2009 Prius 7" Double Din Android Head Unit Installed

Hi Everyone,

I just finished installing a 7 inch Android powered double din head-unit. I've had it running for about a week now. I'm making this post in case anyone else has the urge to install a similar set up in their Prius. These Android head unit are popping up all over on eBay so you may have some questions about it before taking the plunge. Pics of it installed below, I did my best to get the colors to match the stock colors. You can pretty much change the button colors to whatever color you want.

(Update: This unit is bricked and has been replaced by a 6.2", see below.)



First and foremost, this is powered by Android, and it's from China, which means that it is far from perfect. This is not for anyone that is not willing to deal with occasional glitches or someone that does not have the patience to debug every once in awhile. If stuff like that annoys you, buy any American made head-unit such as Alpine or Pioneer. But if you're a die-hard DIY'er and have a knack for that kind of stuff, like me, this unit is perfect for you.

Since it is Android, it's basically a perfect carputer (which I had, and was not very happy with it); it has a very streamline OS and with the app store, the possibilities are vast in regards to what you can do with it. I have a wireless keyboard plugged into it, and play music off my external USB hard drive without any problems. This thing is also capable of running Torque, although I've yet to test it out since my OBD sensor hasn't arrived yet. For those of you not familiar with Torque, it communicates via bluetooth to an OBD sensor and reads out various things.

The particular head-unit I bought is slightly larger than the standard DIN dimensions so I had modify the brackets in order to make it look clean. This seems to be a common theme with head-units coming out of China, I had another one that ran Windows CE and it was a little too big too.

All together, everything costs roughly $400. Which isn't bad considering American double din head-units usually start at about $400.

Here are all the things I had to buy to install this in my Prius:
1. 7 INCH Android 4.1 car pc (aliexpress) (bricked)
1. Updated unit: Toyota Corolla 2007 Pure Android 4.1 (ebay) seller: bestserviceforusa
2. Metra 95-8240B Double Din Dash Kit 2004-2009 (ebay)
3. 1987+ Toyota Wiring Harness (ebay)
4. 1987+ Toyota Steering Wheel Control Wiring Harness (ebay) note: this includes the resistor needed so the climate control works

Anyways, if you guys have any questions or comments, please post them below.
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Update 5/23/2014:

Alright, the new unit has arrived and it has been installed. I will not mess with the firmware this time. Hopefully it wont stop working like the first 2 unit that I received. I updated the firmware and probably caused the bricking... I'm kind of happy those stopped working because this one fits nearly perfectly. I had to cut the flip open tray a little and the side bezel pieces had to be cut a little more.

The unit was designed for a Toyota Corolla, so the harness is almost exactly the same. The only thing you have to do is add the resistor or do what I did and just solder the SWC cable to it. I still haven't figured out how to get the SWC working... but honestly I'm used to not having it at this point. I haven't had it since my stock unit, nearly 3 years ago. I recommend buying from "bestserviceforusa" on ebay. I ordered it on Tuesday and received it Friday from China.

Still waiting on the OBD bluetooth sensor. Can't wait to test that out.

Anyways here are pics of it installed.

How to connect SWC harness:


Brackets, coat hanger, hot glue and dremel. Ended up taking the bluetape off. It was originally for the first unit to prevent it from pushing all the way in. But the way this unit is designed, it stops the bezels from pushing in so it worked out perfectly. The color doesn't match too well, I think I will wrap them in CF or something.




Without Brackets:


With Brackets:


Demonstration Video:

 

Yes, as stated in the original post, if you buy a steering wheel wiring harness, it includes a resistor so that your climate control works. You'll want to buy the wiring harness anyways if you want to hook up the steering wheel control functions of the head-unit. I've yet to get it working but a few other Toyota owners with android units have gotten theirs to work without buy additional equipment, so I'm convinced it can be done.

I haven't really tested calls yet but I would imagine that it works fine. I played music through bluetooth without any problems. I think it's better to load all your music on an SD card or HDD like I did and play it through there, that way you can see full album cover and titles. Whereas with bluetooth you don't see anything.

I bought the headunit off aliexpress, link below, can't post links yet... so add dot before com and html.

aliexpress com/snapshot/6084269606 html

 

Even in full sunlight, it is very clear with no viewing problems at all. It's a lot clearer and brighter than the climate control screen. Very much like the first picture I posted. I'm not surprised how clear the screen is in the sun. I have a Samsung S5, and in full sunlight, if I put my screen to full brightness I can see it as clear as if it were nighttime, even with my polarized sunglasses on.

 

So by bugs.. this is what I mean. I updated my firmware to a newer one so that I can get the google play store and other stuff. Anyways, it was working for about a day and crapped out on me the next morning. All I see now is a black blank screen. Now I have to figure out how to get this thing booted and reset to another firmware. Fun.

 

Still dead... working with the seller to get a new motherboard at least if not a whole replacement. Seriously thinking about getting a Samsung Tab 4 and just trying to retro fit it. I figure a tablet paired with clean single din stereo that has bluetooth should do the trick...

 

Bought a new one that is actually a little wider so it should fill the space better. It's 203mm wide so ther will be about a 10mm gap on each side... easily fillable with the brackets I made, just have to shave them down more. I spent all day checking the size of all these units, and this is the best one that will fill the spot without modification like cutting down the unit.

Will keep you guys posted.

Update: Since this unit was designed as an OEM replacement for an older Corolla (2003 - 2008), a regular double din kit will not work, I bought the radio bezel instead. That should cover the gaps. Hopefully I can cut it down and modify it to fill in the 10mm gaps, I should get.

 

Original post updated.

 

Yes, I think it's been done before. If you hop over to this thread and search "remap" you should be able to find how to do it.