Motorola MA1 wireless Android Auto car adapter: Review

I bought it for my wife's 2022 Hyundai Tucson & so far, the device has been very reliable.

BHPian svdxb recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Hello everyone!

My wife's Tucson 2022 had only wired Android Auto and doesn't support wireless Android Auto. For a long time, we were looking for a dongle to use wireless Android Auto. AAwireless was the first dongle that was launched last year but getting it is next to impossible due to the global chip shortage.

Enter the Motorola MA1. It was announced back in January and is the first dongle that Google has actually promoted. The dongle isn't actually made by Motorola themselves but by SGW Global who have licensed the Motorola name, but who cares, as long as it works well. I pre-ordered the dongle and got it in 4 days from Amazon and had it shipped to my place through a forwarding service as the device is still only available in the US.

Design & packaging

The box packaging is fairly basic. There's nothing in the box, apart from the device, an instruction manual, and a sticky pad which you can use to fix the device at a spot in your car.

The whole idea behind this device is to just hook it to your USB port and then you never have to look at it again. You just turn on your car and it automatically connects to your phone and turns on Android Auto.

The device has black plastic with shiny on the front side. It has a non-removable USB cable with a USB A connector. There's a single button that is used for pairing but I didn't even need to press it for the initial pairing.

Performance

Getting started with the MA1 is a breeze. All you need to ensure is that your phone has been paired with your car with a cable. After that just swap the cable with the MA1 cable and then pair the device on your phone. Once pairing is done, the device starts blinking green and your phone will automatically make a direct WiFi connection to the MA1 and the Android Auto will start on your head unit wirelessly.

The first pairing with my S21 Ultra took a good 15-20 seconds but after that, all the connections are done within 10 seconds. The button on the side can be used to switch between multiple phones, but so far I haven't used it.

So far, the device has been very reliable. I have not had any disconnections at all. With the cable, I used to change the cable very frequently as Android Auto is known to be very picky when it comes to cables.

The only drawback with MA1 is battery life. Wireless Android Auto can quickly eat your phone's battery and wireless chargers can't keep up with that. So far, I haven't used it for long trips and mostly been using it for short city trips which is fine. For long trips, I would recommend plugging your phone directly into the USB.

Should you buy it or not

Yes, definitely. I wasn't expecting the MA1 to work well, given how buggy Android Auto is but it gets the job done. The convenience of not plugging your phone every time for short trips is well worth it. The price tag ($89) is a little high, but so are other AA devices too and none of them has been certified by Google.

Buy it if you go on a lot of short trips and you hate cables.

Don't buy it if your car does not have Android Auto and your phone's battery life is already struggling.

Here's what BHPian abhishek46 had to say about the matter:

Good thread, and a good purchase!

After having used both wireless and wired Android Auto in my Hyundai Creta (OEM 8-inch Infotainment system), I feel I can contribute a bit to this thread.

Wireless Android Auto

• Connects almost instantly, on startup. Takes 3-5seconds maximum.
• Once in a while, like say once every 4-6 hours of continuous use on long drives, the phone randomly disconnects.
• The audio quality sometimes deteriorates, and of course, improves on its own after some time.
• The phone can rest in a very nice 'graceful' position in the phone storage area near the gear lever & no wires to 'mess' the appearance.

Wired Android Auto

• It takes 2 seconds for me to connect the wire to the phone, and within the next 2 seconds, the connection is established.
• Never disconnects & audio quality remains consistent.
• Phone is charged up and no battery concerns at the end of the journey.
• Since there is a wired connector attached to the phone, the phone cannot rest 'gracefully' in the phone storage area near the gear lever.

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.