[shankarbn]

Originally Posted by five46

I use the hotspot on my mobile phone for internet connectivity. Alternatively, a sim card dongle can also be connected through the secondary USB port.

Can the dongle read 4g though? Aliexpress only guarantees 3g or unknown on the 4g support.

[Hemicuda]

Originally Posted by Abhinav_2502

Great Upgrade! Just wanted to know if you had tried out the Android Auto app?

After going through this thread was contemplating buying a new Head unit, even short listed a few Sony ones. But was giving second thoughts due to the prices. Also was not willing to have the newer brands giving a try.
Saw your post and installed the launcher and I must say it is pretty handy and useful. Have to actually use it inside the car but so far it seems impressive. Saved me a few bucks and the immediate itch to upgrade. Will post feedback of actual usage inside car.

[ARAY]

Originally Posted by five46

Thanks for the appreciation.

A very detailed installation indeed, thanks for sharing. I wanted android auto along with Alexa in the duster. I had thought of getting the HU changed but the HU of duster is located pretty low and pretty useless, so wanted something close to the field of view. At hills during trips mostly the Duster is parked far away from hotels in few instances so an expensive aftermarket HU would draw unwanted attention. The stock HU also comes with MapMyIndia and comes in handy when AGPS fails.

So this was my solution, not the best, however I have managed to route the wires without looking ugly now. The phone is a basic Micromax Canvas Infinity bought with the Duster and has served well so far.

Used the GoPro Clip mount to place the setup in between the AC vents.


The whole thing twists upward for the Manual override for central lock and parking lights.
The setup is sturdy as there is sufficient surface area for the 3M tapes to glue to the surface.


Lastly the very reason to use a phone to support Alexa via Amazon Music and Alexa app. Also the split screen of Native android helps too.


With the flexibility above the trips have been gracious so far. The hands free Alexa and hands free Video recording comes in very handy.

[amritpal2489]

I have installed a Newsmy unit in my ciaz. Its doing superb duty since 2015. I feel it is way better than JVCs Pioneers etc. Have rooted it also n V4A is doing its best

[Hemicuda]

Wanted to share feedback of Android Auto app/Launcher as i had said earlier . I have a Sony XSP-N1BT head unit with the inbuilt Dock. There actually is supposed to be an app from sony which I am supposed to use with the device. I had it installed 3-4 years ago Sony stopped updating the app long ago and it is really pathetic to use it now with the new phones.
But the unit itself does its job ok so now with the android auto app the whole set up is great, it detects the phone perfectly and is compatible with amazon music etc.

[Glass]

Originally Posted by ARAY

So this was my solution, not the best, however I have managed to route the wires without looking ugly now. The phone is a basic Micromax Canvas Infinity bought with the Duster and has served well so far.

Interesting solution. How do you route the phone output to the car speakers? - by pairing the phone to the existing HU?

Also, does the phone capture voice well enough in calls?

[five46]

Originally Posted by wr10forever

Nice work there five46
Have you tried rooting on the HU? If you are able to root it, you might easily get around the problem of low bass levels by installing a DSP software such as Dolby Atmos or Viper4Android

Thank you wr10forever. Still haven't got the itch to root it. The problem of low bass is not with the HU per-se. I have used this HU with JBL CX-650CSI component speakers in my Eon. The bass from these JBL components was notably good. But the problem with this setup was the super aggressive highs, comparable to the shriek-y 32 kbps bollywood jhik jhik you get from electronic toys. I suspect that these JBLs I purchased here were counterfeit.

But yes, I am pretty sure the bass can be powered better by rooting and using the DSPs you mentioned.

Originally Posted by vnabhi

I am curious to know how the unit gets internet data. Do you convert your phone into a hotspot?

Also, when there are players like Blaupunkt Monte Carlo 750 and Sony XAV 3000 that sell under 18 K, why did you not go for them?

1. Yes, my phone is used as a hotspot device.
2. The main reason was - I wanted a unit with Android OS itself and not just Android Auto support. Also, the budget - this Panlelo HU cost me around 7k. In fact, I feel I have been shortchanged on the cost of the Sony Speakers + rear camera + fitting charges by atleast 500-700 bucks. But this local dealer is working on my cars from 2016, so didn't haggle much.

Originally Posted by shankarbn

Can the dongle read 4g though? Aliexpress only guarantees 3g or unknown on the 4g support.

I am not sure of this as I haven't used internet through the dongle. Also, I think connectivity speed (3G/4G) will depend on the dongle hardware - please correct me, I am just guessing.

Originally Posted by ARAY

A very detailed installation indeed, thanks for sharing. I wanted android auto along with Alexa in the duster...

So this was my solution, not the best, however I have managed to route the wires without looking ugly now. The phone is a basic Micromax Canvas Infinity bought with the Duster and has served well so far.

Used the GoPro Clip mount to place the setup in between the AC vents.

Thanks ARAY. That's a swell setup you have - and tidy one too. Many a times, I also thought of using my old Redmi 1s handset full time in the car as a display unit for maps and connect it with a BT HU. But, after working on the maths, I went ahead and installed this setup.

Originally Posted by amritpal2489

I have installed a Newsmy unit in my ciaz. Its doing superb duty since 2015. I feel it is way better than JVCs Pioneers etc. Have rooted it also n V4A is doing its best

Hmmm.. Another comment on rooting. I feel an itch.

[pathik]

Just FYI, there is a software available on XDA (paid) which makes any Android HU work as Android Auto. I used the same when I was using an Android phone. Trust me - the user experience of using Android Auto is miles ahead of using a traditional Android OS.

[tchsvy]

At 14k that's a nice ICE setup and well executed too. I too have an itch to upgrade the basic ICE setup on my Micra Active. Right now I am using my Poco F1 for audio (with Poweramp app) and navigation needs.

Came across this myTVS android based HU, TAV 61A, it's priced at 18k. With one year warranty and vide dealer network, it comes with peace of mind, well at least theoritically. On the other hand not sure about myTVS brand, has anyone used their products before? This might also be a Chinese HU that was simply rebranded.

https://www.mytvsaccessories.com/myt...r-media-player

[five46]

Originally Posted by blackwasp

Just a question, can you post pictures of the rear camera? I would like to know how it is mounted.

Here you go..





The two Baleno badges look cheesy. I will be taking out one of these soon.

Originally Posted by five46

Being an Android HU, you also can customise the UI with the help of third party launchers. One such example is below when I was using this very HU in my Eon. I will post more pics of it when I have the car with me.

As mentioned earlier. I use the CarWebGuru launcher on my HU to change the way the screen looks. Here are some of the themes that the launcher offers (many free and few paid are available too):



And this is how it looks on the HU screen (the blacks are evidently washed out on the screen, this is no sAMOLED ), but it does looks dope at night:












The speed of the vehicle that is displayed on the launcher is fed by the GPS antenna that comes bundled with the HU. In my car, the GPS is placed here:



There is another interesting app that I use: RealDash. This app also gives a very nice looking screen dash. I use this most of the times as I get the rpm counter too. I use this theme from RealDash:



This is how it looks on the screen (sorry for the washed images, but trust me, it looks uber cool at night):



Few other free themes on RealDash:





RealDash has amazing collection of paid themes. But, these ones are sufficing my requirements presently.

Thanks again for the patient reading.