Hi! Has anyone ever installed the Android GPS Car stereo? I want to buy one and install it in my skoda fabia. How about the Seicane Android car stereo?

Hi! There are a lot of different brands that offer Android stereos for our cars. I've had two different ones. The first was an Erisin, the second a Joying. I now have a Columbus dab+ installed.

 

My thoughts on the different Android units:

 

* Never get one with 1GB of ram. Get at least 2GB. They've started offering four now I think.

* The stereo will behave much like an android phone, but for some reason (to keep costs down I guess) they are a lot slower. A five year old good brand Android phone will outperform these stereos, however as long as you get at least 2GB ram, they will work fine for normal use. Just don't expect to play any games on them etc.

* I haven't been able to find one with as good as or better sound quality than the built in stereo. Even my old Swing sounds miles better. However lots of people don't seem to mind and rate the quality as ok/fair.

* They will not integrate with your original bluetooth if you've got it. I had to disable mine (pull the plug from the BT module under my seat) to avoid trouble. They come with their own bluetooth for you phone, as well as their own mic.

* They have LOADS of features and cool stuff to show off. You can run Spotify for music and your preferred navigation app at excellent resolution. Makes my Columbus look very old. Get a 4g modem and you can stream music/radio and browse the internet.

* As long as you get a Skoda/VW version, fitting it is completely plug and play. My Erisin even had the normal Quad-lock plug in the back, so it was a direct replacement. The only thing you'll (maybe) need, are adapters for the antennas if you're planning to use a built in GPS/DAB antenna instead of the ones that come with the unit.

 

For me, it was too much work. I was never completely happy with the way it worked, there was always one thing or another that I wanted to fix or tweak. That combined with sound quality just made me go original instead. I still keep an eye on the forums over at XDA-developers though, just in case someone makes a super android unit with excellent sound quality some day. The perfect solution would be one of the new Skoda units, retrofitted with everything working. Guess I need a new car