[naveen.raju]

Planning to change the OE Headunit. I was checking at Pioneer and other branded units with Android Auto. Everything is above 25k here.

The shop keeper recommended to go for an Android unit. Here are some comments they shared.

1) Brands are all Indian like Geesonic and one more brand (2gb RAM and 16GB storage). Am concerned about it's responsiveness down the line (whether it will be laggy).
2) Comes with camera. Apparently, stock camera wont work. Even if I go for Pioneer, I will need to add a new camera.
3) No extra module/cable needed for Canbus.
4) Saw the pioneer DMH-Z5290BT on a Polo and looked really small. Yes, it's the same size as the Creta headunit, but the physical buttons the stock unit makes it look big.
5) The Android one in 9" and said it would be a flush fit.
6) Quoted around 14,800 for the IPS display unit.

I basically need:
1) Android Auto
2) Reverse Cam
3) Steering controls to work.

Would should I do?

[Reinhard]

Originally Posted by naveen.raju

I basically need:
1) Android Auto
2) Reverse Cam
3) Steering controls to work.
Would should I do?

I'm an Android head unit user (with a very basic 1GB Ram/16GB storage configuration) since about 1.5 year now. I have faced 0 issues or lag with it. I use Google maps, BT phone, BT music as well as YouTube and PrimeVideo etc on it. I have kept a dedicated simple 4G dongle with its own 4G SIM in the car & don't use the phone's hotspot to keep phone data usage in check.

If you want to use Android Auto specifically - then you can't buy an Android head unit and will need to buy a Sony/Pioneer HU with AndroidAuto capability. However - IMHO, if you get an Android head unit - there is practically no need of AndroidAuto at all. Load the apps you need on the head unit itself & use it directly like a tab (which it really is!).

Steering controls work. The kit comes with car specific couplers to setup the steering mounted buttons. Reverse camera - typically its far easier to install the bundled camera rather than trying to fiddle with the OEM camera in the car due to different wiring, possible BCM integration + specific connector etc. The typical HD cameras that are bundled with these Android head units - are quite good quality. Often better in day as well as night compared to the stock cameras from OEM. Pleasantly, the HU also has pre-outs, so hooking up amp, subwoofer is easy too.

As of now - I get OTA software updates for my Android head unit. The only issue in future that I anticipate is that some day the particular android version will stop getting updates and newer versions of the apps that I use, will stop getting updates on PlayStore for this OS version. Then - the solution I have in mind is sideloading APKs manually into the HU or flashing it with a custom newer ROM of the OS to keep it upto date. Will be tricky of course since its not your regular phone as such so finding a suitable ROM and making it work will be a bit tricky (although not impossible).

For comparison - I have Android Auto in the Nexon & Android HU in the Alto. Everyone in the family - likes the Android one .

[Styler]

Dear All

I recently acquired a Grand Vitara 2.4L 2012, valid till 2027, to replace my Grand Vitara 2.0 2007 which expires in 2022. I had to do this because of the NGT 15 year rule.

Since I have 6 years with the new Grand Vitara 2.4L I decided to splurge on a good system to replace the OEM Head Unit.

I have just got an Ubplug Brand Android V10 4GB/64GB System with a Blaupunkt Camera installed. The dealer is listed here (Honest and Trustworthy Accessory Shop - Ahuja Car Dec, Lajpat Nagar, New Delhi) in the Team-BHP Delhi-NCR directory. He could source a good 9" Frame and Coupler Cable for the Grand Vitara which is rare.

The system has wired and Wireless Android Auto and Apple Car Play through the ZLink App. I have tested it out and works well.

I have tested the system and it works well without any lag as it has a Capacitive Touch Screen.

I checked the System with the CPU-Z and the DeviceInfoHW apps and it is a true Android 10, 4GB/64 GB System.

The only thing I am not sure about is that the storage already shows 26GB Used (12GB System / 14 GB Files) out of 64 GB. When I asked the dealer he told me this is normal usage. I was wondering if this is already using 26 GB how to the 16 GB Systems work ? Maybe the older versions of Android are leaner and take less space. Anyways I could only see a lot of files under Pictures with Logos of all brands of Cars etc. Maybe the Z-Link App takes up space for Android Auto and Apple Car Play. I was thinking maybe I should do a factory reset and that will probably get me to the base usage.

I want to use space mainly for offline maps of all of north india (25GB) . All the music can be put on a pen drive plugged into one of the two USB ports.

Is anybody using a 4GB/64GB Android 10 system with wired and wireless Android Auto ? What is the space used up in a new unit ? Is 26GB used close to normal ?

Posting a few pictures here.

Styler

[sunikkat]

Originally Posted by Styler

The only thing I am not sure about is that the storage already shows 26GB Used (12GB System / 14 GB Files) out of 64 GB. When I asked the dealer he told me this is normal usage. I was wondering if this is already using 26 GB how to the 16 GB Systems work ? Maybe the older versions of Android are leaner and take less space. Anyways I could only see a lot of files under Pictures with Logos of all brands of Cars etc. Maybe the Z-Link App takes up space for Android Auto and Apple Car Play. I was thinking maybe I should do a factory reset and that will probably get me to the base usage.


Is anybody using a 4GB/64GB Android 10 system with wired and wireless Android Auto ? What is the space used up in a new unit ? Is 26GB used close to normal ?

I have a 4GB/64GB Android auto upgraded on my Octavia and checked the storage now - it has only used 13.77 GB out of 64 GB. Mine is integrated apple car play which gets connected through Z-Link app.

[Styler]

Originally Posted by sunikkat

I have a 4GB/64GB Android auto upgraded on my Octavia and checked the storage now - it has only used 13.77 GB out of 64 GB. Mine is integrated apple car play which gets connected through Z-Link app.

Thanks. My system also shows 8GB System, 4 GB Apps, and 14GB in Files. I don't know what they have put in files. I'll have to find a way to clean it up.
There are a lot of apps pre-installed like spotify, OBD2 etc.

[sunikkat]

Originally Posted by Styler

Thanks. My system also shows 8GB System, 4 GB Apps, and 14GB in Files. I don't know what they have put in files. I'll have to find a way to clean it up.
There are a lot of apps pre-installed like spotify, OBD2 etc.

You might want to check whether any media or videos have got stored. I also do have all apps pre installed like spotify, Waze, prime audio and I installed Facebook (know its stupid but just installed ), prime video and couple of others too. So dont think the apps should have taken lot of space

[Styler]

Originally Posted by sunikkat

You might want to check whether any media or videos have got stored. I also do have all apps pre installed like spotify, Waze, prime audio and I installed Facebook (know its stupid but just installed ), prime video and couple of others too. So dont think the apps should have taken lot of space

Okay I checked and found that the Files\Amapauto9 Folder is the one which is taking up space. It seems to have a folder called Navi and inside it I think there are Chinese offline maps for navigation. This folder is taking up 14GB of space.

Ideally I would like to delete the app that stores in this folder, but I can't seem to find any chinese navigation app. I might just have to delete this folder. I hope it will be safe to delete the folder. Just deleting this folder will get my usage back to 14GB/64GB from the current 26GB/64GB.

[Styler]

Originally Posted by Styler

Okay I checked and found that the Files\Amapauto9 Folder is the one which is taking up space. It seems to have a folder called Navi and inside it I think there are Chinese offline maps for navigation. This folder is taking up 14GB of space.

Ideally I would like to delete the app that stores in this folder, but I can't seem to find any chinese navigation app. I might just have to delete this folder. I hope it will be safe to delete the folder. Just deleting this folder will get my usage back to 14GB/64GB from the current 26GB/64GB.

It seems this folder contained offline maps for the default Chinese app autonavi. Just set the default Navigation app to Google maps and deleted the folder. Everything looks good. I freed up 14.3 GB Space and now I have 48GB Free out of 64GB.

[sunikkat]

Originally Posted by Styler

It seems this folder contained offline maps for the default Chinese app autonavi. Just set the default Navigation app to Google maps and deleted the folder. Everything looks good. I freed up 14.3 GB Space and now I have 48GB Free out of 64GB.

Great, that looks more like my storage too. Glad you could fix it

[anandhsub]

I got the Woodman Extreme 3.0 installed along with a rear view camera and a dash cam.

Very happy with the unit, the only issue being the rear cam kinda sticks out of the bumper while the OEM one was concealed.

It came with a car specific fascia and fits perfectly although it is silver in coloir and not the OEMfaux wood finish.

The touchscreen is very good, almost like using a mid range mobile these days. There is 0 lag in using Maps or Spotify and the audio quality also seems better than what it was when connected via Bluetooth.

However I have one query. It looks the android unit doesn't switch off at all and only goes to a standby mode when the car is switched off.

The next time I switch on the car it even opens the app that was on the last time the car was switched off although it doesnt store what was being done in those apps.

Does it come with an inbuilt battery in order to not switch off or is it draining the car's battery?
I haven't faced any issue so far but it has only been 2 days and I use the car regularly. I hope I don't get a nasty surprise one day.

[gr8guzzler]

Originally Posted by anandhsub

Does it come with an inbuilt battery in order to not switch off or is it draining the car's battery?

Yes, there is an inbuilt battery. There is an option in the car settings (locked one, for which you can ask Woodman for the code) which will switch off the HU whenever you switch off the car. However, in regular usage I found it to be painful as every time you switch off the car, it needs to boot up again. Hence kept it in suspend mode. I have not faced any issues with the car battery, been using this unit for 2 yrs now.

[Styler]

Hi

I had recently got an Android Head Unit with 4GB/64GB installed in my Grand Vitara. I posted pics here :
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/car-e...ml#post5209304 (The Android Head-Unit buying guide)
It has Apple Car Play wired and wireless and it works well through the ZLink App. Google Maps works well, and my location is perfect as I suppose the Iphone GPS is being used.

Recently I tried to use the Google Maps app on the Android system to test. I thought for long drives it would be better to use the Google maps app on the system rather than on my phone through Apple Car Play.
Somehow my location on Google maps is off i.e like a few meters to the left or right of the road I am driving, and so Google Maps goes mad trying to re-route through service roads etc. This is really annoying.

I was searching the internet and a lot of people report this issue when they use Android Auto as it uses the GPS of the Car System and not of the phone.

I have tried the following things till now:
1. The square GPS Antenna is mounted on the dashboard below the windscreen, with a clear view of the sky.
2. Updated the Google Maps app to the latest of Dec 2021.
These have not fixed the issue.

Could it be a bad GPS antenna ? Anybody has any more ideas that I can try to fix this ?

Styler

[swapnilchandra]

Hi All,

Want to upgrade to an Android based head unit for my Renault Duster.

I visited couple of shops here in Pune to get some basic idea. As already mentioned in the thread, found out that most of the "brands" are China maal with a different name.

Came across couple of units (2/16GB):

- AVN Prod
- Blockbuster
- Orange
- Drivn
- MyDrive
- MyTVS
- Moco (only one with 4GB available)

Usual ones (unplug/nippon/woodmad) were also mentioned but interestingly not much recommended by the shop keepers (not sure why though).

Prices were all the place for same items (differences ranging from 1-4k).
Every shop keeper had their own favorites and each of them gave varied review for similar items.

I was hoping to clearly identify the "potential candidates" and "firmly rejected ones" after this exercise, but with such variation of price and reviews, I'm now utterly confused

I would really appreciate if someone can help me out with this:

- Has anyone got an unit installed for Duster (any first hand feedback is appreciated)
- I live in Baner, Pune. Are there any recommended shops where I can expect genuine feedback.
- My basic requirement is of Google Maps and Amazon music (running at the same time), would 2GB RAM systems be good enough?

Thanks in advance.

[Styler]

Originally Posted by Styler

Hi

Recently I tried to use the Google Maps app on the Android system to test. I thought for long drives it would be better to use the Google maps app on the system rather than on my phone through Apple Car Play.
Somehow my location on Google maps is off i.e like a few meters to the left or right of the road I am driving, and so Google Maps goes mad trying to re-route through service roads etc. This is really annoying.

An update to my previous post quoted above. With Tweaking of location settings in Google maps the GPS location issue is kind of fixed. I'm not sure if the weather was bad on the day it was going all over the place or the tweaking helped. The good thing is that now the Car's location is correct on the road and Google Maps does not go wild redirecting.

Styler

[trailsndirt]

I have an app on my phone called GPS Test
That should be compatible with your Android head unit. Run it without being paired to the phone and you should get satellite details so long as you are not parked inside.
Only, I hope it does not ask you to do a figure of 8 to calibrate if it detects too much interference.
It would be nice to read a future update if you drive about and use the unit for navigation, how easy it is to get directions sent to the device from the Google Maps website. I typically make the route plans with waypoints on the desktop and send them to my phone later. This would be dope if the same can be sent to the device or just shows up when the phone is connected.