Hi @Timmyboy, thanks for the write up and review. Very helpful in pushing me towards buying an android HU in the near future!

 

Quick question: you say that the install took you 10 mins and the GPS signal is perfect. Did you use the xtrons supplied GPS antenna and if so, where did you place it?

 

As I understand it the stock Skoda GPS antenna can't be used with aftermarket HUs and in most cases, the new antenna is routed through the front panel up towards the NS a pillar. Is this what you did?

@tiching99 you're very welcome

 

As a brief update, apart from one random re-boot mid journey the head unit has been flawless ever since I stopped using Macrodroid to start my hotspot, so I remain officially pleased - will report back with any reliability issues (or when I get bored and start modding it!)

 

I didn't use the Xtrons supplied GPS antenna, but only because my current one is working perfectly fine so so there was no need to swap over. However, my stock Skoda GPS aerial stopped working a couple of years ago so the 'current' one at the time was just a very cheap £6 Ebay special, which has worked fine ever since I bought it. I didn't put much thought into where to mount it, there is a decent gap in the area above where the head unit fits (below the air vents) - even more so with the android unit as the rear of it is tiny compared to the Columbus. I seem to remember there is a metal bar in that area and I just stuck the antenna there with some black tak (slightly stronger blue tak stuff). No issues with reception.

 

Having said that, the stock antenna connection should be the same as the android unit - it certainly was for my Columbus anyway.

 

Let us know how you get on with the unit if you do take the plunge.

@Timmyboy Fantastic, thanks. In fact, having to route the GPS antenna through the front panel/console was one of the few things putting me off buying one for now. Knowing that a decent / good signal can be obtained with the antenna under the air vent makes installing it infinitely easier!

 

Android HU has definitely moved up the Christmas list!

i have a canton sound system in my 2014 mk2 skoda superb,

ive heard this can give probblems with aftermarket headunits i.e no sound.

at the moment i have a skoda columbus rns510DAB fitted in my car cand i use the gps antenna and dab antenna fitted in the car

Edited 28 November, 20187 yr by craigandrew

@Timmyboy thank you for this great post. I just bought this unit and had a pro install it on my 2009 Octavia, replacing the Columbus head unit.

 

It was basically plug and play - however the radio tuner does not work whatsoever. I'm waiting for the seller to hear from his techies if there's a fix.

 

I've only had a chance to stream songs through my Huawei so far, connected with bluetooth, but I noticed some noise when the treble gets high up there in songs.

 

It's most songs - and the music is coming from the Apple Music app for Android. Not downloaded, just streaming from my library.

 

I'm wondering if you or anyone else noticed this?

Hi @SkodaSponge, glad to be of service. Very odd that the radio tuner doesn't work - does the app start but you get no audio at all, or just static perhaps?

 

Can't comment on your streaming issue I'm afraid as I've never needed to stream anything just yet. Is there a reason you're bluetooth streaming the Apple Music app content from your Huawei rather than just installing the app on the head unit?

@Timmyboy Thanks for the reply.

The radio app opens up, has presets which I can switch between, but it doesn't make a single sound. Not even static. I changed from the factory settings from EU to China and tried it again, and changed back to EU and restarted to see if it did anything - nope.

Reason for streaming from my phone is because I want my passengers to be able to connect their phones to the head unit, and play whatever songs they want directly from their device. 

I also discovered that when I try to mirror link my phone through the Easy Connect app, I get an error message saying:

"The software has not been authorized legally! Please contact the dealer!" Screenshot attached.

Hi,

In two days I will be a proud owner of a Skoda Yeti 2013 pre facelift. I have ordered the same xtrons unit (PE98MTVPL) and have some questions regarding the installation. The unit came with two different ISO harnesses. What harness should I use when installing?

 

Also, does anyone know if the car I’m about to drive have canbus?

 

Cheers!

@Jokkmokk congrats on both your purchases, always liked the Yeti.

 

Yes it has canbus. Can't say for sure as never owned a Yeti, but all VAG cars I've owned in the past 15 years use the standard 'quadlock' connector and I'd bet your yeti will too. It will therefore be obvious which harness to use, as only one will fit the bit you yank out of your existing stereo. When you get there, it will all make sense

 

Good luck. 

@Timmyboy Waow, that was quick.  

Thank you for the help!

@Timmyboy Did you disconnect the battery before you installed the unit? 

I didn't, stereo works fine. I read that it should be though, just in case. 

 

In case anyone is wondering about the "software not authorized legally" message I posted about:

 

It was my fault, I didn't turn on mirror link on my phone. Easy connect works well once I used my brain

Techie checked out the radio tuner and said it's a defective tuner. Waiting for new unit now.

@Jokkmokk nah, I didn't bother - I never have just for stereo stuff, but worth the 2 minutes of spanner effort if it gives you piece of mind. Worst you could probably do is blow a fuse though.

 

@SkodaSponge good to hear you're sorted

Okey, two out of two didn’t disconnect the battery... that’s good enough for me.

”This, is, Skoda!!!”

 

Here comes another one. While I’ve been looking at the Xtrons head units I could not stay away from looking at the reverse cameras. Anyone here have personal experiences installing one of these on a Yeti pre facelift with Xtrons head unit?

 

Cheers

I’ve just opened up the head unit in my  Yeti 2013 pre facelift in Im unable to find a ISO connector? I’m not entierly sure but it looks like the wires are led behind the panel of the passanger glovebox? Does anyone here have experience with the head unit (Amundsen plus) in a Yeti pre facelift? Also I'm unable to see any CANbus or could it have CANbus without me detecting it?

 

Cheers

 

 

Edited 29 January, 20197 yr by Jokkmokk

I feel stupid, when looking at the pictures and some videos online it's kind of obvious that I have to pull the iso connector from the unit... 

But I'm still wondering about the CANbus support. How would I know if my car has CANbus or should it be visible directly behind the head unit?

 

Edited 29 January, 20197 yr by Jokkmokk

Ha don't feel stupid, yes that big square plastic thing where the wires come out of your stereo is the quad lock connector. Pull that out, plug into the harness of your android connector, good to go.

 

Trust me, you have canbus:

 

http://www.ross-tech.com/vcds/canbus.php

@Timmyboy In you I absolutely trust, and that ross-tech guy... So, I’ll simply take the harness with the CANbus decoder box thingy attachet to it, disconnect the ACC wire as I understand it and thats that?

 

But out of curiosity, I have seen (I think) videos where the whole CANbus box and harness was removed and swapped for the Xtrons replacement harness? If I simply connect the Xtrons harness with attached CANbus wouldn’t I suddenly have two CANboxes? I have a feelling I’ve got the while CANbox thing missunderstod...

Don't trust me, I break stuff

 

Seriously though, Google is your friend. Canbus is the system modern cars, bikes etc. use to make all the electrical components talk to each other. There is only one 'canbus' box here, and that is the one that is part of the wiring harness that came with your headunit. The whole rest of your car uses the canbus protocol for communication. So yes:

 

1) Unplug existing quadlock connector from existing stereo

 

2) Plug existing quadlock connector into matching connector which came with head unit

 

3) plug other end of matching connector into head unit

 

4) disconnect relevant acc wire

 

5) plug fm and gps aerial into head unit (plus any other leads such as USB, rear camera etc. none of which I have connected) 

 

Enjoy

 

It's been over a year now, in which time I've used this head unit consistently for my commute between Bristol and Birmingham, plus all usual family travel activities - put simply, it is fantastic and I'd recommend it to anyone.

 

I think I've posted some update comments on a different thread at some point  so the only significant recent changes in my use of the head unit are:

• I stream radio using the "TuneIn Radio" Android app, just because my mobile signal is generally less patchy than my radio signal - and I can stream DAB stations like Virgin
• I use the "Amazon Music" app for all non-radio music needs - including local content sitting on the SD card, but also streaming from Amazon as I'm a prime music unlimited subscriber. This last fact is a bit of a revelation really - I spend most journeys with the Amazon music app displayed, which means you can just ask Alexa to play basically whatever you want. Never gets old.
• I've been using locally installed 'Android Auto' - just because it gives a slightly cleaner look to the head unit when travelling - including hiding the notifications and hence full screen sat nav etc. Android Auto can be a bit buggy, but generally it behaves.
• 'Android Auto' also supports WhatsApp - and will read out/reply to messages verbally and also allow voice calls. I also call the Echo devices in our home too, just to annoy my family

Some pictures to follow below.

 

I've seen lots of threads discussing these Android units, mentioning the usual suspects from Erisin and Pumpkin etc. and people generally seem to have a slightly negative view of them. Honestly, I couldn't be happier with this Xtrons unit - it makes the Columbus seem very old and outdated, and I still can't fathom how the sound quality is so much better in the Xtrons - some kind of Voodoo.

 

If it ever packs up on me I'll update this thread - but so far, aside from 1 unexpected reboot, it has been rock solid. As available processors naturally get faster (mine I assume is already out of date) these units will get better and better.

 

First picture is my default view (this is the 'Nova Launcher' app in Android, which I bought for my phone many years ago) which is a bit tider than the built in launcher.

 

 

And 3 images of using Android Auto for navigation and radio streaming:

 

 

 

@Timmyboy Looks good.  Nice to see someone getting a nice solid experience out of an android unit.  Just a quick comment that I would do if it were my unit:  The graphics look a bit big (especially in AA), have you tried setting the dpi to something higher to reduce the size of the icons.  You may lose a touch of the detail in the maps but you should mostly be able to get more on the screen at any one time.  Mainly to reduce the size of the control bar on the right.

Hmm, interesting idea - would definitely like to scale AA down a bit, as you can see in the 3rd screenshot it gets crowed with just 2 things showing on screen at the same time 😁

 

I did scan read your reply earlier just before jumping in the car - a quick look in the settings menu only revealed options to change the 'font size' and the 'icon size' - changing the latter did reduce the size of icons on e.g. my home screen, but I'm sure AA looked the same - is there a specific DPI setting somewhere that I've missed?

Hmm. In that case you may have to root it which may break some stuff.

Before that try method 2 in this article:

https://www.droidviews.com/change-dpi-density-on-android-without-root/

Ok, so after reading this thread it persuaded me to make the purchase. I went for the Erisin but it looks exactly the same as the one you've posted @Timmyboy. It was so simple you fit just unplug and plug back in. Don't forget GPS antenna because it's not as responsive just connecting through your phone. Sound quality is excellent. Play store has everything I need. I even bought the OBD2 bluetooth add on and I can now see my speed/boost pressure/0-60 time and much more. What a bargain. Thanks for creating this forum and being so informative. I've just registered to tell you that lol. Excellent product and great upgrade to original stereo. 

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Android-9-0-Car-SatNav-OBD2-BT-DAB-WiFi-USB-Canbus-Skoda-Octavia-Rapid-Superb/132862293109?hash=item1eef35b475:g:1SMAAOSwsndc2lwG

Just looked at your pictures and mine is slightly different. It has physical buttons on the side but I think I'd prefer that so I can get to the maps etc quicker. Definitely recommend to people people that are on the fence with this. It's amazing!