[Abhi_abarth]

Originally Posted by sultanofswing

I'd like to throw my hat in the ring to bump this query as well. Finally I am at a stage where I can afford an overhaul. I'm driving a 2012 model ANHC. So if someone could kindly suggest:
- Android HU (with matching facia because it won't work in this model otherwise)
- Suggestions to replace the front components (in the default spaces)
- Place in Vijayawada to get this done and tentative cost.

I would be indebted and will shower with thanks!

Please explore Woodman products, been using one since two years.

[sultanofswing]

Originally Posted by Abhi_abarth

Please explore Woodman products, been using one since two years.

Thank you. I have seen their website based on some recommendations in this thread itself. Any leads on Hyd/Vijayawada reliable fitters who may either stock or help with fitting?

[Abhi_abarth]

Originally Posted by sultanofswing

Thank you. I have seen their website based on some recommendations in this thread itself. Any leads on Hyd/Vijayawada reliable fitters who may either stock or help with fitting?

I would suggest reach them directly which is what I did. Do they have their network of technicians in all cities including Hyderabad ( in Gachibowli).


Good Luck

[sultanofswing]

Originally Posted by Abhi_abarth

I would suggest reach them directly which is what I did. Do they have their network of technicians in all cities including Hyderabad ( in Gachibowli).


Good Luck

Thank you so much. I have done so. I'm looking at this as just another phone purchase and hence not being alarmed by the price. Just as I'd want better processor and ram in my phone for lasting longer, I'm thinking of the Xtreme 3.0 with either 4 or 6 gb ram. 4gb one is coming for 37.5k and 6gb for 45k with free rear camera. Youtube videos of this model look really good and it looks to be very snappy and responsive (which is a must for me, I really have less patience with slow tech )

SO i'd otherwise not have thought of spending so much on a head unit, and preferred to go for expensive components and amp or something, this will deplete a ton of my budget. I don't want to skimp on it because without responsiveness getting this device is a waste, so will try and max out. 360 degree is not important for me so will avoid getting it, unless they throw in some deal at the same price.

I hope I'm thinking about this the right way. Please let me know if others have suggestions on an upgrade pathway for this in terms of damping, and especially good component speakers. I'm going to keep this car till the legal limit of 2027 so Looking to spruce it up bit by bit to make the journey more enjoyable. It is just 86k kms young

[deep_bang]

Originally Posted by sultanofswing

I hope I'm thinking about this the right way. Please let me know if others have suggestions on an upgrade pathway for this in terms of damping, and especially good component speakers. I'm going to keep this car till the legal limit of 2027 so Looking to spruce it up bit by bit to make the journey more enjoyable. It is just 86k kms young

I recently installed woodman play series on my xuv500. Let me explain my thoughts. There are 3 ways you can use the system:
1. Use the android system as your main system and play things right off the main OS. Like you have your music apps and navigation etc right from the headunit.
2. Use wired android auto or carplay and treat the unit more or less as a dumb unit and let your phone do the heavy lifting.
3. Use wireless android auto for a seamless experience.

On my unit, (1) is too slow and painful and in that respects going for the extreme model will help. However, how would the unit get internet access? That means you would have to either get a model with a sim card and maintain a subscription for it or use your phone as a hotspot. If you use your phone as a hotspot, it will discharge fast, which means that you will need to have the phone plugged in all the time. Imagine, you get into the car and you cannot just click on navigate and get going - you need to have ritual to switch on hotspot, connect the phone to the charger, then open the right app on the HU and only then you are good to go. On top of all this, it's slow.

Contrastingly, with option (2) the phone is doing all the heavy lifting and so the performance is superb even with basic models. So, your use case would be, you get into the car, plug your phone, open the Zeta app, and you are good to start playing music or navigate. Since your phone is not exposing the hotspot, it would not drain the battery heavily. However, remember one thing here, since the phone is plugged in to the HUz the charging rate may be slow. On my setup it's so slow that it just is almost useless from the charging perspective. It only helps that android auto works seamlessly.

Now coming to the best of both worlds, using wireless auto, where the HU becomes a wireless hotspot and the phone connects to it, this use case means that you can plug in the phone to its native charger or even wireless chargers as you see fit, and it would just work. My current use case is, I enter the car and just start the car and start driving. I open the Zeta app and it takes about 10 seconds to establish the connection and I can simply start navigation after that. I have a choice to leave the phone in my pocket or plug it in for charging.

So if option 3 works well, it's the best. However, with a lot of mix and match of phones it may or may not work well. For me it is working well.

So, whether you buy extreme or not should ideally depend on the sound quality and whether you get better sound with the higher end system than due to a better ram/cpu. Whatever you buy, remember that your phone will tend to get updates 2 to 3 times in the next 6 to 8 years but it's likely that the android music system stays at the same OS level. So using your phone as your main system is also future proof.

There is some complexity if 2 people drive often. In my case my wife and I both use the car and if both of us get into the car, the car pairs to one phone, and it's not clear which phone it will pair to. This use case adds a little complexity but it's manageable if you get a hang of how the connection works and it will add one more step to ensure it always connects as you want it to.

[hanzt]

hi All,

any suggestions for a good HU for Urban Cruiser (vitara brezza) ?

My main usage is going to be reverse parking camera display & google maps.

[Engineer97]

Hi all,
I bought a Android Headunit last year for my 2008 Suzuki Swift (Android Version: 09), Got it locally for about 12K(Which also included new pioneer door speakers).

Its got a 10inch LCD display (720p),2GB ram and 16GB storage.

Went on a trip to Goa from Mumbai, set the destination using google maps and it worked flawlessly, Don't know what brand it was but it was made in China. Has two USB ports which I've routed to the glovebox since I normally just use bluetooth and Mobile Hotspot for Maps and such. Also finally got rear parking camera which is a nice feature to have on an old car.

anyone considering an upgrade for their ICE, Android Headunits are great alternatives to other name brands like sony, pioneer.

Audio quality is leaps and bounds better since I upgraded from a no-name Singe DIN.

Also added SONY XPLOD 4CHANNEL 1000W AMP which just runs my 12INCH 1800W SUB.[Rs.8850]

PS: The more RAM you have the better. Mine lags quite a bit. Not a problem for me though since I don't use the thing to its full extent.

Will update with pics later.

[pavi]

Originally Posted by Engineer97

Hi all,
I bought a Android Headunit last year for my 2008 Suzuki Swift (Android Version: 09), Got it locally for about 12K(Which also included new pioneer door speakers).

Its got a 10inch LCD display (720p),2GB ram and 16GB storage.

Could you please install CPU-Z app and it will reveal the actual specifications of your android head unit. I think the Android version would be 8, and 1 GB RAM.

[sultanofswing]

Originally Posted by deep_bang

So, whether you buy extreme or not should ideally depend on the sound quality and whether you get better sound with the higher end system than due to a better ram/cpu. Whatever you buy, remember that your phone will tend to get updates 2 to 3 times in the next 6 to 8 years but it's likely that the android music system stays at the same OS level. So using your phone as your main system is also future proof.

it to.

Some great perspectives here which I'm sure will be helpful to so many others in this dilemma as well. I never thought of the processing power being outsourced to phone as a main way to run the system. Lag free operation is better in the Woodman Xtreme though, but I realise now I need not shell out for a 6gb version. Online videos of 4 and 6gb versions are equally responsive, which is important for me. And then using your thought process of future proofing with phone really helps my purchase decision as well.

[nickoo]

Hi, i am in the market for an android system for Micra 2016. Given its micra its tough to find the fascia to fit a 7inches sony or pioneer hence the android. Any feedback on the Nippon android systems? I understand that they are all made in china with different branding, but still if anyone is using a nippon device would appreciate any feedback.
cheers!

[scorpion_blore]

I'm looking for an infotainment system to replace the OEM setup. My main requirements are FM, audio playback from songs stored in USB, Google Maps, Amazon Music and such audio streaming apps.

I saw some reviews in YouTube where users mentioned that Google Maps is extremely laggy. Is this a common issue? Isn't a 2GB system enough to handle Google Maps?

[nickoo]

Originally Posted by scorpion_blore

I'm looking for an infotainment system to replace the OEM setup. My main requirements are FM, audio playback from songs stored in USB, Google Maps, Amazon Music and such audio streaming apps.

I saw some reviews in YouTube where users mentioned that Google Maps is extremely laggy. Is this a common issue? Isn't a 2GB system enough to handle Google Maps?

What I understand based on my research that CarPlay or android auto is the best way to render google maps. Android players should ideally slow down over time similar to android phones.

[tbppjpr]

Originally Posted by scorpion_blore

I'm looking for an infotainment system to replace the OEM setup. My main requirements are FM, audio playback from songs stored in USB, Google Maps, Amazon Music and such audio streaming apps.

I saw some reviews in YouTube where users mentioned that Google Maps is extremely laggy. Is this a common issue? Isn't a 2GB system enough to handle Google Maps?

If you want to play the music from USB then look for the headunit with dual USB ports.

After trying out 3 different Android HUs in my car for few days, I switched onto conventional Android Auto/Carplay headunit due to the unacceptably poor audio quality and poor user experience while accessing the routine driving related tasks like navigation and all. It was so much distracting and risky to use in a car.

Apart from the audio quality and user friendly simple interface, another good thing with the conventional navigation units is that the performance depends on your phone. For eg when I got the system in early 2022, I was using a mid-ranger mobile bought back in 2019. it was doing the job and I had no complaints. Performance was predictably consistent.

But then I got the Pixel 6 and the user experience improved drastically. Its got much more responsive. Pixels 6 has some dedicated hardware for AI based voice assistance so now the system quickly captures my voice commands without missing anything. This is the most important factor while choosing the right infotainment system for car since the voice assistance is supposed to be the primary mode of interaction due to the obvious safety concerns.

Also tried my cousin's iPhone with Apple maps and Siri and experienced same smooth performance with that as well.

If you are planning to do some tinkering with the car's features via the Canbus interface then definitely go with the Android systems along with the appropriate Canbus adapter, otherwise the conventional systems are better choice to make your routine drives easier.

[scorpion_blore]

Originally Posted by tbppjpr

After trying out 3 different Android HUs in my car for few days, I switched onto conventional Android Auto/Carplay headunit due to the unacceptably poor audio quality and poor user experience while accessing the routine driving related tasks like navigation and all. It was so much distracting and risky to use in a car.

Wouldn't using a Android Auto only HU mean you always keep your phone connected to the HU? Out of all the ones you have tried so far, which one would you recommend, and can you please share its cost?

[tbppjpr]

Originally Posted by scorpion_blore

Wouldn't using a Android Auto only HU mean you always keep your phone connected to the HU? Out of all the ones you have tried so far, which one would you recommend, and can you please share its cost?

Yes obviously, you have to keep your phone connected with the HU all the time if you want to use the Android Auto or Carplay related features. Other features like USB music playback and reverse camera keep working without phone connection.

But if you are in the car then its much more convenient and safe to keep the phone connected with the headunit so that you are connected with your phone in least distracting manner. You don't miss any call or important message since you can attend them via voice assistant without moving your eyes from the road. You can also configure them for auto reply while you are driving.

Out of the different types of HUs, preference depends on the usage a person is looking at.

If there are better specked Android head-units available with the audio quality equivalent to the branded Android Auto/CarPlay systems along with the easily available appropriate CanBus interfaces, then I would definitely go with the Android system.

But currently only overpriced garbage is sold in the name of Android headunits in India, absolutely garbage. I won't even pay 10-12K for the most expensive unit sold here. International scenario is also not looking much promising. Only the OEM units preinstalled by the car manufacturers are somehow acceptable.

Other option can be something like Pioneer tab which has detachable Android tablet with battery which you can also use at home or office when not using in the car. But that has simple Android OS instead of Android Automobile OS, thus no CanBus compatibility.

So the branded Android Auto/Carplay HUs are the safest bets for the time being.

I posted long reviews in this thread few pages back, you can also check them.