Double DIN Andriod Auto unit that's not crap?
Double DIN Andriod Auto unit that's not crap?
Author
Discussion

aterribleusername

Original Poster:

513 posts

89 months

Wednesday 3rd June
quotequote all
As title really.

I've currently got an ATOTO unit that I'm having a fight to get a refund on as it's completely unreliable. When it works it's actually very good with excellent sound, fast touchscreen controls and a great screen. But it works for a while then gets worse at connecting, hangs, reboots until it just sits there and won't do anything until I completely unplug it (the reset button doesn't do anything by this stage), let it sit for a few minutes before reconnecting and it goes back to being fine. Doing that once a week or so is not on.

So what is out there that is reliable and not completely crap? I had a Pioneer one before this (was stolen), only their basic one and the sound wasn't great hence going for the ATOTO with the insurance money. Budget is probably around £3-400 but can go higher if that gets something markedly better. Would prefer a known brand but I have heard good things about XTRONS but my faith in newer brands is dented somewhat!

jimmytheone

1,950 posts

244 months

Wednesday 3rd June
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I had an xtrons 8227 fitted a few years back (and an almighty subwoofer) and I’ve been very pleased with it.
Just occasionally it fails to connect to the sub but other than that it’s been ace.
I’ve also got a reversing cam plugged in, an obd2 Bluetooth plug in and usb in the glovebox.
My only gripe is loading 1gb from the usb takes a few mins and the onboard memeory isnt great (16gb).

It’s got loads of other apps built in but I never use them so can’t comment

normalbloke

8,659 posts

245 months

Wednesday 3rd June
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Xtrons.

aterribleusername

Original Poster:

513 posts

89 months

Wednesday 3rd June
quotequote all
So XTRONS are good then? They do do a unit that fits my car and has a volume button too, something that has annoyed me with other units.

itcaptainslow

4,599 posts

162 months

Wednesday 3rd June
quotequote all
It was a few years ago but I had an Xtrons unit fitted to a car which wasn't great. Very laggy, with a poor user interface that froze frequently, and unusable DAB reception. Wouldn't recommend.

I've now got Pioneer & JVC double DIN units that will do Android Auto (I use them for Apple CarPlay) in two different cars and both are excellent. Well worth spending the extra on a branded unit rather than an unknown from Aliexpress.

normalbloke

8,659 posts

245 months

Thursday 4th June
quotequote all
itcaptainslow said:
It was a few years ago but I had an Xtrons unit fitted to a car which wasn't great. Very laggy, with a poor user interface that froze frequently, and unusable DAB reception. Wouldn't recommend.

I've now got Pioneer & JVC double DIN units that will do Android Auto (I use them for Apple CarPlay) in two different cars and both are excellent. Well worth spending the extra on a branded unit rather than an unknown from Aliexpress.
Yeah, they’ve moved on a bit since then…

Caddyshack

14,353 posts

232 months

Thursday 4th June
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I paid about 1000 for a kenwood that I put in my Boxster, the sound was always good but I felt that oem do seem to integrate better, the kenwood did a few odd things every now and then. I guess that anything 300-400 will be somewhat limited when you consider the company needs to make a profit, make the thing, add all of those bits of tech and provide an inbuilt amp to make it try to sound nice.

Huzzah

28,781 posts

209 months

Thursday 4th June
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I've just ordered an Erisin unit, based on some decent owners club reviews. I'll post up with how it goes.

SAS Tom

3,739 posts

200 months

Thursday 4th June
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I’ve genuinely had a good experience of two different podofo units from Aliexpress. I have no complaints at all which is surprising given they cost about £40.

Decky_Q

2,032 posts

203 months

Thursday 4th June
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I've fitted several from Eonon and they've been fine. Operation is good, sound isn't terrible, and apps run without much issue. Very much aliexpress bargain basement stuff <£150.

Currently debating a £1k aliexpress android auto unit, comes with half the dashboard specific to my car which looks great and is one of the few units that can work with fibre optic set up I have, but would be gutted if it was similar in operation to the Eonon units at 10% the price!

itcaptainslow

4,599 posts

162 months

normalbloke said:
itcaptainslow said:
It was a few years ago but I had an Xtrons unit fitted to a car which wasn't great. Very laggy, with a poor user interface that froze frequently, and unusable DAB reception. Wouldn't recommend.

I've now got Pioneer & JVC double DIN units that will do Android Auto (I use them for Apple CarPlay) in two different cars and both are excellent. Well worth spending the extra on a branded unit rather than an unknown from Aliexpress.
Yeah, they ve moved on a bit since then
I would hope they have. However, given the comparison I could make at the time between that pile of crap and the earlier Pioneer double DIN with CarPlay that I had fitted in a previous car, they were miles apart in functionality & quality.