwood/Pioneer etc models look inferior to android in terms of flexibility and UI, and they're certainly less customisable. IMO these Chinese jobbies have the right idea, it's the question mark over reliability and support holding me back.

Thanks all.

EDIT

leaskovski said:
Nope, this looks like some sort of hybrid proper android running on a touch screen/galaxy note glued to a rack.

This is an example of a proper in car droid device...

http://www.androidcentral.com/pioneers-avh-4100nex-android-autocarplay-head-unit-now-shipping-700
Click to expand...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_Auto said:
The aim of Android Auto is to extend the functionality of an Android mobile device in an automobile to the dashboard's head unit. In order to use the system, users must be running Lollipop on their mobile device and must own a vehicle supporting Android Auto. The driver's Android device connects to the vehicle via USB cable. Rather than running its own operating system, the head unit will serve as an external display for the Android device, which runs all of the software, by presenting a car-specific user interface built into Lollipop.
Click to expand...

Maybe I've misunderstood this, but is that not limiting? What if I don't have my phone? I get no satnav, no music etc???
 
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Ah yes you're right, that's the aspect of Android Auto I overlooked as for my own uses my phone is always with me so having it tethered in the cubby area means it provides the latest apps and features to the head unit at all times whereas with head units like the Asteroid Smart you must wait for the manufacturer to update their firmware and then download and install it. Android Auto gives the flexibility of the latest apps on to your head unit be it nav, music, voice, tethered internet and whatever else that would come in handy.

But if you got a unit running Android 4.x then you could have everything locally stored and simply install apps off the Play Store - Worth noting though that some apps won't be listed as compatible because most of these Chinese units run at 800x480 resolution and only a few at 1280x800/720. the latter is probably what you want for maximum compatibility.

I want Android Auto because my phone is always going to be with me if I'm in the car and all my music is on my phone too, as are the nav apps and connected apps that I use.
 
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