Has Anyone Any Experience With Android Head Units?

Retrogamer

I've been looking to change the stereo on my car when i got it. It's an old single single din no frills Alpine unit. No blueooth, no hands free, no aux or USB ports etc

On my last car i used a JVC head unit and it was great. 2 USB ports, bluetooth support for hands free & android playlists and a few other nice features. It was and still is approx £100

It was suggested to me that perhaps i should pay a bit extra when getting a new head unit and go for one of the Android based ones like this.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Pumpkin-Universal-Capacitive-Multi-touch-Navigation/dp/B00P7G82TS

Benefits for me would mean i could plug in my bluetooth OBD connection and use it to display extra gauges & engine information.
GPS built in, reversing camera compatible, and all the other good stuff that comes with Android.

The only downsides i can see is the brand names are a bit obscure, so not sure how good durability will be long term. Especially freezing winter mornings & touchscreen.
Don't see any with removable fascias as well so quite tempting for the sticky fingers mob.

Interested to hear any advise / experience from others

bigjl

Never heard of Pumpkin as a brand.

I would steer clear of it is just some Chinese tat that has had a trendy name attached to it by some small scale Uk based Importer.

Retrogamer

There are quite a few models out there, but i don't recognise any of the brands and like yourself i'm pretty sceptical of their durability.

I suspect i might give them a miss just now but would be annoying to buy a different stereo then find out later down the line these Android ones are actually pretty robust.

Johnmcl7

I've spent a while looking at these cheap-ish Android car units first for my Octavia mk 2 and now for my Mazda6. You obviously get a lot of features but reliability is a concern which I wouldn't mind but it's a pain to get the unit in and out of my car plus there seems to be a lot of minor, irritating issues with them such as problems with the radio or interference on the speakers.

That said a lot of people seem to get on really well with them and I haven't used one myself.

John

mcpitman

Retrogamer wrote: »

There are quite a few models out there, but i don't recognise any of the brands and like yourself i'm pretty sceptical of their durability.

I suspect i might give them a miss just now but would be annoying to buy a different stereo then find out later down the line these Android ones are actually pretty robust.

A brand name of Sinosmart is mentioned quite alot on the insignia forums, get some good reviews and most buy from Aliexpress.

http://www.insignia-enthusiast.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=17615

If you gooogle "Insignia Sinosmart", the forum above reviews and niggles tend to appear at the top of the list in google.

A few of the lads on the foirum have established a good relationship with the main contact over in China for these units. I kid you not her name is "Pretty Wang"! :rotfl: