Question Recommend me a double din

DanTheManc

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I've recently bought a 2008 Civic and I'm looking to fit a double din head unit.

My requirements are:

*DAB
*Connect my Android phone and mirror the screen for sat nav
*Play tracks from a USB flashdrive


I'd also prefer a decent resolution capacitive touchscreen screen, but most seem to be resistive. I was in Halfords and the screen on the Pioneer app radio 4 (DA120) looked very nice and was responsive, whereas the screen on the Kenwood 4025DAB looked cheap and nasty. Unfortunately, the app radio 4 doesn't have DAB and from what I can tell, is aimed at Apple rather than android anyway.

The head unit which is interesting me most at the moment is the newly released Kenwood DDX-5015DAB. I'm interested in unit because it has DAB and Android mirroring which works using miracast and an optional Dongle. [ame=[MEDIA=youtube]rts5dLgUbB4[/MEDIA] 1.08 mins into this video as an example.[/ame]

Because the unit is so new I can't find any reviews or videos and nowhere seems to have any to demo. The Kenwood unit I viewed in Halfords had a terrible screen so I would prefer to try before I buy rather than buy it and be disappointed.

Can anybody recommended a double din upto £400? I'd consider an Android unit, but non seem to have DAB.
 
I was going to suggest the Sony unit that actually holds your phone as well. It's brilliant with my xperia and takes other devices too, but it isn't dab :(
 
The Sony unit is very innovative but I'd prefer a unit where I could keep my phone in my pocket 99% of the time. I don't mind connecting it the odd time when I need to use the sat nav.
 
Ahhhh fair enough :)
For me it was perfect because you mentioned about mirroring sat nav I made the assumption you used a mount currently like I used too, I was going to say it's a great way to clear clutter from your windscreen but no this definitely wouldn't be for you :)
 
Depending on the phone you have, you can mirror it exactly on the screen and have any app running on it. Check out the XDA Forums and search for App Radio Unchained. Way better on Android than Apple (App Radio 3 anyway !)
 
App radio unchained says it only works with Pioneer units with HDMI connection, not USB.

My headunit is the USB type.
 
I was going to suggest the Sony unit that actually holds your phone as well. It's brilliant with my xperia and takes other devices too, but it isn't dab :(

This looks great.
Does it work with Ipod though - I am looking for a double din monitor which is Ipod compatible displays album art and can mirror the phone to get Sat nav on it.

Thanks
 
I've pulled the trigger on the Pioneer AVH-X5700DAB.

7" Screen
DAB
It's an Appradio so Sat Nav through my phone using either Google maps, Waze or Nav free apps.

AVH-X5700DAB 7" wide-angle touchscreen multimedia player with easy smartphone connectivity via a simple USB cable supporting compatible applications, Bluetooth, DAB+ tuner and a 13-band GEQ (2-DIN) - Pioneer DVD Player, Screens

Can you give us your thoughts on this unit? There is a couple of bad reviews on Amazon.

Cheers

Stuart
 
Can you give us your thoughts on this unit? There is a couple of bad reviews on Amazon.

Cheers

Stuart

Hi Stuart,

Overall I'm pleased with it.

The unit itself looks good and the menus are easy to navigate. It sounds much better and louder than the factory unit it replaced although I'm still only using the standard fit speakers. I do have an Alpine SWE-815 active subwoofer fitted too.

The Bluetooth streaming is very good and displays track information on the stream and allows me to stream from apps like soundcloud on my phone.

The USB sorts all your tracks into a database so you can search by artist, album etc

Digital radio is good although one radio station doesn't seem to have as strong a connection than the DAB in my previous BMW.

Now for the negative.

The screen is resistive rather than capacitive. This can be very frustrating and unresponsive. Its extremely annoying when having to long press to save radio stations as a preset which can take many, many attempts. To be fair most double din by the big manufacturers are resistive unless you spend a lot of money.

App radio function is rubbish. I can get the stock google maps, calender etc to work but my device (LG g3) doesn't work for app mode so apps I like waze navigation which I was hoping to use don't work so check your device is compatible on the Pioneer site because compatible devices are very limited.

Mirrorlink doesn't work with my LG G3.

Album art can be a bit fussy. The music file needs to have a specific type off album art to work.

So there are some annoying things but overall it's a nice unit. If you don't need to app radio features or have a compatible phone you will be pleased with it. Being 7" and £350 it's very good for the money imo.
 
Thanks for the quick reply.

This unit may suit my needs. What I'm looking for is, good Bluetooth hands free, good DAB performance, ipod connectivity, and a nice big screen. Any Android phone features would be a nice bonus, ie using Google navigation on the 7inch screen or streaming MP3's. This is going in a 2nd car, so wont be used daily. I also have LG G2 phone.
 
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App radio function is rubbish. I can get the stock google maps, calender etc to work but my device (LG g3) doesn't work for app mode so apps I like waze navigation which I was hoping to use don't work so check your device is compatible on the Pioneer site because compatible devices are very limited.
Have you tried launching Waze directly?
I have an iPhone 4S (and 6) and Pioneer AVH-X5500BT. The "AppRadio Live" app on iOS has various inbuilt apps but I can also run Waze separately on the 4S and it mirrors to the Pioneer. I'm also using NavMii (formerly NavFree) as the maps are on the device so no data issues.
I don't even run the AppRadio or AppRadio Live apps any more.
Someone (Pioneer?) dropped support for Google Maps on iOS at some point which was really irritating as that was my preferred app.
The whole screen mirroring thing is a minefield. I've now upgraded to an iPhone 6 and to get that to work I need a £70 adapter from Pioneer, a £40 lightning to VGA converter from Apple and a £15 (ha!) Lightning to USB lead too. I'm currently just using the 4S when I'm in the car as it's worth less than the cost of all the gubbins to "perhaps" make the Pioneer work with the 6!
 
I've tried everything to get Waze running but it seems the LG G3 isn't supported. I even rooted my phone so I could use the app ARunchained (App Radio Unchained) only to find out this only works on head-units which use HDMI connection. My headunit doesn't have HDMI, everything is done through a single USB connection.

I think the app radio features only seem to work on iPhone and Samsung Galaxy devices and unfortunately I have don't own either.
 
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That's annoying. The car audio manufacturers seem to be slow in comparison to the phone manufacturers so the tech always seems to be a step or two behind.

My unit only accepts analogue video in so the iPhone 5 onwards need the VGA adapter. I knew my unit wouldn't work with anything but iOS when I bought it.
The later Pioneers using HDMI need fewer connections from the iPhone but I'm loathed to spend £100's to upgrade or £100 odd on adapters and cables.
 
The android head units are much better value. They have higher resolution capacitive screens, apps such as sat nav can be installed free and they can be had for under £200. Unfortunately they don't offer DAB which was one of my must have features so I had to look at the usual car audio manufacturers units.

Android auto head units are beginning to hit the market now. They are very expensive because they are new. When I was looking for a headunit, the two comparable Pioneer units with DAB which offered android auto were £1000 and £1200. Once a decent android auto units drop below £500 I might upgrade.
 
Pioneer have no immediate plans to produce any updates of Mirror Link as its currently being replaced by Android Auto which works with any phone, but at a price.

I have bought a used EONON GE01BE touchscreen DAB+ SAT NAV. It uses WinCe v 6 operating system and so I bought Sygic WinCe supplied on a 4Gb MicroSD card with SD adapter on eBay for £55. I then copied that to a Standard SD 8Gb Sandisk Ultra 40 Mb/s bought from Argos to use in the Eonon. Activation was via a quick exchange of eBay messages and that allows accesses the Western Europe maps incl UK safety speed cameras.

The Eonon allows mixing satnav voice levels with radio via the settings menu. I like the motorised screen that opens flat to gain access to the 2 x SD slots and DVD player. It can also adjust incrementally for different viewing angles or down flat against the dash. Specifications here: Eonon UK -7 Inch 3D Digital Touch Screen 2 Din Car DVD GPS Player (Upgraded G2240) with DAB+ Western Europe MapGE01BE though a later model is now available.

Dab signal is not good where I live so I am about to install a German produced Antennensysteme model 3761.01 AM/FM/DAB/DAB+/GPS Roof Mounted Combi Flex Antenna to obtain better reception.
 

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