iPhone car head unit stereo like Oxygen Audio O'car (iphone interface with bluetooth)

[TwoBytes]

I had the Oxygen O'Car as my head unit. It is unique as the iPhone IS the head unit that you can control everything from. It had a mic you could connect, amplifier and everything worked great for voice calls and music.

http://www.oxygenaudio.com/en/15-o-car-3527570040573.html

It's old now and doesn't work with the iPhone 5. When the iPhone 5 came out, despite having a unique innovative product, I just read Oxygen abandoned their iPhone 5 compatible update to the O car.

The ONLY other car unit I could find is this

http://www.iroconline.com/iRoc/index.html

but again, it's an older iphone 4 compatible only and they seem like a flakey company. It's a shame as there is a big gap in the market for one of these devices.

Is there anything like this which will act as

• an amp and support a sub
• have a mic for clear voice calls (the iPhone mic and loudspeaker doesn't cut it)
• work with siri to pass though audio to the speakers
• iphone as the interface - not a 'traditional' head unit. Something like the defunct o'car

Thanks for any suggestions!

 

[DocNo]

I'd just like any head unit that interacts intelligently with an iPhone

Alpine seems to be the best so far, but it's impossible to know for sure until you buy and use the @^#$ pieces of crap and find out the faults for yourself

 

[TwoBytes]

For a gap in the market, i'm shocked no-one has released anything.

pioneer appradio 3 looks close but you need to jailbreak your device to bypass the crappy pioneer software. I wouldn't buy into software that might break, stop in development, not work with updates etc after spending so much on an aftermarket stereo.

If only someone would release a screen amp and airplay support when you plug your phone in!

 

[takeshi74]

Probably not much demand. What you're calling a gap is probably a tiny niche.

The head unit you mentioned seems like a great way to force your head unit into obsolescence. I've been using the same head unit in my car for nearly 7 years. If I had to swap it out every time I changed my smartphone I would have gone through 3-4 head units.

There are, on the other hand, tons of other head units that will handle voice calls and music without that major drawback.

If only someone would release a screen amp and airplay support when you plug your phone in!

You should be able to fairly easily DIY with off the shelf stuff. There's a guy on a forum site for my car that is setting up his iPad Mini to dock and connect directly to the amp without a head unit. Airplay support would require a different approach but you could probably set up an Airport Express to do the job.

Why would you need Airplay if you're connecting the device anyway?

 

[TwoBytes]

There's a slew of people in other threads and a JB community hacking phones to get it to mirror in the car so I think manufacturers could sell something well. The reason Oxygen audio failed is their product had so many issues, recalls and their software UI looked like it came from the 1970s.

I'd like something like the app radio unit but without the pioneer app radio software and it instead mirror the iphone screen. There are pics of the a JB phone and appradio mirroring which look great, but I don't want to JB as of the reasons above. I just read the dev is having issues getting it working on iOS 7 so there is a gap in the market for something that is supported officially!

Anyone know of any head units I haven't heard of yet?

 

[shlomi]

Have you found a solution yet? I actually stuck to my iphone 4S mainly because I have the oxygen head unit and I drive a lot - I love the setup but want to upgrade the phone - it's time...

Doing a search online for a solution and came across this thread. If I find a solution I will be back to post here

 

[TwoBytes]

iPhone car head unit stereo like Oxygen Audio O'car (iphone interface with bl...

Any Bluetooth unit is fine. I bought a mechless cheap head and it's been such an amazing upgrade. I'm came with a microphone and USB port to charge the iphone. The newer in iphone Bluetooth modules help a lot too. You can really save money not having a CD player. I have the JVC KD-X310BT

Make the jump with the new iphone! You won't regret it. My oxygen unit was s compleat failure looking back. The company have no support and knew they released a lame product.

 

[brianbunge]

Check out soundmanca.com. They don't sell radios, but they sell kits that allow you to mount your iPhone 6, 6+, iPad mini and iPad Air in dash. It can be done relatively cheaply or you can go full blown crazy, depending on what you want to do.

 

[shlomi]

musio - which model did you get?
brianbunge - Thanks for the info! this is more inline with what I am looking for but I didn't see a solution for the iPhone 6 which is what I plan on getting.

I did some more research and it seems that there is a possible solution in the making - it involves mirroring the phone screen onto a car's head unit - Now that's a perfect solution! alas, I could only find 2 youtube videos of Chinese vendors showing a demo of what they offer but it doesn't seem like any major car audio manufacturer has picked up the glove yet.
I hope that these emerging solutions will become mainstream sooner rather than later (or never...)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MH58wGjOxm4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEPu-q70cTQ

 

[TwoBytes]

i got the Kenwood KMM-BT34

works super. Microphone mounted on dash behind steering wheel. iPhone controls everything. Powers my sub and speakers. Get a brodit clip and you're set. It doesn't look like the soundmanca has any power for subs and it looks expensive. The mechless head units are good as they are cheap and allow you to use the best interface (the iPhone) with your car. Comes with free radio too!

 

[brianbunge]

musio - which model did you get?
brianbunge - Thanks for the info! this is more inline with what I am looking for but I didn't see a solution for the iPhone 6 which is what I plan on getting.

I did some more research and it seems that there is a possible solution in the making - it involves mirroring the phone screen onto a car's head unit - Now that's a perfect solution! alas, I could only find 2 youtube videos of Chinese vendors showing a demo of what they offer but it doesn't seem like any major car audio manufacturer has picked up the glove yet.
I hope that these emerging solutions will become mainstream sooner rather than later (or never...)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MH58wGjOxm4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEPu-q70cTQ

This is for the iPhone 6:

http://www.soundmanca.com/products/pre-order-iphone-6-side-slider-kit