Pioneer Releases Wireless CarPlay Systems

[Juicy Box]

Still needs a knob, IMO - my Pioneer has buttons like this and you have to take your eyes off the road to adjust the volume - can’t “feel” for it like you could with a knob. Any my old car doesn’t have steering wheel controls.

Yea I understand.
I definitely prefer a knob, but only a few head unit companies have knobs now.
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My JVC doesn’t have any knobs at all. The volume is part of the touch screen and I have no problem adjusting the volume without taking my eyes off he road. It’s not like the volume moves or in the middle, it’s on the left side and no issues. My radio even came with a remote. I don’t use it that often at all, but another option.

I ended up putting a JVC in my MR2, and it has large buttons on the left side. While I prefer a knob, the JVC seems to have the right placement for the volume buttons, as I also have no issues with the volume.

 

[QuarterSwede]

I understand the appeal of a capacitive touchscreen, but there is a glare issue. One of the Pioneer head units I have is impossible to see when the sun is coming into the car from certain angles.

Many resistive touchscreens have a matted screen that doesn't reflect like the capacitive ones.

This. Just rented a Subaru Legacy that had CarPlay and while having my normal setup as soon as I plugged in was awesome the glare made it impossible to see the screen in the Florida sun. My matte resistive screen is always visible.
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Usb 2 . it's so slow
[doublepost=1527173650][/doublepost]So many things wrong i have flagship 2017 z5000dab and the usb 2.0 is mega slow loading songs and layout is all over the place also firmware is months wait and app raido doesn't work and app isnt updated for 4 years biggger screen stay away from pioneer headunits

Sounds like either a terrible head unit or you’re using an older (pre 6S) iOS device. The iPhone speed you have makes a major difference. My 6S is quick once it loads but it takes a bit. My wife’s 8 is near instant to load up CarPlay and that’s on the same 2 year old 4100NEX.

 

[Karllake]

Safety, that’s why CarPlay is so good. My wife and I love using it.

This response is a typical apple sheep response, I love my CarPlay but the single best feature of the head unit is that I can bypass CarPlay and use Waze whilst listening to music, Apple allow messages and maps but only If they’re Apple, this is simply to force users to use there product. If they allowed 3rd party apps but enforced the same safety rules as iMessage and maps you’d have a point, blocking anything none Apple is only for one reason.

 

[chappel]

I bought the original 4000NEX (basic, resistive touch screen) when they first came out. It's had its ups and downs, but I'm mostly happy about both it and carplay, although after the most recent iOS upgrade it's really struggled to get connected when I plug in the phone (often requiring the NEX be power cycled - oddly my wife finds it disconcerting when I turn off the car while driving).

Just now the NEX motorized door won't open, so I can't get to my SD card (or the CD/DVD slot, although I've never actually used it). It also won't play music off the SD card anymore. I did a factory reset, and it played music from the SD card up until I connected my phone again, then stopped. For a while it would ALWAYS start playing the exact same song at the exact same time about a minute in, then for a while it would only allow me to play music from the SD card if I used the 'mixtrax' feature. I'll consider the wireless model, mostly because connecting the cable and then waiting for the phone to be detected and carplay to actually fire up takes so long I'm frequently to my destination by the time everything is ready (I live in a really small town). I'll take a stab at the latest firmware update before I splurge on a wireless capable replacement - and probably wait until I get a newer iPhone that supports wireless charging.

Some things I remember from my original purchase - the more expensive models of NEX included built-in navigation, which I assume contributed to the extra cost. I also debated dash-mounting an iPad, but my original stock deck had no 'aux' input and I was sick of RF and cassette adapters, and added a backup camera at the same time, so I thought the full deck was a good option for the cost and my use case. I sure hope the new wireless NEX is compatible with my old NEX wiring harness so it's plug-n-play when I eventually do upgrade.

 

[QuarterSwede]

This response is a typical apple sheep response, I love my CarPlay but the single best feature of the head unit is that I can bypass CarPlay and use Waze whilst listening to music, Apple allow messages and maps but only If they’re Apple, this is simply to force users to use there product. If they allowed 3rd party apps but enforced the same safety rules as iMessage and maps you’d have a point, blocking anything none Apple is only for one reason.

And calling me a sheep is basic deflection.

I used to use a mounted iPhone before CarPlay was a thing. Then I got a head unit with CarPlay and truly like it more. It has its down sides but now when I get in the vehicle my phone goes into the console and I use my head unit to respond. More time with eyes on the road and hands on the wheel as it were. There’s nothing “sheep response” about that. Safety should always comes before convenience.

 

[coolfactor]

Pioneer used to be my first choice, but no way at this price! C$1400???? Uh uh. Not for a remote display.

 

[9512tacoma]

I don't regret going with the Sony XAV-AX100. I got it for $323 installed including tax. It is resistive but I don't really notice it. Works great.

I love my Sony XAV 100 also. Great unit for CarPlay.

 

[ybz90]

I would think OLED screens would be perfect for cars, and at the prices they're charging for these things it doesn't see unreasonable either.

One of the main things I hate about in-car screens is how bright they are at night. With OLED being able to light up only the pixels being used, having a proper night mode would be awesome if 95% of the pixels are off.

Yet as far as I know, no car and no aftermarket headunit come with an OLED screen.

Use the dimmer function. Most modern head units have an orange/white cable that you can tie that dims the screen when you turn on your headlights.

 

[geenosr]

Cool deal but wireless CarPlay is a huge battery drain. You nearly need to plugin your phone to keep up. A wireless charger will allow you to see just a small loss after a drive to work but still won't prevent drain.

Pioneer is known for dropping support and not updating after a short period of time. They stopped issuing firmware updates for the AppRadio 3 just 4 months after release. All future updates to iOS were a crapshoot.

I installed the Alpine iLX-107 last year and have noticed a slight battery drain, but really not excessive like you're describing. For regular city driving it's nice to hop in and go without fooling with a cord, but on long trips I use the cig lighter to stay charged. I really like my unit, and it's nice to have the option to plug in my iPhone or not. My only gripe is that switching between family iPhones is very clumsy and awkward. Because of safety features it requires stopping the car, putting the emergency brake on, and sometimes shutting off and on the head unit. But that's really my only complaint, and when you buy bleeding edge tech items (the alpine unit was the only wireless aftermarket unit available) you often don't get everything you want. At least now there are 3 wireless aftermarket units to choose from, and competition should eventually make the number of features go up and the price go down.

I also like the fact that even though the Alpine unit was expensive, ($700) they didn't gouge your wallet for a capacitive screen like Pioneer obviously did. $500 for the upgraded screen? Wow.

 

[Juicy Box]

My only gripe is that switching between family iPhones is very clumsy and awkward. Because of safety features it requires stopping the car, putting the emergency brake on, and sometimes shutting off and on the head unit.

Thanks for this, I was wondering how Wireless CarPlay handled multiple phones.

If there are two iPhones in the car that the time of start up, how does the head unit decided which iPhone will connect via wireless CarPlay?

I installed the Alpine iLX-107

Shortly after it was released, I installed the older Alpine iLX-107 in my MR2.

I liked that there was a dedicated physical Siri button, as many other aftermarket head units only had on screen buttons for Siri. I also liked how compact it was, making use of the free space that the disc drives used to use.

But, I ended up returning it. I could not get the audio to sound right in it, and this is with external amps. I tired the $3 app that had more options for audio set up, which I was unsure why it was not built into the head unit itself and needed a phone to change and fine tune, but it still sounded like a turd.

I ended up going for a much cheaper non-CarPlay option in my MR2, that sounded so much better.

 

[geenosr]

Thanks for this, I was wondering how Wireless CarPlay handled multiple phones.

If there are two iPhones in the car that the time of start up, how does the head unit decided which iPhone will connect via wireless CarPlay?


Shortly after it was released, I installed the older Alpine iLX-107 in my MR2.

I liked that there was a dedicated physical Siri button, as many other aftermarket head units only had on screen buttons for Siri. I also liked how compact it was, making use of the free space that the disc drives used to use.

But, I ended up returning it. I could not get the audio to sound right in it, and this is with external amps. I tired the $3 app that had more options for audio set up, which I was unsure why it was not built into the head unit itself and needed a phone to change and fine tune, but it still sounded like a turd.

I ended up going for a much cheaper non-CarPlay option in my MR2, that sounded so much better.

As to your question about which iPhone the unit chooses at start-up, my experience is that it keeps the last iPhone that was connected, and if that one isn't present, it will default to the next one that is stored in its memory. I believe there is a numbered list of iPhones which have been added during setup, and it just goes down the list of what it sees that's available. I too like the dedicated siri button, it definitely comes in handy.

 

[oneMadRssn]

Use the dimmer function. Most modern head units have an orange/white cable that you can tie that dims the screen when you turn on your headlights.

My head-unit dims just fine. It's still a fully backlit display. Having a dim light shining at you is still having a light shining at your.

 

[twitchyzero]

i signed up on here just to point out this information is incorrect

I have an Alpine ILX-107 with wireless carplay which does not exceed the $10 ravpower qi charging that's cconnected to its USB port

the other day I was able to charge my X another 8% or so after 20 minutes of driving with Waze and Apple Music running (jailbroken so I'm not 'forced' to use the farce that is Apple Maps)

throwing my phone on a flat qi charger on the center console is effortless...plugging in precisely (so you don't pre-maturely wear out your lightning port) is more cumbersome for short trips

Granted you can just buy a magnetic lightning adapter...but this is the cleanest/easiest option and is no way a drain on your battery, which head unit did you experience this?

As I said, Qi will not charge the phone as fast as wireless CarPlay will drain it. And plugging a phone in to a cable takes nearly as much effort as setting it out on a Qi charger, the difference is minimal.

Until they can lower the power consumption of wireless CarPlay, it's not a great option for most. Sorry, but I want to not have to remove my phone from my pocket when I get in the car but also get where I'm going without draining my battery.

back on topic of overpriced h/u, just give me a wifi AA/CP with a 720p screen, a knob and no CD player with updates past a year or two for $999...is that too much to ask?

480p in 2018 when phones have had 16x the resolution since 2015? GTFO radiomakers

 

[NutFlush920]

So I upgraded my AVH-4200NEX to the AVH-W4400NEX today but noticed the backup camera settings don’t have the option for gridlines like I previously had. Yea the camera is nice but gridlines in a big F150 are kinda nice.

Also on a few occasions while starting the truck/turning on the radio it’ll say “No Response” but everything works as it should.

Feel like a firmware update is needed soon Pioneer.

 

[mellofello]

Can't wait for a wireless Android Auto to come out. For now my Sony Ax100 is going great.

 

[Tinmania]

Still needs a knob, IMO - my Pioneer has buttons like this and you have to take your eyes off the road to adjust the volume - can’t “feel” for it like you could with a knob. Any my old car doesn’t have steering wheel controls.

This is where having or tying into steering wheel controls is a big plus. I rarely use the head units volume control, and it is a knob.



Mike

 

[Juicy Box]

This is where having or tying into steering wheel controls is a big plus. I rarely use the head units volume control, and it is a knob.

Having steering wheel controls for volume is very helpful, the issue here is that a many cars still do not have steering wheel controls.

I own four cars, all with aftermarket head units, and only one of the four has
Steering wheel controls.

Most new cars have them, but people are keeping their older cars for longer and longer, so there will probably still be many years to come with people shopping for aftermarket solutions for audio that could benefit from knob based volume control.

 

[guzhogi]

Why on earth do these things still come with cd/dvd drives?

For me, I have a lot of CDs that aren't on iTunes, or other streaming services. Plus, sometimes I go places that don't have decent cell service so can't stream. Plus, it would costs hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars to buy the digital versions of our songs/movies.

Though I do have to agree, minimum it should have is Full HD for the screen, USB 3, and if it has to include an optical drive, BluRay.

Kinda sucks that Pioneer drops support so quickly!