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A**R
Great upgrade, does EVERYTHING! I would buy again!
So full disclosure the first unit I received was defective and the carplay didn't work and the screen flickered on and off. No what said, the company has been amazing taking care of me on that. The sent new cables and eventually completely replaced the original unit with a new one. Which works perfectly. Carplay works just like factory stereos. So I'm for sure giving a 10/10 for customer service. I moved across the country right after buying the first unit and they worked with me to get a replacement.Now for the review portion.Audio: the bass is phenomenal. The unit itself is android based so any equalization app can be installed but the smart bass and full customization that comes backed in is better than any I've tried. It makes my factory VW speakers sound custom. And it gets LOUD.Screen. A lot of these types of units suffer from dimly lit screens. Not this one. The screen might actually be too bright for some people. Fortunately it's adjustable in settings and can be set to change automatically for day/night driving. The touch buttons are rgb customizable too. I went with red, but any color is possible using the sliders to adjust.Interface: everything feels like it's in the right place. I may have adjusted what the first three selections are or moved the "phone sync" (carplay) button to the front but the menus are easy to use and navigate. The only thing here is I would have liked to swap apps to the main screen as I downloaded them. I hardly ever use fm stereo or navigation so swapping them for the carplay and Netflix apps would have been nice, but isn't a deal breaker. You can change the boot logo to reflect your car manufacturer or even put anything you want on a SD card and upload it. Pretty neat piece of customization there. Bluetooth phone calls work great and has phone book integration. The Bluetooth music options is great too although it doesn't show album covers.Split screen: most android apps have a split screen option. This unit takes advantage of that, and the Google maps app actually does "picture in picture" with a small overlay that can be moved around the screen. That was a pleasant surprise.Apps: only app I couldn't get to work so far is Disney plus. Netflix, Hulu, Amazon prime video, all work. So does the xm radio streaming app. Now all these require internet so I use my iPhone hot spot and since I'm plugged into the carplay anyways, I never touch my phone on long drives.Installation: This unit comes with everything you need to completely install in an MKV Jetta. It may fit mk6 as well but I'm not sure. The wiring harness is designed to plug in with no cutting or anything. I bought mine during the deal for a free backup camera and OBD connector. So far they both work great I'll talk about them shortly. As for installing them, running wires and connecting and mounting the backup camera, gps wire, Hotspot wire and all that was the most time consuming. Subtract those and this whole unit can be installed in 15 -30 minutes. Add an hour or two for the others because of trim panel removal.Connectivity: quick notes here. Once connected the stereo tells you if your door is open and which door it is to include the trunk. It also tells you fuel levels, which tire has low air and when connected to the OBD Bluetooth dongle, you can actually get real time fuel economy information and all the engine info too. This adds features the base model jetta does not normally have which was nice.Additional : gps antenna works great for me. You can download offline Google maps or a gps apps that have offline maps and use the gps without internet connection. The backup camera works great and even shows the direction you're turning. I did not pay for the 4g dongle I only use my phones Hotspot but it seems to work pretty good with the unit, as the kids have enjoyed Netflix and Hulu while on longer trips.Cons: screen material is a little shiny and has glare from the sun. This might bother some people. I just turned the brightness up. Problem solved.Ui colors. The radio module has red coloring and the Bluetooth module has green coloring for the details and UI. I would have liked to customize this option, but in the end it doesn't affect how the unit works. Only other con is that the buttons are in the edge of the trim and sometimes you may accidentally press them when trying tk touch the screen. Once you get the hang of it, you won't do it any more. With the first unit I would notice slow down, and freezing. That has not been existent on the new unit so right now I'm chalking it up to that defective unit.All in all this was a fantastic upgrade and I got all the options I wanted from a pioneer unit that would have cost me 800-1200 dollars. Not to mention the great customer service I've had. You're mileage may vary, but I've been pleased.
J**D
Decent for the price but slow
I put this in a 10 year old car and it is decent for the price. It's laggy though. Everything takes 4x longer to load than on a modern Android product like a Pixel 5. It would be worth spending twice as much on anything going into a newer vehicle. Overall I'm happy with it and it's an easy install and looks nice in my mkv GLI.
K**O
The best Head Unit out there
There’s quite a lot to say about this unit, so I’ll try and keep it short. 1st, it looks beautiful. Makes your car look luxurious. The head unit fits so nicely in place that it seems like it was a factory built head unit. I love the little features it brings like showing what car door is open, or when I turn the steering wheel while I’m reversing, the lines on the camera will shift with the steering wheel.Bluetooth: not much to say. Connecting to it is pretty easy. It shows your device name when connected. It shows your contacts, call logs, etc. For the music player, the interface looks nice and simple, unlike other interfaces.Car Play: I wish it was more reliable, as it sometimes doesn’t connect, or sometimes it crashes while playing music. Other than that, Car Play works fine.Using this head unit for apps/games/streaming would require patience. It is a little slow, but it’s still works.Installation was fairly easy. Other than the reverse camera, the head unit was plug and play. I also found that this head unit with an aftermarket reverse camera is so much better than the stock head unit/ cameras on the Jetta (mk6).
T**.
Wanted to love it, but it didn’t deliver.
I really wanted to love this head unit. But... it just doesn’t deliver.For reference, I have a 2012 Jetta TDI with the Fender Premium Audio system.The good: much better audio control for sound output. Music sounds fantastic via apps on Android. The equalizer is rather robust and works pretty well in combination with loudness control and the smart bass system. The installation is truly plug and play. You will need an adapter for the stock VW GPS antenna. An $8 piece that enables you to use the factory antenna instead of having to run the included antenna through your dash. OEM look that fits perfectly. The display is as big as it could get for the space available and it’s aesthetically pleasing.The bad: an odd hissing sound that occurs as the audio sources change (e.g. Spotify to YouTube). Display isn’t anti-glare, so it’s difficult to see anything at all in bright light. It’s also pretty dim and a massive fingerprint collector. The interface is insanely clunky. Even with a different launcher (Nova Premiere), animations disabled and manufacturer-provided updates, the apps struggled to run. After I peeled off the protective plastic from the screen, it revealed a scratch 1/4” long. There are no hard buttons or knobs (which is obvious) but if you’re trying to scrub on a track that’s near the bottom, your fingers will inevitably activate a button at the bottom of the screen, meaning you can head to the Home Screen or adjust the volume inadvertently. Boot up is agonizingly slow. Google Maps lags (hard) in the head unit but moves smoothly using Apple CarPlay. Speaking of CarPlay, the audio from Spotify via CarPlay sounds completely different than the android app. Having to find a workaround to automatically connect to the WiFi network on your mobile, or get a dongle is also extremely tedious.In my specific vehicle, this DOES work with the Fender audio system and sounds pretty damn good. Certainly better than stock head unit. You need to ensure that you connect the amp turn-on cables (pictured in second photo provided by manufacturer) and that you turn the pre-amp on in the Balance settings of the unit.I’m sure this unit will work for a lot of people. However, as easy as the installation is, the quality isn’t what I thought it was be. I suppose you get what you pay for.
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