Cheap Android/Apple CarPlay Head Units?

I have been on the looking for HU for almost a year now. I am still surveying those China HUs. I am sharing some of the information I found and that I have yet to get one myself. Probably soon.

There are tons of these Chinese brands HU. Most of them comes from the same factory but are slightly modified on the firmware. There are a few brands that are a bit "branded" where they try to build the brand and they do sometimes have firmware updates. On the not for famous ones they also uses same base units but with generic firmware or android version. Some are even low version of androids with patch to make it says version 9 or 10.

So probably best thing in terms of the android version is just go with one that have the features you want. No need to be bothered too much on the version. No point getting version 10 android when it does not have features you want like split screen.

In terms of performance, it depends on the SoC they use. The good ones are using Intel chip and PX (PX6, PX9) chips. Or even T3, T3L and so on. However, those are still basically low spec MTK and Rockchip SoC. I guess good enough as HU. If you can find Intel, they are the best performance.

You also ask if you can still monitor the battery and MPG usage. Yes and yes. First yes is because you can still get the original screen if you are coming from the basic original touch screen HU. However, only if you select the right HU. Not all can do this. For the second yes, you can just get an addon OBD2 reader that you can link to the HU via USB or bluetooth. From here you can load up apps like Dr Prius or Hybrid Assistant or Torque from which you can have all the monitoring you want.

I've got some fellow Prius users who got a HU with 4gb/64gb unit and it was really good. However it is a bit over my budget. So I am still looking for something 2gb/32gb.

 

For the one that confirm can display the usage metrics, two of my fellow Prius friend bought the headunit from this Taobao. I will ask the link from them if you are interested.

Those Chinese sellers selling in Amazon would probably also be selling in Aliexpress. If the price is not much difference then get it from Amazon. Else get from Alixpress. I am not aware of any slow downs over time. Probably will happen when you install lots of junks in there. I would advise not to install any apps that you don't need.

 

Here is the link for the taobao one: https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=a230r.1.14.16.57106bb6jk8LxV&id=601013663121

However, not sure if you can order from Taobao cause it is all in Chinese.

As for ordering from Amazon vs Aliexpress. Does Amazon have better buyer protection? Cause when there are problems you need support from sellers and with good platform they will need to support customers or they don't get good rating or money.

You like HU with buttons? You can trying this seller which looks to be quite proper to me. You'll be saving almost 100 bucks for same thing. Search for "wonderfoo prius" in aliexpress.

 

The one I gave with the Taobao link is proven to work with displaying the MPG and gas usage.

As for the one you chosen with the brand Kunfine, they are also being sold in Aliexpress.PX5 is lower performance chip than PX6. However, even PX6 is an old chip that is at least 6 years old. Regardless, it really depends on your usage. If you just use the HU for playing music or simple GPS then it should last you a long time. That is why I only plan to get a 2gb/32gb unit. Wanted to get one during this 11.11 sale on aliexpress. However, I just found out the one I wanted to buy has just increased price by almost 40 bucks.

For those who don't know, 11.11 (11 November) is called single day sales. This is equivalent to black Friday sales in the US. This is when lots and lots of bargains and sales to be had at Chinese and Asian e-commerce sites. Sites like Aliexpress and Taobao generate billions of dollars during this 1 day.

 

any one car unit with out cd player and android auto??

 

I can't speak for the discounted systems now coming from China but within the "normal aftermarket" for autosound equipment you'd look for something that supported the iDatalink Maestro system to retain access to native car info on your new irritainment display.

It's a relatively new system for preserving access to data displays and onscreen menus in modern cars. Not too many head units support it yet, but it seems to be catching on.

We skipped all that when we did ours. I couldn't find any information on the stock head unit that wasn't also visible from one of the other displays on the dash. 2+ years of good carplay use since then.

 

Seems like an expensive add on for little functionality. Most of that can be addressed by an appropriate OBDII connector and software-which has more functionality.

No Hybrid specific PID's functionality makes it of little use.

EDIThttps://priuschat.com/threads/idatalink-maestro-rr-installed.213812/

 

@Leadfoot J. McCoalroller — what HU did you get that supports CarPlay?

 

I put the Sony XAV-AX100 in ours.

That model has been discontinued.

It still works great with current iOS phones, a little over four years since installation.