Recommended Android heat unit

[dave1814]

Hi,

I was just looking for up to date recommendations for Android head units. I am currently looking at this one...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/301941455949

Which seems to have everything I'm after (Bluetooth and DAB).

Has anyone had any experience with this model or can recommend anything similar?

Thanks
Dave

[loudancoe]

I bought an Xtron Android unit a few years ago when they were first coming onto the scene, been very happy with mine and people always comment on it. I like the OEM look of it.

My advice would be first, if you want to use the phone feature, get the plug in microphone, Then internal one works ok but you have to shout or so im told.

Second, if youre ever thinking of getting a reversing camera, do it at the same time as you wire in the new head unit. They are really handy and just simpler to do it all at the same time. I just bought a £20 night vision one not the Xtron one but that still works fine.

[Naeem360]

Hey I got myself one of these http://r.ebay.com/xCbqQk , works great and has the OEM look to it.

[Chris_R]

I went for this one as I wanted physical buttons for volume which I found a bit easier to use on the go when you just want to change a channel on the radio or volume without taking your eyes off the road:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/302121603028?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

It's decent. Could be a bit quicker, it's more of a slow budget tablet than an iPad or premium Android (Samsung that sort of thing) tablet. They are all much the same that we have posted bar the looks - processor and memory they are all much of a muchness.
Personally I would get one again if I ever change cars, it does everything!

[spesh]

I went for this one as I wanted physical buttons for volume which I found a bit easier to use on the go when you just want to change a channel on the radio or volume without taking your eyes off the road:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/302121603028?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

It's decent. Could be a bit quicker, it's more of a slow budget tablet than an iPad or premium Android (Samsung that sort of thing) tablet. They are all much the same that we have posted bar the looks - processor and memory they are all much of a muchness.
Personally I would get one again if I ever change cars, it does everything!

Does it have the full play store on it?

[Chris_R]

I went for this one as I wanted physical buttons for volume which I found a bit easier to use on the go when you just want to change a channel on the radio or volume without taking your eyes off the road:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/302121603028?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

It's decent. Could be a bit quicker, it's more of a slow budget tablet than an iPad or premium Android (Samsung that sort of thing) tablet. They are all much the same that we have posted bar the looks - processor and memory they are all much of a muchness.
Personally I would get one again if I ever change cars, it does everything!

Does it have the full play store on it?

Yep. there's a shortcut directly to it on the top right of the menu screen

[spesh]

Thanks :) 

Half of me is wondering if you could then use it as a half baked tracker too with a 3G dongle in it.  three are doing a sim with 200mb free every month for nothing so that would likely suffice.

Couple more questions if you dont mind as I'm torn between one of these or a RCD330 but the lack of external mic puts me off a little

Whats the handsfree like at motorway speeds?
Will the radio continue to play with another app open (a satnav app for example)

[Chris_R]

Thanks :) 

Half of me is wondering if you could then use it as a half baked tracker too with a 3G dongle in it.  three are doing a sim with 200mb free every month for nothing so that would likely suffice.

Couple more questions if you dont mind as I'm torn between one of these or a RCD330 but the lack of external mic puts me off a little

Whats the handsfree like at motorway speeds?
Will the radio continue to play with another app open (a satnav app for example)

Not sure on the RCD unit, but this does have an external mic, out the box they come pretty bad because the internal and external mics are wired in parallel so you end up with them both picking up sound and makes it echo a lot. There is a simple fix of clipping the wire on the internal mic which I did - give me a shout if you get one and I can guide you through it. The external mic works great though, not quite as good as my Parrot system I had but the whole setup cost more than this head unit. I regularly chat to the wife on the way home on the motorway and its fine she tells me. Plus you get any mic with a 3.5mm jack to upgrade it if you want, have mine on top of the steering wheel column.
Sat Nav can be set to mute or blend the sound in other apps including radio.

All in all its great unit for the money. Sound quality is decent enough and loud enough after I set up my own EQ profile, out the box the canned ones all sounded a bit odd to my ears and music tastes.

Quirks - wish it was a little faster performance as it takes a little while to become responsive at start up, nothing major, just not up there with a really decent tablet performance wise. Things like waze take a little while to start up if you switch over from say Amazon music or Spotify, still quicker than a 2015 Nissan head unit though :)
I do wonder if a different firmware may bring it up to a faster performance but I havent experimented with that stuff yet...

I have mine hooked up to a 4G hotspot which is powered from one of the headunits usb ports, so it turns on with the headunit.
Next thing to try is I am going to put an Echo dot in my car and hook it up via bluetooth for voice controlling music as I listen to a lot of my music playlists through Prime unlimited

[noopets]

@Chris_R Do you have the dab antenna installed on yours aswell?


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[neilw]

I'm looking at getting the Pumpkin one at some point in the future. Looks like an RSN510

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Pumpkin-Android-Lollipop-Support-Subwoofer-x/dp/B010DIJ3TC/ref=s9_simh_gw_g107_i1_r?_encoding=UTF8&fpl=fresh&pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_s=&pf_rd_r=BQXYGRQ4DPCXFNNEEKEG&pf_rd_t=36701&pf_rd_p=16f14aeb-bd11-4e9e-8c26-9ca0139074ee&pf_rd_i=desktop

I like the idea of running the Torque app on the screen

[Chris_R]

@Chris_R Do you have the dab antenna installed on yours aswell?


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No mate, the bit of radio (mainly traffic stuff) I do listen to I can get by with the standard tuner, to be honest, I just put a playlist on stream these days rather than listening to djs waffle between music.

Oh and you need more than just an aerial - there is a specific couple of tuners that work with these via USB. Not all off the shelf DAB USB sticks work unfortunately from the research I have done so far.
Have a read over on XDA Forum for more including modifications, apps and the like

[Chris_R]

I'm looking at getting the Pumpkin one at some point in the future. Looks like an RSN510

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Pumpkin-Android-Lollipop-Support-Subwoofer-x/dp/B010DIJ3TC/ref=s9_simh_gw_g107_i1_r?_encoding=UTF8&fpl=fresh&pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_s=&pf_rd_r=BQXYGRQ4DPCXFNNEEKEG&pf_rd_t=36701&pf_rd_p=16f14aeb-bd11-4e9e-8c26-9ca0139074ee&pf_rd_i=desktop

I like the idea of running the Torque app on the screen

Torque looks good on them and in the themes to download there is a VW Passat theme which matches the blue/red dash of the Mk5 ;)

http://i.imgur.com/Yl5c0tg.png

[noopets]

@Chris_R Do you have the dab antenna installed on yours aswell?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

No mate, the bit of radio (mainly traffic stuff) I do listen to I can get by with the standard tuner, to be honest, I just put a playlist on stream these days rather than listening to djs waffle between music.

Oh and you need more than just an aerial - there is a specific couple of tuners that work with these via USB. Not all off the shelf DAB USB sticks work unfortunately from the research I have done so far.
Have a read over on XDA Forum for more including modifications, apps and the like

Yeah cheers I'll have a look - it's mainly 6 music and radio x I listen to. Was tempted to just stream off tune in radio app tbh but probably would eat a bit of data!


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[david85williams]

I had an Erisin stereo for a few months. I had so many issues with it i sent it back. It did everything but always felt slow. It kept on resetting itself and deleting apps. Spotify would delete downloaded playlists. DAB didn't work. Sound quality wasn't great especially bluetooth music, lots of hissing. I was lucky to get a refund to be honest. Anyway I now have an RCD330G+ which I'm very happy with.

Overall I thought it would be a risk going for the Erisin unit as I had read many good and bad reviews. Maybe I was just expecting everything for very little money. As people have mentioned about definitely install the external mic for phone calls. The built in mic on the RCD330G+ is really good in comparison.

[spesh]

I had an Erisin stereo for a few months. I had so many issues with it i sent it back. It did everything but always felt slow. It kept on resetting itself and deleting apps. Spotify would delete downloaded playlists. DAB didn't work. Sound quality wasn't great especially bluetooth music, lots of hissing. I was lucky to get a refund to be honest. Anyway I now have an RCD330G+ which I'm very happy with.

Overall I thought it would be a risk going for the Erisin unit as I had read many good and bad reviews. Maybe I was just expecting everything for very little money. As people have mentioned about definitely install the external mic for phone calls. The built in mic on the RCD330G+ is really good in comparison.

David how good is the built in mic?  Thats the only thing thats stopping me getting one of those right now.