Cheap Android Head Unit Review!
#976
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Appreciate some recommendations for the best option to replace my CDR-24 basic CD player.
I am looking for silver and I understand I need the MOST adapter for BOSE systems?
Do these Android Head units allow bypass of their amp to be able to use the BOSE amp in my car? I read somewhere that there's a setting in the head unit that can do this - the customer connected the ACC wire on the optical box to the blue amplifier control wire. Not to ACC. For the amplifier control to work he had to enable amplifier control in the device menu of the Android Head Unit, and says sound quality was excellent.
If we can bypass the HU's built in DSP, using the MOST adapter to integrate with the original BOSE AMP/Speakers, then does the DSP amp chip really matter? I've read that the TDA7850 is the better DSP Amp chip, but if we are able to just use the BOSE system, should it matter what DSP Amp Chip is built into the HU?
I'm just trying to understand what I actually need to purchase, avoiding all the opinions about this or that DSP chip, and I am inexperienced with this stuff.
I am looking for silver and I understand I need the MOST adapter for BOSE systems?
Do these Android Head units allow bypass of their amp to be able to use the BOSE amp in my car? I read somewhere that there's a setting in the head unit that can do this - the customer connected the ACC wire on the optical box to the blue amplifier control wire. Not to ACC. For the amplifier control to work he had to enable amplifier control in the device menu of the Android Head Unit, and says sound quality was excellent.
If we can bypass the HU's built in DSP, using the MOST adapter to integrate with the original BOSE AMP/Speakers, then does the DSP amp chip really matter? I've read that the TDA7850 is the better DSP Amp chip, but if we are able to just use the BOSE system, should it matter what DSP Amp Chip is built into the HU?
I'm just trying to understand what I actually need to purchase, avoiding all the opinions about this or that DSP chip, and I am inexperienced with this stuff.
Also, with these Android 12.0 Head Units, how much RAM is considered enough for a smooth experience (is 8GB really necessary, if not would 2GB or 4GB still have a nice experience if they sell in such configurations?), and is the ROM just for if you want to store music on the head unit when you are unable to stream from your phone?
The rest of your questions I can't answer well, but if making hands free calls over BT is a priority, I'd ask around a bit more. Many people (myself included) are experiencing a lot of quality issues with calls on the OwTowsin units, specifically the microphone (echo and delay and overall poor quality are common), and I've yet to find a fix (and I'm a professional software engineer). Given the history of this thread, it's likely that many of the similar looking units from different brands on AliExpress are the same design made with even cheaper parts... So buyer beware!
It's not all bad though... If your car has the multimedia steering wheel controls, these units do offer almost perfect integration, and in general are more plug and play than other aftermarket units from common name brands. There's a lot of cool stuff you can do with a real Android 12 device. You just have to decide what features are most important to you.
I hope that helps!
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Globespy (09-04-2023)
#977
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Also, with these Android 12.0 Head Units, how much RAM is considered enough for a smooth experience (is 8GB really necessary, if not would 2GB or 4GB still have a nice experience if they sell in such configurations?), and is the ROM just for if you want to store music on the head unit when you are unable to stream from your phone?
#978
Burning Brakes
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Hello all,
I am coming over form the 996 forum. I bought an the Aliexpress Android double din head unit, same as you have here, but different bezel, I assume. It is a 8 core 8 GB RAM 128 GB ROM LTE. Everything works in the Android head unit I bought, but I did have to figure out the wiring situation on my own. Problem I am having is that the back of the unit heats upto a scalding temperature very quickly within 2 minutes of the key turning, regardless of the unit being turned on or not (area circled in red). It heats up to the point that it is almost hot enough to burn skin (At least that is what it feels like) and stays at that temperature. It does cool down withing a few minutes when the key is out. It dos this even with only the ground, ACC and battery+ wires connected and absolutely nothing else.
My wiring seems ok. Hoping someone on here can tell me what I am doing wrong?
The part that gets really hot is right above the power plug on the right. I circled it in red in the bottom picture. The rest of the back is nice and cool. Just that one part. Did I screw up wiring?
Here is how I wired it:
8 pin power plug (A) to Android ISO 16 pin power plug
pin 8 to pin 1
pin 7 to pin 3
pin 6 to pin 4
pin 5 to pin 8 (I disconnected this to see if it was my problem, but nope)
pin 4 to pin 2
pin 3 not used
pin 2 not used
pin 1 to pin 5 (for reversing camera - works)
![](https://forum.xda-developers.com/proxy.php?image=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.planet-9.com%2Fattachments%2Fcdr220-harness-3-jpg.200002%2F&hash=ec274cb725f123f93df00d11e104ddd6)
![](https://forum.xda-developers.com/proxy.php?image=https%3A%2F%2Fae01.alicdn.com%2Fkf%2FSd0499a5beed649d69451477a56efae98Z.jpg_640x640Q90.jpg_.webp&hash=05c36224b9db919777a1b108ac4d2d0b)
I am coming over form the 996 forum. I bought an the Aliexpress Android double din head unit, same as you have here, but different bezel, I assume. It is a 8 core 8 GB RAM 128 GB ROM LTE. Everything works in the Android head unit I bought, but I did have to figure out the wiring situation on my own. Problem I am having is that the back of the unit heats upto a scalding temperature very quickly within 2 minutes of the key turning, regardless of the unit being turned on or not (area circled in red). It heats up to the point that it is almost hot enough to burn skin (At least that is what it feels like) and stays at that temperature. It does cool down withing a few minutes when the key is out. It dos this even with only the ground, ACC and battery+ wires connected and absolutely nothing else.
My wiring seems ok. Hoping someone on here can tell me what I am doing wrong?
The part that gets really hot is right above the power plug on the right. I circled it in red in the bottom picture. The rest of the back is nice and cool. Just that one part. Did I screw up wiring?
Here is how I wired it:
8 pin power plug (A) to Android ISO 16 pin power plug
pin 8 to pin 1
pin 7 to pin 3
pin 6 to pin 4
pin 5 to pin 8 (I disconnected this to see if it was my problem, but nope)
pin 4 to pin 2
pin 3 not used
pin 2 not used
pin 1 to pin 5 (for reversing camera - works)
![](https://forum.xda-developers.com/proxy.php?image=https%3A%2F%2Fae01.alicdn.com%2Fkf%2FSd0499a5beed649d69451477a56efae98Z.jpg_640x640Q90.jpg_.webp&hash=05c36224b9db919777a1b108ac4d2d0b)
![](https://forum.xda-developers.com/proxy.php?image=https%3A%2F%2Fcimg3.ibsrv.net%2Fgimg%2Frennlist.com-vbulletin%2F2000x1504%2F20230829_223203_616092cc61eef629ed7f310234e606c674d15617.jpg&hash=6701eb4f387c0755f8c768e026793251)
#979
![Default](https://rennlist.com/forums/images/icons/icon1.gif)
Hello all,
I am coming over form the 996 forum. I bought an the Aliexpress Android double din head unit, same as you have here, but different bezel, I assume. It is a 8 core 8 GB RAM 128 GB ROM LTE. Everything works in the Android head unit I bought, but I did have to figure out the wiring situation on my own. Problem I am having is that the back of the unit heats upto a scalding temperature very quickly within 2 minutes of the key turning, regardless of the unit being turned on or not (area circled in red). It heats up to the point that it is almost hot enough to burn skin (At least that is what it feels like) and stays at that temperature. It does cool down withing a few minutes when the key is out. It dos this even with only the ground, ACC and battery+ wires connected and absolutely nothing else.
My wiring seems ok. Hoping someone on here can tell me what I am doing wrong?
The part that gets really hot is right above the power plug on the right. I circled it in red in the bottom picture. The rest of the back is nice and cool. Just that one part. Did I screw up wiring?
Here is how I wired it:
8 pin power plug (A) to Android ISO 16 pin power plug
pin 8 to pin 1
pin 7 to pin 3
pin 6 to pin 4
pin 5 to pin 8 (I disconnected this to see if it was my problem, but nope)
pin 4 to pin 2
pin 3 not used
pin 2 not used
pin 1 to pin 5 (for reversing camera - works)
I am coming over form the 996 forum. I bought an the Aliexpress Android double din head unit, same as you have here, but different bezel, I assume. It is a 8 core 8 GB RAM 128 GB ROM LTE. Everything works in the Android head unit I bought, but I did have to figure out the wiring situation on my own. Problem I am having is that the back of the unit heats upto a scalding temperature very quickly within 2 minutes of the key turning, regardless of the unit being turned on or not (area circled in red). It heats up to the point that it is almost hot enough to burn skin (At least that is what it feels like) and stays at that temperature. It does cool down withing a few minutes when the key is out. It dos this even with only the ground, ACC and battery+ wires connected and absolutely nothing else.
My wiring seems ok. Hoping someone on here can tell me what I am doing wrong?
The part that gets really hot is right above the power plug on the right. I circled it in red in the bottom picture. The rest of the back is nice and cool. Just that one part. Did I screw up wiring?
Here is how I wired it:
8 pin power plug (A) to Android ISO 16 pin power plug
pin 8 to pin 1
pin 7 to pin 3
pin 6 to pin 4
pin 5 to pin 8 (I disconnected this to see if it was my problem, but nope)
pin 4 to pin 2
pin 3 not used
pin 2 not used
pin 1 to pin 5 (for reversing camera - works)
I literally just finished wiring up a UIS7862 (FYT) unit for a 996 here. Here's the correct wiring:
(A/B/C are factory plugs, G is Android HU)
G1 --> A8
G2 --> A4
G3 --> A7
G4 --> A6
G5 --> NC
G6 --> NC
G7 --> NC
G8 --> A5, C6 (if needed)
G9 thru G16 are the speaker outputs (connected to the B plug) and should not require modification. I have the unit running on my test bench and the area you described is warm to the touch but nowhere near hot.
#980
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I'm a bit late to the party here (car was in the shop for awhile getting cams and coolant lines pinned
), but now that I'm getting to drive my 911 daily again I'm starting to feel some of the quirks of this unit a bit more. I have the latest OwTowsin unit with the Qualcomm CPU, and I get the terrible echo/delay on BT calls, Waze crashes a lot, and it won't detect my 4g SIM - similar issues as everyone else here has reported.
@MattDevoCustoms I have two questions for you, if you'd be so kind: 1. Will your update package work with Qualcomm CPU units, or is the RockChip PX CPU required? I spent a lot of time searching XDA, but it's still not clear to me what's supported by the community and what isn't (is FYT the chipset type?). And second, in your experience does the app/kernel update fix any of the common issues we're seeing on here? How does it improve things in general? I'd be willing to try anything to fix the BT call quality issues, which drives my wife crazy.
In any case your UI theme looks excellent, so I'd certainly be interested in giving it a try if you're up to sharing! Thanks!
![crying](https://rennlist.com/forums/graemlins/bigcry.gif)
@MattDevoCustoms I have two questions for you, if you'd be so kind: 1. Will your update package work with Qualcomm CPU units, or is the RockChip PX CPU required? I spent a lot of time searching XDA, but it's still not clear to me what's supported by the community and what isn't (is FYT the chipset type?). And second, in your experience does the app/kernel update fix any of the common issues we're seeing on here? How does it improve things in general? I'd be willing to try anything to fix the BT call quality issues, which drives my wife crazy.
In any case your UI theme looks excellent, so I'd certainly be interested in giving it a try if you're up to sharing! Thanks!
2) the BT call issues seem to be a combination of hardware (not disabling front mic when external used) and software (no noise cancellation, etc). It's not something that kernel tweaks can fix
I do plan on adding a UI-only package for the Qualcomm based units, and hope to have one here for testing soon.
#981
Burning Brakes
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which unit specifically? what CPU/SoC?
I literally just finished wiring up a UIS7862 (FYT) unit for a 996 here. Here's the correct wiring:
(A/B/C are factory plugs, G is Android HU)
G1 --> A8
G2 --> A4
G3 --> A7
G4 --> A6
G5 --> NC
G6 --> NC
G7 --> NC
G8 --> A5, C6 (if needed)
G9 thru G16 are the speaker outputs (connected to the B plug) and should not require modification. I have the unit running on my test bench and the area you described is warm to the touch but nowhere near hot.
I literally just finished wiring up a UIS7862 (FYT) unit for a 996 here. Here's the correct wiring:
(A/B/C are factory plugs, G is Android HU)
G1 --> A8
G2 --> A4
G3 --> A7
G4 --> A6
G5 --> NC
G6 --> NC
G7 --> NC
G8 --> A5, C6 (if needed)
G9 thru G16 are the speaker outputs (connected to the B plug) and should not require modification. I have the unit running on my test bench and the area you described is warm to the touch but nowhere near hot.
Don't know how to tell android units apart, but it is this one:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005746490879.html?pdp_npi=3%40dis%21USD%21US%20%24371.13%21US%20%241 85.56%21%21%21%21%21%40210312d516914257396473150ee340%211200003419882073 8%21im%21%21
As you can see in the photos, it was getting pretty darn hot. Temperatures are in Celsius, not Fahrenheit.
![](https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlist.com-vbulletin/2000x1504/hot2_345b54cb1eddce07b3153dc0120ccf6bed5283ba.jpg)
![](https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlist.com-vbulletin/2000x1504/hot3_8c9e0f7f583c478f1bccfa32553618bdc9e2078e.jpg)
Last edited by jim010; 09-03-2023 at 12:24 PM.
#982
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Don't know how to tell android units apart, but it is this one:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005746490879.html?pdp_npi=3%40dis%21USD%21US%20%24371.13%21US%20%241 85.56%21%21%21%21%21%40210312d516914257396473150ee340%211200003419882073 8%21im%21%21
As you can see in the photos, it was getting pretty darn hot. Temperatures are in Celsius, not Fahrenheit.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005746490879.html?pdp_npi=3%40dis%21USD%21US%20%24371.13%21US%20%241 85.56%21%21%21%21%21%40210312d516914257396473150ee340%211200003419882073 8%21im%21%21
As you can see in the photos, it was getting pretty darn hot. Temperatures are in Celsius, not Fahrenheit.
#983
Burning Brakes
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Yeah, way to hot and dangerous. I just wanted to make sure I didn't miss something in my wiring causing this, like a short, but looks like I did it right.
#984
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all you need to power on the unit are pins G4, G7, G8. try just having those connected to rule out anything else
#985
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Is this unit the XTRONS one from Amazon?
Amazon.com: XTRONS Car Stereo for Porsche 911 Boxster with Optical Fiber Decoder, Android 12 Octa Core 4GB+64GB Car Radio, 8” IPS Touch Screen GPS Navigation for Car Bluetooth Head Unit DSP Car Play Android Auto : Electronics
Are you happy with it? Was it fairly easy to install?
How's the sound quality on the BOSE system compared to your old factory OEM unit?
I think I prefer the look of the Owtosin units, but buying from Amazon with their return policy seems much safer than AliExpress. Thanks.
Amazon.com: XTRONS Car Stereo for Porsche 911 Boxster with Optical Fiber Decoder, Android 12 Octa Core 4GB+64GB Car Radio, 8” IPS Touch Screen GPS Navigation for Car Bluetooth Head Unit DSP Car Play Android Auto : Electronics
Are you happy with it? Was it fairly easy to install?
How's the sound quality on the BOSE system compared to your old factory OEM unit?
I think I prefer the look of the Owtosin units, but buying from Amazon with their return policy seems much safer than AliExpress. Thanks.
https://xtrons.co.uk/porsche-various...b-rom-ia82cmpl
In which case, it uses an older Mediatek SoC compared to the others being discussed here. XTRONS units are historically less problematic OOTB, but less tweakable than others. YMMV
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myw (03-22-2024)
#986
Burning Brakes
![Default](https://rennlist.com/forums/images/icons/icon1.gif)
What is your firmware update?
#987
![Default](https://rennlist.com/forums/images/icons/icon1.gif)
That being said, can't they be upgraded anyways? I mean, it's essentially a phone, so when there's a new ROM available for these types of units, then it should be an easy upgrade as long as the hardware is capable of running the newer Android version
#988
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The XTRONS unit you linked appears to be this one:
https://xtrons.co.uk/porsche-various...b-rom-ia82cmpl
In which case, it uses an older Mediatek SoC compared to the others being discussed here. XTRONS units are historically less problematic OOTB, but less tweakable than others. YMMV
https://xtrons.co.uk/porsche-various...b-rom-ia82cmpl
In which case, it uses an older Mediatek SoC compared to the others being discussed here. XTRONS units are historically less problematic OOTB, but less tweakable than others. YMMV
Got the Android 12 (supposedly) 8GB/256GB Snapdragon6125 with the MOST Fiber Optic box unit.
#989
![Default](https://rennlist.com/forums/images/icons/icon1.gif)
Please DM me if you need tester
#990
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Interesting, thanks for advising. I will contact the seller to make sure the unit is running Android 12 and will advise I will be checking.
That being said, can't they be upgraded anyways? I mean, it's essentially a phone, so when there's a new ROM available for these types of units, then it should be an easy upgrade as long as the hardware is capable of running the newer Android version
That being said, can't they be upgraded anyways? I mean, it's essentially a phone, so when there's a new ROM available for these types of units, then it should be an easy upgrade as long as the hardware is capable of running the newer Android version
I'm getting one myself shortly and will iron out all the kinks / document the process before releasing it