Ebay Android Headunits

ItsAdamC

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Anybody had any experience with the Chinese Android headunits you see on eBay, wish and the like? They seem to be very good value for money but what would they be like? The only experience of a non branded headunit was some awful ebay £20 bluetooth thing that came in a 106 I had a few years and the sound quality was laughable. Would one of these units be the same? I don't expect show winning sound quality but I wouldn't be able to live with it being any worse than the standard vauxhall CD30 unit currently fitted to my car.

Screen Shot 2018-07-01 at 17.33.13.png
 

adam1942

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I had one in my Forester - primarily as it had full Android and I wanted to use Android apps to monitor the car. It had the A2DP or whatever it is for streaming audio, a tuner in it, wireless and a GPS.

To be honest it was pretty good for me. I also got some cheap after market speakers and it was grand.

The only thing I would say is I had to get a custom firmware from xda developers as it had a few issues with the A2DP dropping randomly. Custom firmware sorted it (Apparently all the cheap ones are the same hardware just different firmware) so as long as you match the firmware to the processor you are good to go (lots of guides on XDA Developers - copy the files to a Micro SD card boot the head unit and it'll copy the firmware).

I had "XTRONS TB706APL 8-Core Android 6.0 Double DIN Sat Nav Car GPS Stereo DAB+ Radio" which was slightly dearer but the 8-core proc setup seems to have instant <1s power on time where as the older quad or dual cores can take up to 12 seconds to boot as they boot each time.

One of the lads on here also mentioned that the sound quality would be piss - I found it ok it wasn't anything to write home about but was better than the existing after market head unit I had in my car.

It was essentially this (XTRONS 8-Core Android 8.0 Double DIN 7" Car Stereo GPS Sat Nav DAB+ Radio 4G DVR | eBay) but came with Android 6 not 8.

If its just a cheap head unit you are after I'd recommend going a used double din as it'll probably be better audio - but if you want a 'cheap' (compared to the rest of the market) toy with full OS and want to play then I'd get an Xtrons or whatever other variant you want.
 

colin84

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Your best bet is to have a look on Amazon to see the reviews, some of them are decent for the money, but some get slated.
 

ItsAdamC

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@adam1942 cheers mate ive been looking at then for about 2 years on and off and just havent pulled the trigger. I suppose my best way to find out what its like is jusy buy one and if its crap then return it/flog it on. I like the idea of having google maps on a screen on my dash along with spotify instead of messing about with my phone in a dash mount
 

A6Avant

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I had a chinese unit in the RS6 and it was more of a frustration than anything. Radio stations didnt work, GPS wasnt connected correctly. There were other niggles too but in the end i took it out and just replaced it with a standard OEM head unit i had that had a cassette player in it. To me it was so much more simple and easier used. The other time i bought one of these from China. Opened the box and just decided it wasnt worth it so flogged it on eBay. But then i have very little patience. Perhaps if you have the time to wrestle and fiddle with it it could be grand but im too old and fussy to be fiddling with gizmos that only give frustration so i prefer to pay the bit extra and get something that works
 

Dandy

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Put an xtrons unit into a jeep years and years ago and it was pretty good for the money. It wasn't an android one though. Was still working good 4 years later when the Jeep was sold.
 

Neil_M

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I fitted an ATOTO A6 into my Civic. See some of the lasts posts on this page and the following page - My 2003 Civic Type R EP3

I really wanted it for diagnostics and data, so the additional items were nice to haves.

I have no complaints now. It did keep flipping the screen randomly (a firmware fix seemed to fix that) and the ATOTO - ISO loom was pinned from factory incorrectly.

It's a very fast, responsive unit, with an incredibly clear screen.

* Watch for how many bluethooth adapters it has built in, meaning you can bluetooth to several devices at once.
* DAB radio may be an option you want, see if it supports it.
* Viewable area, many have small screens with a large band around the screen.
* Boot time, most should boot in 1-2 seconds.
* Compare the resolution of the screen, many cheaper units have a poor resolution.
* SAT NAV / WIFI, see if the units have separate antennas for those. These will boost the signal notably.
* I'd recommend setting the unit up in the house / connect to your WIFI. It's much quicker than sitting in the car waiting for an update to download.
 

ItsAdamC

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@Neil_M

That looks like a really good wee unit mate, I'll have to keep an eye out for one! Also, that Civic of yours looks the business!
 

Neil_M

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@Neil_M

That looks like a really good wee unit mate, I'll have to keep an eye out for one! Also, that Civic of yours looks the business!

Cheers Adam.

That was from Amazon. My second choice and a little more expensive was the Pumpkin units.

The Civic is mad craic.
 

adam1942

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@Neil_M from what I read the Pumkin units and the Xtrons units are the same hardware just a different firmware (again can use a custom firmware from XDA Developers based on which chip its running) so I went with the cheaper of the two with the best CPU / RAM combo.
 

Broomy

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I had an amazon one in the gti, avoid like the plague! DVD / CD stopped working,nav stopped, wifi stopped connecting the only thing left working is the reverse camera and radio app itself. I would never touch another cheapo one. Think @StephenMcC had the same one as me
 

StephenMcC

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I've got one as Broomy said, worked perfectly until I decided to try and install a custom firmware... I just haven't got around to re-flashing it back to stock.

I've fitted 2 other VW ones to my Uncles Golf and Cousins Polo, both faultless, also fitted one to an Astra which is still going strong.

@Broomy, try resetting it back to factory, some firmwares have quirks that are fixed after that.
 

adam1942

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^-- also ask the manufacture for an updated firmware. Xtrons seem to provide it via the Xtrons forums!
 

adam1942

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Out of interest what one was it you had and how much did you pay? All I hear is bad things but I must have been the lucky one
 

Father Stack

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I had one in my Passat, it was absolutely brilliant for GPS, bluetooth streaming, Android apps etc. Even came with a wee reversing camera. Thing was - it drained the battery even when off. If the car sat for more than 24 hours it wouldn't start without attaching a battery booster pack and leaving it for 20mins. Became a pain in the arse so I took it out and put the standard one back in. I probably had it fitted wrong though.
 

StephenMcC

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I had one in my Passat, it was absolutely brilliant for GPS, bluetooth streaming, Android apps etc. Even came with a wee reversing camera. Thing was - it drained the battery even when off. If the car sat for more than 24 hours it wouldn't start without attaching a battery booster pack and leaving it for 20mins. Became a pain in the arse so I took it out and put the standard one back in. I probably had it fitted wrong though.

That'll be your CAN Gateway most likely, older versions cause drain with particular radios I had to upgrade mine.
 

Brennan

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I have a 1080P android unit in my car, It’s very different to this though as it’s been made especially for BMW F30s as an OEM replacement and it incorporates itself into the original idrive system as well as giving you a separate android experience. Very OEM looking too which is a bonus
 

roverspeed

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i was thinking of getting one of these for the car, but I am not sure. It might be hard to shift when I change cars. Being only for an Insignia.

They get slightly mixed reports too.

Would be like having a Tesla screen though, huge.

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gpaevo

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I had one in my F31 BMW, 10.5" screen and it was superb. Worked in tandem with the idrive and was controlled with using the oem controller and steering wheel.

I'm currently looking at one for my Ranger as I miss having one so much
 

Neil_M

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I still rate my ATOTO A6. It's much quicker than some of the more expensive units out there.

I'd look carefully at the specs of the units, my calculator has more processing power than some of them...
 
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