Joined
·
1 Posts
Hi! Has anyone ever installed the Android GPS Car stereo? I want to buy one and install in my 300. How about the Seicane Android car stereo?
Android Car Stereo?
1 - 20 of 142 Posts
Joined
·
439 Posts
I've owned several of them, and even had a double din installed in my Dodge Intrepid, which requires making a custom bezel to install it, since double dins will not fit into a stock Intrepid.
I've looked through the Seicane selection of Android headunits, and they were generally over priced and under powered.
I did a google search on them too, and Seicane had some horrible reviews, especially with quality, customer service and actually fulfilling warranty requests. It seemed they just ignored any requests for returning the product and getting a refund, most of the time.
Sound quality can be hit or miss. Most sound ok, but some are better than others. Only a few generally have the higher quality chips in their amplifiers.
Don't get me wrong, I am hooked on Android headunits, because they can do so much more than a normal stereo could do, and even Chrysler is now offering an Android headunit from the factory. I think Alpine makes their Android headunit.
Names like Kenwood, Pioneer and JVC have also jumped on using Android for an operating system, but they as yet rarely support the use of bluetooth OBD2 adapters, and generally want you to use your phones GPS for finding your way around.
The Android units found all over ebay and amazon almost always support both GPS and OBD2 adapters.
Any external drive you use, should be as fast as you can get, and not insanely large, because the drive can adversely effect boot time, also, do not get a headunit that is under powered for the version of Android it is running. Anything with android 5 and up needs more than 1 gig of ram, or it will be slow. I had a 240gb SSD in my Intrepid and it worked well, but hooking up a 1 tb drive made it take to long to boot.
You have to have the Android system format the SSD drive for it to work. For whatever reason, they never seem to like it when Windows formats the drive. You need to format, fat32, or Extended Fat32.
I suggest going to the XDA android forum and asking there for recommendations to find the unit that best fits your needs.
This is the one I am getting. It has been shipped, just waiting for DHL to deliver it.
It has no CD/DVD drive, but it supports storing music on flash drives, and, you could even install an SSD drive to store music and movies on. It does support USB CD/DVD drives, if one is needed. I can't even remember the last time I used a CD for music, so I will not miss it at all.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/QZ-...e7fe3d5&transAbTest=ae803_5&priceBeautifyAB=0
I've looked through the Seicane selection of Android headunits, and they were generally over priced and under powered.
I did a google search on them too, and Seicane had some horrible reviews, especially with quality, customer service and actually fulfilling warranty requests. It seemed they just ignored any requests for returning the product and getting a refund, most of the time.
Sound quality can be hit or miss. Most sound ok, but some are better than others. Only a few generally have the higher quality chips in their amplifiers.
Don't get me wrong, I am hooked on Android headunits, because they can do so much more than a normal stereo could do, and even Chrysler is now offering an Android headunit from the factory. I think Alpine makes their Android headunit.
Names like Kenwood, Pioneer and JVC have also jumped on using Android for an operating system, but they as yet rarely support the use of bluetooth OBD2 adapters, and generally want you to use your phones GPS for finding your way around.
The Android units found all over ebay and amazon almost always support both GPS and OBD2 adapters.
Any external drive you use, should be as fast as you can get, and not insanely large, because the drive can adversely effect boot time, also, do not get a headunit that is under powered for the version of Android it is running. Anything with android 5 and up needs more than 1 gig of ram, or it will be slow. I had a 240gb SSD in my Intrepid and it worked well, but hooking up a 1 tb drive made it take to long to boot.
You have to have the Android system format the SSD drive for it to work. For whatever reason, they never seem to like it when Windows formats the drive. You need to format, fat32, or Extended Fat32.
I suggest going to the XDA android forum and asking there for recommendations to find the unit that best fits your needs.
This is the one I am getting. It has been shipped, just waiting for DHL to deliver it.
It has no CD/DVD drive, but it supports storing music on flash drives, and, you could even install an SSD drive to store music and movies on. It does support USB CD/DVD drives, if one is needed. I can't even remember the last time I used a CD for music, so I will not miss it at all.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/QZ-...e7fe3d5&transAbTest=ae803_5&priceBeautifyAB=0
Joined
·
439 Posts
Mine arrived today, will install and get pics of it tomorrow.
Weather and time permitting.
Weather and time permitting.
Joined
·
439 Posts
Joined
·
439 Posts
The seller was very helpful getting it going.
I had to disconnect the battery for the system to reset so that the headunit and the amp would work together.
It is very responsive.
All 7 speakers, and the factory sub are working, along with steering wheel controls for volume and the forward and back buttons.
![]()
I had to disconnect the battery for the system to reset so that the headunit and the amp would work together.
It is very responsive.
All 7 speakers, and the factory sub are working, along with steering wheel controls for volume and the forward and back buttons.
Joined
·
439 Posts
Cool!
Few questions:
A) Does it work with factory Boston amplifier? What about fader and balance?
B) And do ou have EVIC? Does it show radio stations? Or even turns, when navigating?
C) Does that radio take long time to start up? 20 seconds maybe? Or can you listen it immediately, when you power it.
I'm interested of that radio also, but I wonder how it works in a Winter time. I'm from northern Europe.
Joined
·
439 Posts
I've known other people who have had android headunits in colder climates that never had a problem with the cold.
It does work with the factory Boston Acoustics Amp. fader no, Balance does work.
It supports steering wheel controls for forward and back, play/pause and volume up and down.
I have evic. The info the radio sent to it is no longer updated, so it does not appear to support Evic, unless there is a setting in the headunit that would support it that I have missed.
It is about 20 to 30 seconds from a cold start, but that time can increase if you load it down to much with different apps.
It will start playing the radio, if the last thing you had running was the radio, while it is booting up.
It will also display that a door is open on the screen.
I'm still messing around with it as time allows to see what else it will do.
I do think that it is worth the price.
Oh, make sure that you disconnect the battery while installing it. If you do not disconnect the battery, the amp will not work with that headunit, until you have disconnected the battery, and reset the system, so that the two can talk to each other.
Joined
·
10 Posts
Hi Antti,
It looks like I the the same unit,
A) Yes, it works perfectly. fader works in one direction only, left right, for some reason.
I have the 7 speaker system with subwoofer. There is a separate slider or Subwoofer beside EQ. actually you should left he bass in EQ at bottom quarter for best oud quality, when subwoofer s in use.
B) EVIC doesn't show that info. least in my 2005 model.
C) Actual boot time in this 8 core system is about 30s but radio will work almost instant.
Works just fine in low temperatures.
Here is a photo o my system
Attachments
Bill, how'd you get the OBD data on screen? I have a Pioneer 4200nex and absent downloading ar unchained from a user at xda, I haven't figured out a way to get obd2 data to display on the Pioneer's screen. Are you using a feature that is associated with the specific head unit you have? Thanks in advance.
Joined
·
10 Posts
Hi,
I'm not Bill, I'm J-P
You'll need to connect a bluetooth OBD box to OBD port. Mine cost around 20$
J-P
I'm not Bill, I'm J-P
You'll need to connect a bluetooth OBD box to OBD port. Mine cost around 20$
J-P
Joined
·
439 Posts
Yeah, I have the OBD plugged into the port, but as Bill suggested, my Pioneer HU likely doesn't support it.
Joined
·
10 Posts
Hi,
Have you installed the Torque app? It reads the OBD data via bluetooth.
BTW, Bill, do you have "Auto Settings" app in your head unit?
Does it work? If I click it, it just says "no settings"
Auto Settings icon attached as a picture.
J-P
Have you installed the Torque app? It reads the OBD data via bluetooth.
BTW, Bill, do you have "Auto Settings" app in your head unit?
Does it work? If I click it, it just says "no settings"
Auto Settings icon attached as a picture.
J-P
Attachments
I tried using Dash Command via App Radio, but this was a while ago so I've forgotten what I actually did. Maybe I'll try again this weekend.
Joined
·
439 Posts
Dash command is very picky about what obd2 adapters that it will work with. I tried several cheap ebay ones before I said screw it, and bought a good one for about 50 bucks that worked with it.
Check the XDA forum for android users. Someone there may have gotten it to work on a pioneer.
It looks like they figured it out.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/android-auto/android-auto-general/obd-apps-android-auto-t3571912
1 - 20 of 142 Posts
