Eonon Q53Pro works fine with Skoda Sound System Amp

[wokwon]

Our 2013 3T Superb Elegance Combi came with the RNS-510 (Columbus) and the amplifier under the passenger seat.  I added a Tiguan handle reversing camera about 6 months into ownership.

 

The RNS-510 is really showing it's age so it seemed like time for an update.  I gambled on the Eonon Q53Pro as it claimed to 'Work with Fender Audio' which in some markets is what Volkswagen calls the amplifier package.

 

Turns out, yes it does, with no config needed.

 

The unit works well:

- Android Auto and Carplay work fine, flawlessly in wireless mode.  The Android Auto seems to be a bit flakey in the wired mode but Carplay was fine in wired mode.

- Worked with the amp, no special wiring or adapters other than what was supplied needed

- Came with a dual-fakra socket to handle the dual radio antennas (some reviews mentioned that it needed a diversity adapter as it had only one antenna socket, my unit came with the adapter)

- It has configurable sleep.  I set it to 1-day, so as long as the car is driven within 24 hours start-up is instant.  Otherwise startup takes around 30 seconds

- The reversing camera, I got the A0580 converter and it just works.  The old camera looks low-def on the large screen of this unit when it looked fine on the (comparatively) tiny screen of the RNS-510.  I might install the supplied Analogue High Def camera as that should have a better picture and in theory will be able to show maneuvering lines.

- Steering wheel controls work fine.  The volume can be a bit laggy some times but it does work.  Skip forward and back are fine.  

- Ultrasonic sensors work fine and have the car-info on screen, both front and rear

- Bright/dark etc works automatically with headlights. Unfortunately this unit only has red-button illumination.  I understand the newer unit has configurable button color

- The mic that came with it for hands-free is ok but not great.  I'll probably make a near-field cancellation circuit and replace with that.

- Sound quality is fine and super-configurable.  The tired 10 speakers in that car sound way better than they did on the RNS-510.  An oddity is that there is no working front-rear fader.  Fading to the rear results in no sound at all.  It's not a deal-breaker for me.  Yes, rear speakers are working.  Bonus is there is a sub-out which I might make use of as I have a Blaupunkt active sub from two cars ago sitting in the garage.

 

It came with a GPS patch antenna, but I got a Fakra to SMA adapter so I could use the inbuilt roof antenna.  It works 100%

 

I used VCDS to code out the old nav unit and bluetooth unit.  This wasn't needed for correct operation, it was just flagging fault codes in the logs.

 

Downsides (but none are deal breakers for me):

- You can't turn it on without ignition being on.  Once ign on, it will stay on until drivers door is opened.

- Interface is wildly inconsistent both with styling between functions and some odd translations

- Charging from the car-play USB port is very slow.  I don't use it now, I use a proper QC capable charger and let Android Auto/Carplay be wireless

- No 4g modem in this one.  The newer unit does have this.  

- No SD card slot, although it has a spare USB port and you could plug mass-storage into this if you wanted.

- Bluetooth data sharing: It seems to be capable of using the data from my phone via bluetooth, but it stops when the Android Auto connects and then to get it working again needs to be toggled and reconnected.

- Fuel remaining is mistranslated as "Remained Oil".  This is technically correct I guess as Diesel is fuel-oil

- It does support pop-up of HVAC settings, but it randomly pops up when no adjustment has been made.  I turned it off as the HVAC panel shows everything you need to know anyway

- It supports a pop-up for door-open status, but it shows a generic drivers door open picture regardless of door and covers up the interface so you can't do anything else.  I turned it off

- The row of capacitive buttons below the screen are super-sensitive and easy to mis-press if you're trying to hit an on-screen button near the bottom of the screen.

- I've not figured out how to set the AM radio to 9kHz channel spacings yet.  Have emailed support to ask.

- The old AUX port and the weird iPod connector thingy in the centre storage obviously doesn't work any more as it's not connected to anything.  I don't think I ever used this anyway.  Oddly, my iPod classic 160GB was still in there, plugged in and still worked.  I forgot about it probably 5 years ago.

- The volume control is a bit coarse.  This may be an artifact of having the under seat amp, but the jumps between levels are significant.

 

Some pics of the unit installed.  It does poke out a bit around the edges but not obnoxiously so.

 

So the point of this post is, if you're sick of your RNS-510 but like me were worried about the under seat amp, don't be.  This unit was around $500 Australian Dollarydoos including the GPS antenna adapter and the camera adapter.

[Jaynet62]

Nice review! Thanks

 

[Mister Paul]

Nice. Do you still have the 510?

[wokwon]

I do, I'll put it back in if/when I sell the car.