Review of Xtrons PB86MTVAP Android Head Unit

[T-1000]

Hi

 

I recently fitted the xtrons unit and thought after a few weeks use I would post a mini review so others can see what they get if they purchase one.

The xtrons replaced my Columbus unit, there was nothing wrong with the Columbus but I fancied a change and hopefully an attempt to improve the sound. I also fitted an Kenwood underseat sub at the same time. 

 

First a couple of pics of the installed unit, fitted very nicely into the existing fascia.

 

Installation

 

Pretty straightforward, the hardest part is routing the cables for the DAB+ windscreen aerial and then the GPS antenna. I removed the glove box to run the cables at the back. The unit has two rear usb socket, one which the DAB+ aerial plugs into the other which I used to store music on a usb flash.

There is not alot of room at the back of the head unit and with the canbus adaptor and the quadlock connector it was a challenge to get the unit in, It helped to remove the air vents above the unit and there us a little opening which you can push the quadlock up into to help.

 

General Operation

 

This is an octa core unit so its very fast and slick to use, apps load quick and there is no lag at all. This is a plus over the columbus which I found to be pretty slow however the xtrons is not as OEM looking. The unit powers on instantly a few people have had problems with battery drain as I believe the unit just sleeps and does not fully power down but I have had no issues at all.

 

 

DAB+ and Radio

 

This was my main concern with this unit as I had read allot of reviews/problems stating that radio reception was poor. The xtrons comes with a single Fakra connector and my fears were realised as basically the radio was useless. I brought a twin fakra adaptor which took a bit of modifying to fit but once in the FM signal is now spot on, RDS works fine AM though is still pants but I generally don't listen to it.

The DAB+ app is ok its functional but not that pretty to look at, the windscreen aerial is basically a waste of time I get alot of drop outs and more annoyingly screeching sounds when the signal is getting lost. I may look into upgrading the aerial but at the moment Im happy with FM.

 

Sat Nav

 

This is where the unit scores high as there is a good few apps to choose from. Google maps works great and also IGO works well but does look a little dated, however the best of the lot is Waze its very slick works great and best of all it lets me avoid most of the traffic. 

 

Music Player and Sound Quality

 

The standard music player is functional if a little clunky, I am using PowerAmp which is a great music player with alot of configuration options and EQ choices. The sound quality to my poor ears is way better than the columbus this may be because of the sub install but even with the sub off the sound quality is great. There is no distortion with the volume above halfway as there was with the columbus.

 

Negatives

 

This unit takes a bit of setting up to get it how you like it Ive had a couple of gremlins when the unit just had a black screen and would not function, a quick disconnect of the battery and it was back up running. The screen leaves fingerprint marks all over it and they do distract from the look. 

 

Integration

 

Rear parking sensors work fine as does the air con, heated seats etc, steering wheel controls also worked fine. Only issue I had was the little car picture showing the wrong front door open however this is easily swappped in the settings menu. The unit does not communicate with Maxidot at all.

 

Bluetooth/Hands free

 

Music playing over bluetooth works fine again the factory app is pretty basic, the unit does download your phonebook however the hands free is next to useless as the other person can just hear themselves with severe echo. I believe an firmware update will fix this.

 

Conclusion

 

For the money I cannot complain at all about the Xtrons, it gave me what I wanted in flexibility with sat nav and apps and overall speed of operation, is it better than the columbus in some respects yes but in others no. There is a thread on the XDA developers forum where custom firmware is being looked into and I think it is the flexibility of the unit is its greatest feature. How long the unit will last is an unknown. I think if Xtrons had got a octa unit with a button layout as per the columbus I would have chosen that as sometimes you do spend too long looking on at the screen while driving. Overall for the sound quality alone I think its a great choice. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[simannjo]

Many thanks for the post.

 

I too have had the same grumblings with the Columbus to look at the Android unit options, and have also came to the same conclusions.

Better in some respects but worse in others.

 

It really is subjective and whether the owner can live with certain aspects of either choice.

 

No doubt that if the Columbus packed up then I would replace it with a Columbus looking Android unit.

I do think the flat screen looks nicer but the fingerprints would drive me to distraction.

 

Also, I listen to DAB through a phone mostly, and it takes an age to connect to my Samsung S7, so DAB would have to be faultless for me. - Oh and the Maxi-dot

Edited 14 April, 2017 by simannjo
Remembered Maxi dot

[T-1000]

Forgot to mention the Wi-Fi, a few people have had problems with poor range mine is fine and works brilliantly when tethered to my phone. The dab is not the units fault it's the crappy aerial. It's listenable in wide open areas but loses signal mainly in built up areas where I do most driving.

[scootie]

On 2017-04-14 at 02:16, T-1000 said:

 

Conclusion

 

For the money I cannot complain at all about the Xtrons, it gave me what I wanted in flexibility with sat nav and apps and overall speed of operation, is it better than the columbus in some respects yes but in others no. There is a thread on the XDA developers forum where custom firmware is being looked into and I think it is the flexibility of the unit is its greatest feature. How long the unit will last is an unknown. I think if Xtrons had got a octa unit with a button layout as per the columbus I would have chosen that as sometimes you do spend too long looking on at the screen while driving. Overall for the sound quality alone I think its a great choice. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, after using this for a while how do you like it? I'm looking at a android based head unit now on eBay but can not decide if I would like the same design that you have without and knobs or the ones that look the same as the original ones. Do you use the buttons on the stereo anything or do you only use the software ones? 

 

Regarding bluetooth, is it possible to make a call using the steering wheel buttons? Doesn't it use the cars microphone? 

 

And the sound, is it better or just crappier than the columbus? Are there pre-coded sound presets such as Dance, Rock and so on or can you change the settings yourself?

 

Thanks in advance!

[T-1000]

Yes so after a few months I'm still impressed with the unit again for the money its hard to fault. I've updated to a custom firmware and its ironed out a few bugs. I use a mixture of both software and hardware buttons and also the steering wheel controls.

If you press the telephone button on the steering wheel it activates the phone but at the moment it doesn't activate the actual calling but I believe that other owners have managed to get voice control working. The unit has its own microphone on the front which appears to work fine however there is still an echo problem, a fix is being worked on.

The sound is far superior to the columbus imho and yes there is preset EQ's or you can use a custom one. I use poweramp for music playing and its great.

 

 

 

[scootie]

On 2017-05-23 at 23:13, T-1000 said:

Yes so after a few months I'm still impressed with the unit again for the money its hard to fault. I've updated to a custom firmware and its ironed out a few bugs. I use a mixture of both software and hardware buttons and also the steering wheel controls.

If you press the telephone button on the steering wheel it activates the phone but at the moment it doesn't activate the actual calling but I believe that other owners have managed to get voice control working. The unit has its own microphone on the front which appears to work fine however there is still an echo problem, a fix is being worked on.

The sound is far superior to the columbus imho and yes there is preset EQ's or you can use a custom one. I use poweramp for music playing and its great.

 

 

 

Cool! Thanks for the answer!

Do you find the lack of SD-card something that could be an issue over time or is the internal storage space fulfilling all your needs? Where did you get the custom rom? 

I've read about the internal mic regarding all these android units and it's a common problem, seems hardware related though :/ But running a external mic up aginst the sunvisor should solve the issue I guess.

[T-1000]

No need for an sd card as there is a usb port which I plug in a usb stick to store music.

There is a whole thread on the xda developers forum. Search for px5 mctd malaysk to find them not sure I can link to other forums?

The Bluetooth echo is a pain I believe it is software and it's to do with a buffer. Hopefully this will get sorted soon.

[Thheo]

Hello,

 

I just bought the same unit and installed it 4 days ago and I couldn't "your" problems, however I am upset that the A2DP and bluetooth calls have noise (like analogue noise). When I play music from and SD card (the same files that I use with A2DP) they don't have this noise. My guess is that the unit is using some low quality codec/profile and it generates some background noise or I have a faulty unit.

Are you ok with the audio quality broadcasted over bluetooth? Also even on FM radio from time to time I hear some additional noise (hopefully this one is related to not using a twin fakra adapter, which I am getting today).

What is interesting is that this unit "talks" to the Maxidot display and I can see the frequency of the FM tuned station or the track number with the timer if I play from SD card. If I use the A2DP player it only states "Video". So I guess we are somehow on the right track with the development of these kind of units (in order to properly integrate them with the car's systems).

Could you tell me what firmware do you use right now? Where did you get it? Have you found something that can replace the default applications used for calls and bluetooth media player?

Btw, did you sell the Columbus unit?

[T-1000]

Hi

 

To be honest I have put the Columbus unit back in at the moment as the touchscreen to my xtrons cracked my own fault as I tried to reset it using the front button with a pen which was a little to thick, Im waiting for the replacement screen to arrive and then I will decide to keep it or not. I never used bluetooth for streaming I only used it for the phone. The firmware I used is from the xda forums there is a complete thread on the units search PX5 units. Firmware is from a chap called Malaysk do a search as Im not sure if its against the rules to link to another forum.

[rvdm]

Interested in buying one of those units. Which "twin fakra" adaptor cable did you buy to make the radio work properly ?

[T-1000]

I brought this one

AAN2203 VAG Twin Fakra DIN Diversity Antenna Adaptor for Car Radio

Do a search on ebay.

[zice]

i'm selling my 8" unit from joying for sale if anyone's interested, pls. PM.

customized with upgraded amp chip and 2GB ram (not installed, need reballing) if you find the custom ROM too slow, which i doubt

 

 

Edited 16 August, 2017 by zice

[vrsRob]

On 10/07/2017 at 21:39, T-1000 said:

Hi

 

To be honest I have put the Columbus unit back in at the moment as the touchscreen to my xtrons cracked my own fault as I tried to reset it using the front button with a pen which was a little to thick, Im waiting for the replacement screen to arrive and then I will decide to keep it or not. I never used bluetooth for streaming I only used it for the phone. The firmware I used is from the xda forums there is a complete thread on the units search PX5 units. Firmware is from a chap called Malaysk do a search as Im not sure if its against the rules to link to another forum.

 

Looking at buying this unit - is it still one you would recommend?

[kwmax]

Hi can I ask where you purchased the facia plate from with air bag cut out? Thanks

[Thheo]

The fascia that I had from the RNS510 (Columbus)  just fit in. I guess you can buy as a genuine part from your dealer.

[craigandrew]

i have a canton sound speeker system in my 2014 superb witch i heard can give probblems with aftermarket headunits,

[DEL80Y]

Am sure its only the Mk3 Superb that has Canton I have had my speakers and amp out and no mention of Canton anywhere on units.
 

2 hours ago, craigandrew said:

i have a canton sound speeker system in my 2014 superb witch i heard can give probblems with aftermarket headunits,

The problem being it all goes through the under seat amp which you would have to rewire the speakers to use aftermarket headunit

[craigandrew]

It say on my speaker grills it a

Canton system in my car.

I tried a vw Kenwood dab system in my my car and couldn't get any sound out of it. 

Witch is why I'm being careful on

What I buy to upgrade the head unit 

[DEL80Y]

MInes is 2012 so maybe different and all the other ones I know of are same  just say 10 speaker system
 

1 minute ago, craigandrew said:

It say on my speaker grills it a

Canton system in my car.

I tried a vw Kenwood dab system in my my car and couldn't get any sound out of it. 

Witch is why I'm being careful on

What I buy to upgrade the head unit 

 

Yip tried this last year with an android unit and found out its due to going through the amp so would need to re wire all speakers 
too much effort the now and living with the Columbus which is as slow as week in the jail 
Going to change to a ssd now they are a lot cheaper and see if it helps any...

[craigandrew]

15 minutes ago, DEL80Y said:

MInes is 2012 so maybe different and all the other ones I know of are same  just say 10 speaker system
 

 

Yip tried this last year with an android unit and found out its due to going through the amp so would need to re wire all speakers 
too much effort the now and living with the Columbus which is as slow as week in the jail 
Going to change to a ssd now they are a lot cheaper and see if it helps any...

Yes I'm thinking the same. Just need to get someone to fit & code reversing camera for me,

[maku2]

Hi, 

 

I bought this radio: http://xtrons.co.uk/android-8-0-octa-core-4gb-ram-32gb-rom-multimedia-player-with-9-display-support-car-auto-play-custom-fit-for-volkswagen-seat-skoda.html

In my car i have a Skoda Sound System. Can you tell me that this radio unit will be work with my car and Skoda Sound System ?

After installed it iWhen I turn on the radio, I can not hear anything from the speakers.
Maybe something still needs to be set in the radio itself?

[DEL80Y]

34 minutes ago, maku2 said:

Hi, 

 

I bought this radio: http://xtrons.co.uk/android-8-0-octa-core-4gb-ram-32gb-rom-multimedia-player-with-9-display-support-car-auto-play-custom-fit-for-volkswagen-seat-skoda.html

In my car i have a Skoda Sound System. Can you tell me that this radio unit will be work with my car and Skoda Sound System ?

After installed it iWhen I turn on the radio, I can not hear anything from the speakers.
Maybe something still needs to be set in the radio itself?

They dont work with the Sound System as all outputs go through the amp under the seat
I dont think there is a work around for this yet

[zice]

On 28/02/2019 at 13:24, maku2 said:

Hi, 

 

I bought this radio: http://xtrons.co.uk/android-8-0-octa-core-4gb-ram-32gb-rom-multimedia-player-with-9-display-support-car-auto-play-custom-fit-for-volkswagen-seat-skoda.html

In my car i have a Skoda Sound System. Can you tell me that this radio unit will be work with my car and Skoda Sound System ?

After installed it iWhen I turn on the radio, I can not hear anything from the speakers.
Maybe something still needs to be set in the radio itself?

 

why do you buy something before reading all about it? It says big in the description: "5. This unit does NOT support your car's Dynaudio sound system."

Edited 4 March, 2019 by zice

[maku2]

8 hours ago, zice said:

 

why do you buy something before reading all about it? It says big in the description: "5. This unit does NOT support your car's Dynaudio sound system."

It's working in my car. 
I have a Skoda Superb 2014 with Skoda Sound System - not Canton. 
When I installed a radio I also did not hear anything. Necessary is to unplug a amplifier for about 1-2 minutes and plug it againt. 
Radio need to have a information form CANBUS. After this I can hear a sound from my Skoda Sound System. 

Edited 4 March, 2019 by maku2

[ashfan]

I'm thinking in going for one of these as my Columbus seems to be playing up and also I just like the idea of having an Android unit in my car. 

 

Can someone tell me what the purpose of the double fakra connector is as with my limited knowledge it doesn't seem very clear