Cheap Chinese Android headunits

Tom_ed1987

Tom_ed1987

Tom_ed1987

Associate
Joined
1 Mar 2004
Posts
2,024
Location
Warwickshire
Everything I have read about cheap chinese HU's is that the sound quality isn't good and the radio is woeful. Which is why I don't already have one.
 
I was unfortunate enough to buy one, granted it wasn't android based but it was something I wouldn't do again. It broke within 6 months and I had to send it back which cost a fortune, it just wasn't very good and the radio signal was rubbish. The actual quality of the head unit amp was ok but the pre outs were shocking.

I ended up replacing it with a Pioneer AppRadio2 and paired that with my old rooted android htc one M8 which is wired into the center console of my car and mirrors onto the AppRadio. All I do if I want to upgrade my head unit is bring the phone indoors and away I go.
 
Many of the current ones will be just fine for normal use and the quality of the screens are good too, being capacitive and high resolution.

The quad core ones run Android KitKat too, which is ideal. As long as it has the Play Store app, you can log into your Google account and install away whatever apps you want.

The only grey area with these is aftersales support. Many of the makers come and go, some within months, and usually out of nowhere. So if you do buy one then do so expecting the worst case scenario - That you may end up with a unit that works, but has no future support by means of software updates or a returns medium if it breaks within warranty.

Hell if Parrot do not release the Android Auto model of the Asteroid Smart I currently have then I'll probably just get a direct fit one next year when the Chinese release Marshmallow/Lollipop powered ones, just to keep everything fairly up to date software wise.
 
I've been back and forth for over a year looking at these Android headunits, I want to replace the RCD 310 in my Golf Mk5.

Whats holding me back is the quality of the unit and I have been using eBay to find sellers.

Also I do enjoy listening to the radio now and again but I cannot find an Android headunit that supports digital radio yet.
 
My only experience has been with an "oem look" E46 unit that I fitted to my fiancée's car. The SD card slots died one by one, the radio antennae jack was too close to the back of the radio cage so you couldn't fit the cable in (I made a modified slimline 90º cable, then it picked up the weakest signal known to man). The "support" team told me to reallocate one of the two USB ports to run the sat nav "SD" card from, which didn't work, and the whole interface was an unusable mess.

I've since managed to get my money back through PayPal (still have the radio, as the seller wouldn't give me the time of day, let alone a return address), and bought the Parrot Asteroid Smart, as per mrk's detailed thread.

Wouldn't buy another, hell probably wouldn't waste my time installing a free one.
 
I had an OEM style unit, I had wanted to run Spotify, internet radio, podcasts and Torque on it as well as use it as a normal radio/ipod/nav unit. Should be easy with android, but here's how it went

- Google play app was loaded, but refused to sign in with a server error. No amount of clearing caches, resetting, sideloading an updated Play store app would make it work.
- Managed to sideload Spotify, which sometimes loaded and sometimes just came up with a blank screen
- Internet radio actually worked
- Couldn't pair the bluetooth OBD reader because of the gimped bluetooth stack (in order to support streaming, calls etc). Wifi readers need the device to be rooted, which proved impossible as the host mode on the USB port couldnt be enabled.
- Couldn't find a podcast app that worked by sideloading, most needed some Google framework which wouldnt install from APK
- The unit was shipped without any navigation software installed. TomTom, iGO and NAVIGON all crashed at startup.
- It connected to my ipod but had absolutely no functionality to browse the structure on it, only skip tracks. The ipod was locked when connected so there's no way you could select a new album
- Radio worked but the audio quality was unbearable if you enabled AF

The screen was also pretty poor.

If you're prepared to spend your entire life tweaking and poking then you might get them to work the way you envisage, but it's just not worth the time. I use an iphone so replaced it with a standard double DIN which does Carplay and that works brilliantly. If I had an android phone I'd hold off until affordable Android Auto units emerge.
 
Mine was, in context (ie, as a cheap Chinese nav unit) absolutely fine. Everything worked properly, the navigation side of things was excellent, the radio interface was quirky yet functional.

I deliberately avoided the Gimmicky android ones and picked a Windows CE device which simply did the radio functions and navigation, no crappy apps etc. I think thats quite a lot of the reason why it just worked in exactly the way I intended.

Infact frankly my only real complaint was that it was massively overpriced - £600.
 
Certainly in the skoda the Windows ones are generally thought of as pretty decent and the price is sub £300 for those. I wanted to have apps controlled or running on the unit though so standard systems wouldn't do what I wanted - beyond Bluetooth audio streaming with track skipping
 
But if you ask them to do to much it turns into a disaster. They are based used for music, radio and navigation. If you want to play with apps use your smartphone.
 
Thats exactly why I ended up with carplay :) Apps running on the phone but controlled by the HU - perfect
 
had one in my ford ka. too cheap to buy a proper one. cost me £14 and lasted 6 months. usb was a bit picky sometimes but it wasn't bad.
For current car ended up just buying a half decent pioneer one
 
have on in my mazda, bar old android OS and crappy space management(1gb for apps) it is alright!

startsup, satnav works fine, audio is good(only through their player tho), fast to respond and screen is fine resolution wise.

only downside on the screen is that it is a bit meh in sun.
 
A friend has one and it's not bad.

Your still looking at £2-300 for a half decent one though. The sound is definately not as good as the "high end" brands, nor is the screen. You might find something better buying a used Kenwood one or something.
 
Last edited:
I have the erisin unit in my e46 running 4.4.4 android. Sounds much better than the standard bmw business headunit. Does everything I need (apps, music, tomotom and waze gps, internet, youtube etc.)

I've had mine since July 15. Me and a friend bought the same unit days apart and both of us have not had any problems *touch wood*
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom