Android Double Din Head Units (Aliexpress)

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rh2600

53 posts

Master Geek

#296330 8-Jun-2022 21:23

As Android Driving Mode on my Pixel has continued to increasingly get worse over time I've been looking to replace my X-Trail's double-din CD Stereo with a touch-screen based Android Stereo and possible with Android Auto, and I've been trying to grok the options on Ali Express.

Has anyone had any experiences with these?

There seem to be a couple of popular brands (Podofo & Carlaoer), and Android Auto/Car Play seems to be an option on some of their higher-end units as opposed to just being stand alone Android devices.

I'm interested to know if anyone has purchased one of these (or similar) how they've found the performance, and how they've found Android Auto reliablity in these units, and how they've found them as stand alone Android devices?

For example

Caralaoer (2 Gig 32 Gig + Carplay) ~$130
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32946430734.html?spm=a2g0s.8937460.0.0.64b02e0e441ZGn

Podofo V4 PLus (4 Gig 64 Gig + Carplay_ ~$330
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32972656000.html?spm=a2g0o.store_pc_home.hotSpots_6000853886868.0

Also keen to hear people's experiences with the range of backing cameras available for these things - LED lighting or no?

Handle9

11388 posts

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#2924135 9-Jun-2022 00:48

I can’t speak to the reliability of those specific models but I’ve had a generic Android head unit for 3 years. The head unit it’s self is pretty trash but I use it almost exclusively for CarPlay.

You can add CarPlay/Android Auto to any android stereo using a CarLinkIt dongle. The CarPlay on these is very good and Android Auto was ok as well. They do make some OEM modules as well, I put one in my wife’s A4 and it works great.

https://a.aliexpress.com/_mqt8aCa

cruxis

481 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2924159 9-Jun-2022 08:58

I am also interested in one for my Mazda Demio for GPS tracking, Do the ones that have GPS and 4G/ Wifi, can they use Googles Find my Device and location timeline features ?

kobiak

1615 posts

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#2924167 9-Jun-2022 09:26

I have one of these since december https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4001091409878.html?spm=a2g0o.order_list.0.0.77291802ef0IKV

it's awesome for everything apart from MAPS. yup, that's right. google maps is so slow and look faded. sygic works ok, but again on the slow side....

Tried the "hack" to use android auto without external android auto device - worked once, maps still look crap. I cant get screen mirror to work :(

helping others at evgenyk.nz

rh2600

53 posts

Master Geek

#2924206 9-Jun-2022 12:41

Handle9: I can’t speak to the reliability of those specific models but I’ve had a generic Android head unit for 3 years. The head unit it’s self is pretty trash but I use it almost exclusively for CarPlay.

You can add CarPlay/Android Auto to any android stereo using a CarLinkIt dongle. The CarPlay on these is very good and Android Auto was ok as well. They do make some OEM modules as well, I put one in my wife’s A4 and it works great.

https://a.aliexpress.com/_mqt8aCa

Thanks for the info - with this dongle, do you still need some sort of Android App/APK to be able to talk with the dongle?

It seems some of these devices use an app called Zlink (which appears bundled, or at best 'side-loaded').

There's also an app on the store called Headunit Reloaded (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=gb.xxy.hr&hl=en&gl=US) but that doesn't have the best reviews.

Handle9

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#2924452 9-Jun-2022 21:02

Yes you use an app called Autolink, which is side loaded. Occasionally it goes a bit loopy but clearing cache/data and it's fine.

I tried Headhunt Reloaded prior to buying the hardware, it was a buggy mess for me. Sometimes it was great, sometimes it didn't work, sometimes it worked but maps lagged by 30 seconds. YMMV but a hardware dongle has been much much better for me.

hbngan

89 posts

Master Geek

ID Verified

#2925272 11-Jun-2022 15:39

I have a 9" no name one installed in my honda fit and going well for the last 2 yrs

like the previous post, google maps a bit sluggish but works, I dont have 4g on it, I just saved offline maps and works ok

previously I used Igo as it came with it and with NZ maps

I downloaded a diff skin

rh2600

53 posts

Master Geek

#2938971 6-Jul-2022 20:28

I bit the bullet and ordered this unit (Carlaoer 4G-8C-CarPlay-4-64G), plus a rear cam and Nissan loom.

Shipped pretty quickly and well packaged, loom was exact match for my 2004 X-Trail. Bracket required new holes and fettling to match my DIN arrangement which looked pretty standard so that was a surprise. Have yet to install camera so more on that later.

Here are my observations about these units.

OS is some custom fork of Android 10, but locked/suppressed so can't get any updates via Android > Settings. Looks like some aspects of the build get OTA updates though.
It does let you register your Google account which then enables app store and google play services like any device (turned off sync for all things).
Uses an app called Zlink for Android Auto/Car Play. This app comes bundled and 'activated' with the device, and you pay a premium for it, but I don't think there is any specific hardware in this device to support it, just a contract between the seller and Zlink (which appears to be a chinese company http://www.zjinnova.com/) to license it.
Zlink seems OK, TBH Android Auto is not a great candidate to test performance on as in my experience it's pretty glitchy anyway. Perhaps a much lowergrade system would handle this aspect of use just as well. I got a reasonbly grunty unit because I was wondering if AA/CP was too buggy, I'd rely on the unit itself to run Google Maps, and Spotify etc... which is does do quite well.
Radio and DSP amp settings does appear to have transformed the sound quality of my factory speakers, although the amp was set waaaay to high by default and had horrible preset so needed a bit of adjustment and tuning.
Config of steering wheel controls was dead simple too.
The stock launcher is really poor - it features a pretty cheesy purple supercar avatar in the center, and a local music player widget - neither of which you can change or remove. I don't think its easy to swap out the launcher due to the integration of FM radio and rear camera support etc, but I hope something can be done as many other similar devices have different and nice launchers, but again I am assuming I will be in Android Auto mode most of the time, so this is not a biggie (yet).
Audio quality during calls is through a pin-hole mic on the front of the unit - its on the left hand side of the unit, presumably optimised for LHD cars, so the quality and volume is not great. It did come with an external mic that I am going to test at some point after getting the rear-view camera going - which is my next job.

Any other questions sing out.